Mr Leopold Weisz

Mr Leopold Weisz, (28?, 32?), was born in Pest (1880?) and grew up in the Elizabeth district of the city, a Jewish neighbourhood. When he was 19 he went to study at the Bromsgrove Guild of Art in England where he met and married a native Belgian, a Roman Catholic, Mathilde Françoise Pëde.

In 1911, Mr Weisz found work in Montreal carving the frieze for the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts at 1379 Sherbrooke St. W., then was contracted by Edward Wren to carve the stone shields representing Canada's nine provinces which decorate the Dominion Express Building at 201 St. Jacques St. W. Both examples of his work still remain.

Montreal was in the middle of building boom in 1912 and Weisz decided "Quebec was the place to make money from art." He went back to England to fetch his wife. (He did not plan to return to Bromsgrove, but to set up business in Canada with Mr Wren.) The couple were to have sailed first class on another ship, but because of the coal strike, were transferred to Titanic. They booked their berths in March 1912 with Messrs Houlden Bros and Son and boarded the Titanic at Southampton (ticket number 228414, £26).

Before they boarded, Mr Weisz sewed his life savings, about $15,000 worth of gold, into the lining of his coat. On the night of the sinking he went for a walk on deck while his wife took part in the impromtu hymn sing in the Second Class Dining Room. Mrs Weisz sang the Last Rose of Summer and thought that her rendition had "met with great success." After the recital she joined her husband on deck, but the temperature had dropped to minus one degree C. They shivered, and as they headed inside, Mrs Weisz told her husband she felt "strange." "I guess we're in the ice," he replied. They had just returned to their cabin at 11:40 p.m. when they felt a tremor.

Mrs Weisz survived. He husband did not. Mrs Weisz was in danger of being deported back to England as an indigent until her husband's body was recovered (#293) and the gold sewn inside his coat returned to her.

His body was shipped to Montreal for burial in Section One of the Baron de Hirsch Cemetery. The exact location of the grave is not known.

Articles
Montreal Star, 6 May 1912, Body of L Weisz Titanic Victim Buried Here

Documents
Record of Bodies and Effects: Passengers and Crew, S.S. Titanic (Public Archives of Nova Scotia) (#293)

References
Birmingham Daily Gazette, 16 - 19 April 1912 inc.
Contract Ticket List, White Star Line 1912 (National Archives, New York; NRAN-21-SDNYCIVCAS-55[279])
Alan Hustak (1999) Titanic, The Canadian Story. Véhicule Press, ISBN 1-55065-113-7
List or Manifest of Alien Passengers for the United States Immigration Officer At Port Of Arrival (Ship: Carpathia)-National Archives, NWCTB-85-T715-Vol 4183
Montreal Daily Herald, 15 April 1932

Contributors
Alan Hustak, Canada
Alan Tucker, UK
Hermann Söldner, Germany

Travelling Companions (on same ticket)
Mrs Mathilde Françoise Weisz