Mr Edward Brown

Mr Edward Brown was born in Holyhead on 20 March 1878.

He initially signed-on to the Titanic in Belfast for her delivery trip to Southampton. When he signed-on for the second time, in Southampton, on 4 April 1912, he gave his address as 43 Suffolk Road, (Southampton). Brown had served as a steward on board several White Star ships before the Titanic, among them the Cedric, Teutonic, Oceanic, Adriatic, and, most recently, the Olympic. As a first class steward he received £3 15s per month.

On the evening of 14 April, Brown was awakened by the collision with the iceberg, and after 20-25 minutes, was ordered up to the boat deck. He went to his assigned station, which was Lifeboat 5. Following the order of 'women and children first,' Brown helped load Lifeboats 5, 3, 1, and Collapsible C.

After helping see these boats off, Brown aided in the attempt to launch Collapsible A. He recalled seeing Captain Smith shouting orders through a megaphone, and then entering the wheelhouse at this time. After the boat was hooked up to the davits, the bridge submerged, and the water began to swirl around his feet. Brown leapt into the collapsible, and cut the aft falls. A wave hit the boat as he was standing in it, washing everyone overboard. Brown was wearing a lifebelt, and was eventually rescued in Collapsible A.

Available Documents
Crew Particulars of Engagement

Inquiry Testimony
(Courtesy of the Titanic Inquiry Project)
Board of Trade Hearings, 16 June, 1912, Testimony

References
Agreement and Account of Crew (PRO London, BT100/259)
Particulars of Engagement (Belfast), Ulster Folk and Transport Museum (TRANS 2A/45 381)
Walter Lord (1976) A Night to Remember. London, Penguin. ISBN 0 14 004757 3
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

Contributors
Tad Fitch, USA
Brian Ticehurst, UK