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| - William Charles Lindsay was a fireman of the Titanic. He survived the sinking. According to his account and collegue Walter Hurst, they both survived on the overturned Collapsible B. Strangly, Encyclopedia Titanica places him in Lifeboat 3 without any evidence. Charles was one of eleven children, six of whom died in infancy. His known siblings were: John Robert (b. 1877), May Gertrude (b. 1886), Alice Amelia (b. 1888), Elizabeth Ann (b. 1891) and Mabel Gladys (b. 1898).
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abstract
| - William Charles Lindsay was a fireman of the Titanic. He survived the sinking. According to his account and collegue Walter Hurst, they both survived on the overturned Collapsible B. Strangly, Encyclopedia Titanica places him in Lifeboat 3 without any evidence. He was born in Bedminster, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England on November 9th, 1881. He was the son of John Lindsay (1853-1901), a seaman, and Mary Tanner (1858-1935). His father was born in Antigua to English parents and his mother was a native of Bristol; they had married in Bristol in 1878. The family first settled in Bristol then moved to Dorset around 1888 before settling in Southampton sometime before the turn of the century where they ran a boarding house at 30 Chantry Road. Charles was one of eleven children, six of whom died in infancy. His known siblings were: John Robert (b. 1877), May Gertrude (b. 1886), Alice Amelia (b. 1888), Elizabeth Ann (b. 1891) and Mabel Gladys (b. 1898). In the months prior to Charles' birth his family were living at 10 St John's Road, Bedminster. He first appears on the 1891 census when he and his family were residing in Kinson, Dorset at Granville Road and his father was by now described as a Line Foreman for the Western Counties Telephone Company. Charles was listed as a Lance Corporal in the Royal Engineers Mounted and Imperial Yeomanry at the time of the 1901 census and he was stationed at Aldershot, Hampshire. His father had died just months prior to this census and his widowed mother and siblings were by now living at 30 Chantry Road which they would eventually turn into a boarding house. Charles was married in Southampton in mid-1910 to Harriett Maria Gates (b. 1882 in Southampton). The couple appear on the 1911 census living at 3 Coleman Street, St Mary, Southampton and Charles was described as a ship's fireman. He had went to sea around 1903. When he signed-on to the Titanic, on April 6th, 1912 Charles gave his local address as 3 Coleman Street, (Southampton). His last ship had been the Briton and he had also served aboard Olympic. As a fireman he received monthly wages of £6. He was apparently acquainted with the Clench brothers and Charles Newman who were also serving aboard the Titanic. Charles recounted shortly after the disaster that he was standing at the first funnel of the Titanic when the ship plunged and he was washed off, finding refuge atop upturned collapsible B. Surviving fireman Walter Hurst related in a 1950s interview that his mate Charles Lindsay offered him a hipflask. Believing it to be brandy, Walter took a mouthful but nearly choked when it turned out to be peppermint essence. Following the disaster Charles was reportedly deeply upset by his experiences and he returned to England aboard the Lapland and apparently continued a career at sea. Charles' wife had been pregnant at the time and gave birth to a daughter, Mabel Gladys on October 20th, 1912 (later Mrs Frederick Chivers and who died in 1990). Another child, a son named William Alfred was born in 1914. Charles and his wife lost their son William in 1926. Their daughter Mabel was married in 1937 to Frederick Chivers and they had one daughter, Sylvia, in 1943. Charles was widowed in 1944. In 1958 Charles was one of a handful of survivors to attend a special screening of A Night to Remember at the Odeon, Leicester, Square, London. Charles Lindsay spent the last years of his life living at 159 Manor Farm Road, Bitterne Park, Southampton. He passed away on 19 November 1960 aged 79.
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