William Ernest Carter was a First Class passenger of the Titanic. He survived the sinking.
Titanic[]
A resident of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, Mr. Carter boarded the Titanic at Southampton as a First Class passenger together with his wife Lucile Carter and their children Lucile and William. They held ticket no. 113760, which had cost them £120, which granted them a stay in cabins B-96 and 98. Also traveling were Mrs. Carter's maid Auguste Serreplan, Mr. Carter's manservant Alexander Cairns and, traveling in Second Class, Carter's chauffeur Charles Aldworth.
Lying in the forward hold of the Titanic, and listed on the cargo manifest, was Carter's 25 horsepower Renault automobile. It is listed as a case so perhaps the car was not fully assembled. He also brought with him two dogs: A King Charles Spaniel and an elderly Airedale Terrier. He would later claim $5000 for the car and respectively $100 and $200 for the dogs.
On the night of April 14th, the Carters joined an exclusive dinner party held in honour of Captain Smith in the À la Carte Restaurant. The host was George Widener and the party was attended by many notable first class passengers. Later, after the ladies had retired and Captain Smith had departed for the bridge, the men chatted and played cards in the smoking room.
After the collision the Carters joined some of the other prominent first class passengers as they waited for the boats to be prepared for the lowering. However, he split off at some point and likely retreated to the First Class Smoke Room at half-past-one, and played a hand of cards with Maj. Col. Butt, Clarence Moore and Francis Millet. Other historians believe that the man to do this was actually Arthur Ryerson. Col. Archibald Gracie IV came into the room and witnessed the event. Nearby was the journalist William Thomas Stead and the president of the west disinfecting company Emil Taussig.
When William Carter had seen his family safely into Lifeboat 4 he joined Harry Widener and advised him to try for a boat before they were all gone. But Harry replied that he would rather take a chance and stick with the ship. Later, the two men along with George Dunton Widener, Arthur Larned Ryerson, John Jacob Astor, Jack Thayer Jr., and John Thayer Sr. waved goodbye to their family members as Lifeboat 4 entered the water.
At around 2 in the morning, he was standing near the officer's quarters on the starboard side of the ship. Collapsibles A and B remained lashed to the roof but boats C and D had been freed and were being loaded. At one point a group of men desperately tried to rush boat C. Purser Herbert McElroy fired his pistol and the culprits were removed from the boat and the area, with one lad jumping overboard into the water twenty feet below. Carter saw the men were in hysterics when they were turned away, reportedly stumbling back onto the ship, some praying, some crying, other holding their hands on their head. Loading with women and children progressed but eventually no more could be found, however, the boat was still empty. First Officer Murdoch called for anyone else to board, so Mr. Carter and another man--Joseph Bruce Ismay, the ship's owner, stepped into the boat. Murdoch acknowledged the fact the two were on board but did not attempt to stop either one of them. Murdoch ordered lower away.
He arrived at the Carpathia ahead of his family and waited on the deck straining to see Lifeboat 4 which held his wife and two children. When it finally arrived, William did not recognize his son under a big ladies' hat and called out for him. According to some sources, John Jacob Astor had placed the hat on the boy and explained that he was now a girl and should be allowed into the boat. Other sources suggest a more likely scenario, that it was his mother in response to second-in-command Steward George Dodd's order that no more men were to enter Lifeboat 4.
Popular Culture[]
James Cameron's Titanic (1997)[]
William Carter in the 1997 movie, portrayed by Toby Dallas
While Carter never officially appeared in any films, James Cameron had a habit of giving his extras an assigned passenger role, and William Carter was one of these, portrayed by Toby Dallas.
He is first seen in the deleted Gymnasium scene talking to the Senior Gymnasium Instructor T.W. McCawley as McCawley helped tie his lifejacket, with McCawley remarking "Well I won't wear one, sir; it'll just slow me down, and impede my stroke!" before hearing a comment from Mr. Astor "Being seven-hundred miles from shore, Mr. McCawley, we wouldn't want but anything to impede your stroke." Later, at 1.30-1.45AM film time, he stood around on the Boat Deck with two other first-class men. Mr. Murdoch then discovered that all the women and children in the area were in the boat; and called for anyone else to join.
| “ |
We need more women and children!! |
” |
—First Officer William McMaster Murdoch and Unnamed Seaman | ||
William Carter turns to his fellow passengers on the deck and says "well, you heard him" and boards Lifeboat C with the other two men, later joined by Mr. J. Bruce Ismay. He acknowledges Ismay's presence with a simple nod and light smile as the boat lowers away. Much later, as the ship began her final plunge, Mr. Carter watched the ship grow high in angle at a near perpendicular angle as the lights began to glow hellish red.
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