Mr Harry John Stroud was born in Southampton, Hampshire, England on 11 September 1876.

He was the son of John Stroud (b. 1846), a sea steward, and Amelia Matilda Morey (b. 1845), both Hampshire natives who had married in 1874.
His known siblings were: Rosetta (b. 1879, later Mrs Walter Thomas Whitewood), William James (1881-1949), Gertrude Ellen (1886-1919, later Mrs Frederick William Eldridge Drew) and Bruce Frederick (1889-1966).

Harry first appears on the 1881 census when he and his family were residing at 36 Clifford Crescent in Southampton; they relocated to Essex sometime between 1882 and 1886 and appear on the 1891 census as residents of 79 Dongola Road, Plaistow.

Harry's seafaring father was lost at sea, reportedly on 21 September 1895;¹ his mother never remarried and the family eventually returned to Hampshire. He was absent from the 1901 census, perhaps at sea at the time, when the family were recorded as living at Angledown on Portswood Road, Southampton. By the time of the 1911 census Harry is recorded living with his mother at 167 Shirley Road, Southampton; Amelia Stroud was, according to contemporary media, invalided and dependent on her eldest son.

Harry's sister Rosetta ² was married in 1901 to Walter Thomas Whitewood (b. 1877) and emigrated around 1907 and settled in Hoboken, New Jersey. His brother William had emigrated in 1906 and lived in Chicago, Illinois where he worked as a waiter; he had married in March 1911 to an American woman, Rose Josephine Schaefer (b. 1882) and in 1912 lived at 217 East 31st Street, Chicago. It was Harry's intention to meet his sister Rosetta in New York and have a celebratory meal for Titanic's maiden voyage.  

When he signed-on to the Titanic on 4 April 1912 Harry gave his address as 167 Shirley Road, Shirley, Southampton. His previous ship had been the Danube and as saloon steward he received monthly wages of £3, 15s. Also serving aboard, as a second class steward, was his younger paternal cousin Edward Stroud.

Harry Stroud died in the sinking and his body, if recovered, was never identified; his cousin Edward was also among the lost.

His mother received financial aid of 3s, 0d per week from the Mansion House Titanic Relief Fund; she died in London in 1915.

Harry's brother William remained in Chicago and went on to have a daughter, Dorothy; he died on 7 July 1949. His sister Gertrude raised a family before her premature death at age 35 in 1919. His brother Bruce later married Christine Arabella Wright and raised a family; he died in Alresford, Hampshire on 28 June 1966.