Mr James Anderson

Mr James Anderson, 40, was born in Newcastle.

When he signed-on to the Titanic, on 6 April 1912, he gave his address as 1 Cozens Court, (Lime St, Southampton)¹. His last ship had been the Cape Colona. As an able bodied seaman he received monthly wages of £5.

Anderson was rescued in lifeboat 3. 

What became of James anderson after this date remains a mystery but articles in the South Wales Echo and South Wales Daily News in 1914 describe a man named John Anderson, a "survivor of the Titanic", who had escaped from a mental asylum. 

South Wales Daily News
Escape from Whitchurch
29th June 1914

Search for Patient who was in The Titanic

The authorities of the City of Cardiff Mental Hospital have been much perturbed since Thursday by the escape of one of the patients from that institution.

John Anderson, a man of the seafaring class, of medium build, and about 40 years of age, has been missing since that day, and all efforts to trace him both by the asylum officials and the police have proved futile. Fortunately Anderson is a man of quiet disposition, and is suffering from a shock sustained when the Titanic sank, being one of the crew of that ill fated ship and only left the vessel in the last boat-load of those who escaped.

Anderson was a native of Southampton, where he resided with his brother, and inquiries are now being made in that town in the hope that the man may be traced. It is believed that Anderson had spent some time in the Cardiff district selling mementoes of the Titanic, and is thought he may return to the locality with a view to earning a livelihood.

There was no one of that name on the Titanic and there is no evidence that this man was James Anderson but it remains a faint possibility.

Notes

1. Probably a boarding house.

References and Sources

Agreement and Account of Crew (PRO London, BT100/259)
Hermann Söldner (ed.) (2000) RMS Titanic: Passenger and Crew List 10 April 1912-15 April 1912. ä wie Ärger Verlag.
South Wales Daily News (1914) Escape from Whitchurch, 29th June 1914
Craig Stringer Titanic People (CDROM)