Captain John Edward Smith

"I believe you may get your headlines, Mr. Ismay" - Capt. Smith
Captain Edward John Smith

 

Captain Edward John Smith (age 62) was born at Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, England on January 27th, 1850 - the son of potter Edward Smith and his wife Catherine.

Edward John Smith attended the Etruria British School until the age of 13 when he went to Liverpool to begin a seafaring career as an apprentice on a clipper ship - the 'Senator Weber' owned by Gibson & Co. - in 1869.

He joined the White Star Line in 1880 as Fourth Officer and gaining his first command in 1887. Among the ships he would command were the first 'Republic', 'Coptic', 'Majestic', 'Baltic', 'Adriatic' and 'Olympic'. In total he captained 17 White Star liners.

Captain Edward John Smith and some of the crew of the 'Olympic'
Left to Right: William McMaster Murdoch, Charles A. Bartlett, Henry Tingle Wilde and Captain Edward John Smith

On January 13th, 1887 he married Sarah Eleanor Pennington at St. Oswald's Church, Winwick.
Their daughter Helen Melville Smith, known as Mel, was born in Liverpool and later moved to Southampton with her parents.
The family lived in an imposing red brick, twin-gabled house "Woodhead" on Winn Road, Westwood, Southampton.

Captain Smith soon became a master seaman, and was considered the top dog in the formidable White Star Line's fleet. He often took the company's ships out on their sea trials and their first voyages.
His capability and experience attracted a lot of people to him. Many of the White Star Line employees would request to be transferred to whatever ship he was captaining at the time in order to be near the "millionaires Captain".

Captain Edward John Smith and the crew of the Titanic
Back row, Left to Right: Chief Purser Herbert McElroy, Fourth Officer Joseph Grove Boxhall, Sixth Officer James Pell Moody, Fifth Officer Harold Godfrey Lowe, Third Officer Herbert John Pitman.
Front row, Left to Right: Second Officer Charles Herbert Lightoller, Chief Officer Henry Tingle Wilde, Captain Edward John Smith, First Officer William McMaster Murdoch.

Prior to the disaster, Captain Smith had captained the Olympic, Titanic's identical sister ship, for almost a year.
All in all, Captain Smith had 46 years of experience on the sea, including captaining a ship during the Boer war.

Sadly, he planned to retire after Titanic's maiden voyage.

A large statue of Captain Smith was unveiled by his daughter Helen on July 29th, 1914 in Lichfield, England. The sculptor was Lady Kathleen Scott (1870 - 1947) widow of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, "Scott of the Antarctic." A plaque which was placed on Hanley Town Hall in his memory in 1913 was later removed to Etruria Middle School.

Statue of Captain Edward John Smith in Lichfield, England
Commander
 Edward John Smith RD. RNR.
Born January 27 1850 Died April 15 1912
Bequeathing to his countrymen
The memory & example of a great heart
A brave life and a heroic Death
" Be British "

Captain Smith's widow Eleanor Sarah was born on June 17th, 1861. After her husband's death she remained in Southampton for a time but later moved to London. She died after being knocked down by a taxi outside her London home on April 28th, 1931.