Joseph J. Fynney, 35, a Liverpool rubber merchant was going to visit his widowed mother who lived in Montreal, Canada. Fynney's father died in 1894, and his mother moved to Canada to live with her daughter, Martha Hoseason.

Fynney was a handsome bachelor, and spent a lot of his time in the company of younger men. He worked with delinquent youngsters at his parish church, St. James, Toxteth, and neighbours often complained about the late night comings and goings of young boys to his house at 13 Parkway in Liverpool.

He often travelled to Canada to visit his mother, and each time he made the trip, he brought a male teenage companion with him. On this occasion he was travelling with a sixteen year old apprentice barrel maker, Alfred Gaskell. Both men boarded the Titanic at Southampton as second class passengers. They died in the sinking.

Fynney's body was recovered by the Minia and is buried in Mount Royal cemetery in Montreal, Section G-1701A.

© Alan Hustak, Canada

References
Alan Hustak (1999) Titanic: The Canadian Story. Véhicule Press. ISBN 1 55065 113 7

Contributors
Alan Hustak, Canada
Diane Lapierre, Canada

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Travelling Companions (on same ticket)
Mr Alfred Gaskell