Ernest Freeman (1869 - 15^th April 1912)

Here I am at Walton Cemetery in Liverpool by a memorial gravestone mentioning Ernest Freeman who died when the Titanic sank. Few details are known about his life or the manner of his death but his body was recovered from the Atlantic.

Though born in London he was living in Walton in Merseyside by the age of 34 with his wife and their daughter (their other three children didn’t make it.) This move up north was probably due to him following his sea-faring dad into the same industry. By 38 the family had moved to Southampton after the White Star company changed their main port away from Liverpool. Ernest signed on to the Titanic on 4th April 1912 at Belfast. His official role was Chief Deck Steward but he was really the secretary to White Star chairman Bruce Ismay. His wage was £3 15 shillings per month.

No witness accounts say how he died but the headstone on his grave (in Canada) suggests bravery. It reads: He remained at his post of duty, seeking to save others, regardless of his own life and went down with the ship. Knowing he was doomed he probably dived into the ocean before the liner was fully submerged and died of hypothermia. His corpse was picked up by a cable repair ship which has become infamous for collecting lots of Titanic survivors and fatalities. Ernest was processed as number 239: “Male, estimated age 47, hair dark, moustache fair. Clothing: blue suit; light overcoat; pyjamas. Effects: Memo book; glasses; pipe; pouch; knife; gold watch; 6d. in pocketbook.” Feeling guilty Bruce Ismay arranged for Ernest's family to receive a life-long pension.

Though his grave lies in Nova Scotia in Canada I wanted to have a look at the memorial stone in Walton Cemetery. I found the correct field. Oddly there's a volunteer-run farm in the cemetery grounds and there were two donkeys in the field. I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to climb in but thankfully a woman was just arriving with a barrel of water. She said the donkeys would only nuzzle me if I had food in my pockets. “I can let you in for five minutes,” she said. I was hoping she’d disappear as taking photos of me pointing into the air and saluting can be a little embarrassing. I found the stone but it must have fallen over years ago and is now inlaid into the dirt. Donkey woman looked at me as though I was nuts as I did a couple of salutes but I’m used to it.

She must have sussed this was a geek on feet and told me one of the farm volunteers knew where a victim of the Lusitania ocean liner was buried in another part of the cemetery. I went to look for the volunteer. She said "he has grey hair" but every volunteer looked to have grey hair. I thought I’d go home and research it and go back – I don’t need much an excuse to return to a cemetery.

Looking for the memorial grave of Ernest killed when Titanic struck iceberg (thought to be over 100,000 years old.)

Ernest is buried in Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada…

The bottom left photo show Titanic and Olympic. Ernest worked on both…

Was glad to get out of there…