Mr Alfred Frank Evans

Alfred Frank Evans

Mr Alfred Frank Evans, 25, was born in Southampton, Hampshire on 3 February 1887¹, the son of Charles Evans (Stevedore, Railways docks) and Elizabeth (nee Russell).  According to the 1911 census they had had nine children in total of whom only five had survived.

Evans enrolled in the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) on 14 July 1906, and was described in his RNR papers as being 5' 7 ½" with a fair complexion, blue eyes and a 36" chest. He also had tattoos of a woman and the faith, hope and charity symbol on his right arm. Among the items he lost on the Titanic was his RNR uniform.

Prior to joining the Titanic, he served as an able bodied seaman on the Oceanic from the 23 October 1911 to the 29 March 1912.

When he signed-on to the Titanic on 6 April 1912, Evans gave his age as 24 years, and his address as 20 Deal Street, St. Marys, Southampton. As a lookout he received monthly wages of £5.

On the night of the disaster Evans and fellow lookout George Hogg were on duty from 6 to 8 p.m. Jewell and Symons then took over for the 8 to 10 watch.

Evans was in bed when the Titanic collided with an iceberg. Evans and Hogg were woken by the impact and went forward to the forecastle to investigate. They relieved Fleet and Lee in the crows nest at eight bells (12 a.m.) about twenty minutes after the accident. They remained there about twenty minutes before heading to the boat deck.

Evans was rescued in lifeboat 15.

From September 1913 to 29 April 1914 Evans worked in the Southampton dockyards, after which he made several voyages in the Olympic.

With the outbreak of war, Evans was barracked on HMS Victory, and after his war service was demobilised on the 25 February 1919. He was later awarded the 1914 Star and Clasp, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

From 1 April 1920 to the 1 April 1921 Evans' records indicate that he worked in Harland & Wolff's Southampton shipyards. When he applied to rejoin the RNR in April 1921 his application was rejected on the basis that he had an 'organic heart disease'. As he was not invalided from active service, it was ruled that he was ineligible for the award of disability payments.

In later years Evans lived at Oaktree Road, Bitterne Park, Southampton and worked for the Southampton shipyard Camper Nicholson Ltd. He retired following a fall and died in Southampton on 1st February 1964 aged 76. His family recall that all his life he chose not to talk about the sinking.

Notes

1. His birth was registered in the first quarter of 1887 so he must have been 25 on the Titanic, not 24 as he stated.  His RNR record gives the year as 1886.

References and Sources

GRO Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths
Agreement and Account of Crew (PRO London, BT100/259)
RNR papers, National Archives : Evans: (PRO BT 377)
Wreck Commissioners' Court, Proceedings before the Right Hon. Lord Mersey on a Formal Investigation Ordered by the Board of Trade into the Loss of the S.S. Titanic
United States Senate (62nd Congress), Subcommittee Hearings of the Committee on Commerce, Titanic Disaster, Washington 1912
Southern Evening Echo, 15 April 1980

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Titanic Research  (2003)

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