William James Major was one of Titanic’s Firemen.
Background[]
William James Major came into this world on the 26th of February 1880, growing up in the seafaring harbor town of Southampton, where he and his 6 siblings were born to Edward Austin Major and Ann Frances Grant. Edward was a locksmith and came from this area like his wife. They tied the knot in 1876 but already had conceived a child in 1872: Henry. Edward Austin had the honor of being his father’s namesake and was gifted life in 1877 as the first within wedlock. A girl saw the light in 1887, 7 years after Wiliam, who was the third. The girl was named Annie Victoria. Following her was Edward and Ann begot Mabel Elizabeth in 1889. following her was Joseph Michael in 1892 and Richard Ware was the last in 1894.
The family lived on different addresses during the next decades, in Southampton. Also stemming from Southampton was Southampton Rose Edwards, who was made into William’s bride in 1906. He had likely left home in the early 1900s or perhaps just before that, to go and do what many fellow citizens do, namely work either at the docks or on a vessel in this important harbor.
By 1911, Rose and after having been blessed with Rose Annie in 1907, their only child and daughter for the time being.
Titanic[]
In April 1912, Mr. Major had been working for the White Star Line for a while and now had a new assignment. It was a grand luxury liner, but William must have already felt a bit more familiar with Titanic than some of his colleagues, as he had been on her sistership too. This steamer, RMS Olympic, looked very much like her sister and was similar in many ways.
It was April 6, as he added his name to the Engineering crew list in Southampton, where he still lived, becoming a fireman for the Titanic’s first trip.
Apart from almost being rammed by the New York in port, there was little noteworthy of exciting things to report about Titanic’s passage in the first few days. As Wiliam toiled away at shovelling coal in a few 4-hour shifts every day, to keep a hungry Titanic happy, she had gotten close to her maximum speed on Sunday, April 14. Little did William now that this speed would prove deadly. Everything seemed against Titanic even though the circumstances looked good during the Sundaynight. There was little indication of icebergs around, which were unclear, as the two lookouts experienced when they got sight of one berg, which was ominously close. The men warned the Officers on the bridge, who gave order to make Titanic in a bid to avoid it. The Engine Rooms received order to cut her speed drastically. In a minute, Titanic was at the iceberg and it almost seemed like she was going to miss it until a rumbling hull showed that a part of her underneath the waterline had scraped against a chunck of ice that could not bee seen. Water gushed into the ship’s insides and made hay in more than 4 compartments, which was something that Titanic could not endure.
That’s what Thomas Andrews, the man who had drawn her, also told the captain at midnight. By now, her second lowest decks in the bow had been overcome and Andrews said she could not last. The Captain had to evacuate and gathered his men, ordering them at 12:05 A.M, on April 15th.
William had gotten on deck at some point. He was able to step into lifeboat 13, confirming him as a survivor of the sinking of the Titanic. Lifeboat 13 had a scare for a moment as they were lowered down, when some pump water had caused them to drift towards the descending lifeboat 15 above them, the boat that was stationed right behind 13 on the Boat Deck and had been lauched just 3 minutes after 13. She was not able to detach herself from her blocks. A leading fireman named Fred Barrett, in command of the boat, could save his occupants by knifing down the thick ropes while the people were standing up to touch the bottom of nr. 15.
Just half an hour after lifeboat 13 had escaped her peril, the Titanic was ever closer to the end and her forward Boat Deck was taking on water. Her plunging rate was increasing and with the last two collapsibles being swamped with a gush of ocean water, she was steadily taken over by the merciless Atlantic. Minutes later, half of Titanic had been dipped below the surface while her rears where lifted up, like a foraging duck. The ship was ablaze with light until 2:18 A.M, when it could not sustain the stress on her hull with the levered stern, so the stern tore itself off the front section. Titanic then only held on for 2 minutes, when the stern part also was swamped. Everyone that had been holding on, could only hope they didn’t have to suffer long, as they were now in very frigid waters, which took many lives.
After the sinking[]
Luckily, not William’s. His boat had to be at the open ocean for a few hours which was also very cold, but the people aboard could be taking heart that the wireless operators on Titanic had called for a ship to help her. This was the RMS Carpathia and she arrived at the scene where Titanic had gone under, at 4:00 A.M. Lifeboat 13 got alongside, along with the other lifeboats, who were assambled one by one and all surviving crew and passengers of the stricken liner were aboard by 9:30 A.M. Carpathia then finished Titanic’s planned voyage for her and brought the former denizens to New York, where she turned up at the 18th of April.
William’s family could soon be relieved of any stress that may have occured in doubt of his survival with regard to the newspapers reporting Titanic’s downfall, often lacking information, when a telegram had been sent to their door, in which Major shortly noted that he was on his way back to England on the Lapland, a vessel from the Belgian Red Star Line, which many more surviving Titanic crew members had taken to get back to their home in England.
Later life[]
Wiliam and Rose were soon expecting a next child, which was dropped in 1914. He was his father’s namesake, William James junior. Despite the ordeal of Titanic, Major would not trade the vast blue for dry land, as shown when he continued his profession in the merchant shipping business. He would have to live on without his sweetheart when she had left her life in 1935, suriving his loved one by 25 years, his death date being 10 September 10, 1960.