The First Officer of the Titanic

by Graham Kirkpatrick

Captain William MacMaster Murdoch joined the Titanic from her sister ship the Olympic, of which he had also been First Officer. His family had been seafarers for generations. His father left his native Isle of Lewis and settled in Dalbeattie, Kirkcudbrightshire where his family could enjoy the kindlier climate of Galloway and he could be near the port of Palnackie on the lower reaches of the River Urr from whence his coastal sailing vessels took cargoes of roads setts and chippings from the granite quarry of Craignair Hill further up the river.