The Story of One Man from Colne

I was driving through Colne, Lancashire, when I noticed a small Titanic museum, and this being the day she hit the iceberg 100 years ago, I decided to take a look.

Colne is an ancient market town and along with Nelson, was at the heart of the Lancashire cotton industry.

So why a Titanic museum here?

Well, there were 70 people from Lancashire that were either on the Titanic or closely involved. My blip is dedicated to the story of one man, Wallace Hartley from Colne and I found this, as written by www.pendle.net

Born in Colne in 1878, Wallace Hartley was giving solo violin performances by the age of 15 before going on to lead an orchestra in Bridlington. Pretty soon after that he took up a position with Cunard entertaining passengers on cruises across the Atlantic on such liners as the Mauretania and Lusitania. By the time he became bandmaster on the Titanic in 1912 he had made about 80 voyages.

It is reported that Wallace and the band played on as the Titanic sank. As it became apparent just how severe the catastrophe was to be they moved out to the boats and tried to calm the passengers by singing (and/or playing) hymns. Minutes later the entire band was washed away by a sudden wave as the Titanic made it's last plunge. A newspaper at the time reported, "the part played by the orchestra on board the Titanic in her last dreadful moments will rank among the noblest in the annals of heroism at sea."

Eventually (2 weeks after the disaster) Wallace's body was recovered by the the cable ship Mackay-Bennett, he was still wearing his bandsman's uniform of brown overcoat, green facings, black boots and green socks. Strapped to his body was his music box and in his pockets, amongst other things, was a gold fountain pen with his initials W.H.H. His body was transported back to Colne on the SS Arabic, packed in ice and embalmed. On May 18, 1912, the body of bandmaster Wallace Hartley was laid to rest in what one newspaper called "pageantry beyond belief."

The funeral service took place at the Bethel Chapel to a congregation of over 1000 (the chapel is designed to hold about 700). Around 40,000 people lined the route of the funeral procession as his rosewood casket made its way to Colne cemetery, led by seven bands.

The picture is a collage of the artefacts I photographed in the museum. One of which is the actual name plate from one of Titanic's lifeboats. The museum itself is small and I loved it as it was laid out in a 'homely' setting, that gives it it's charm.

What is it about tangible objects that bring something alive that is otherwise a part of history?