Contact Information for Titanic Descendants

[Kyrila Scully]

No one - NO ONE - who visits this forum will be granted information on contacting descendants of Titanic passengers and crew by any of the members of this board who may be privileged to know the families. We respect their privacy and guard it jealously. Speaking as one of the members of this forum, I ask that all such requests cease and desist whether it be posted on this forum or via private email.

Kind regards,
Kyrila Scully

 

[Mike Poirier]

I think the more logical thing is that people should first take the initiative to read the passenger/crew biographies. From there, see if it lists descendants. If it does, try and research the family tree on the net, whether it be www.ancestry.com or google or whatever.
Sometimes relatives leave messages on message boards, not only on ET but geneaology sites. Some relatives enjoy hearing from serious researchers; others do not. We cannot discourage people from asking, we should ENCOURAGE people to do the research on their own. That seems to work better than negative responses. It seems to give people a sense of feeling good to do the work on their own. It's kind of like research in general, people can either copy it and cut and paste it into a book, or with a little encouragement to go out there and do their own research- libraries, colleges, historical societies, archives.. it tends to work better.

 

[Kyrila Scully]

Encouragement for serious researchers is one thing; harrassing members either on this forum or private email is another. Certainly we don't want to discourage the former, but the latter need to be put on notice.

Kyrila

 

[Mike Poirier]

I would say then that all harrassing posts
and private emails be forwarded to Phil/moderators to be dealt with at once.

 

[Mark Baber]

Please suspend this discussion. The moderators are in the process of preparing a response, which will be posted once all of them have been heard from since the issue relates to how the Board should operate.

Thanks.

 

[Mark Baber]

From the moderators, a majority of whom, all agreeing with the following, have now been heard from:

Requesting contact information for members of passengers' families is NOT prohibited by this Board's rules. While in many (perhaps most) instances those who have such information in their possession would not feel free to provide it, there are other instances where that's not the case. Moreover, there are relatives of Titanic passengers who are either members of this board or who read it regularly and might or might not be adverse to contacting, or being contacted by, passenger researchers.

Furthermore, any statements as to what should or should not be addressed on this message board or in private exchanges between members are expressions of personal opinion only, unless made by Phil Hind or one of the moderators. Individual members of the message board are never authorized to make such statements on our behalf and we have never taken the position that we can direct members to "cease and desist" any personal, off-board exchanges.

 

[Randy Bryan Bigham]

I’m afraid I don’t find the moderators’ statement quite adequate. This isn’t merely a matter of researchers’ sharing pertinent contact info with other members. It’s a matter of members being harassed via the ET email system by others seeking that contact info. This should be addressed as it’s an abuse of the system and the forum’s membership.

In my (admittedly narrow) experience, descendants of Titanic passengers are private people who don’t seek notoriety and don’t welcome "fan" letters or questionnaires. Their privacy should be guarded just as the privacy of the last two survivors’ privacy is being guarded. I can’t think of a researcher of any standing who would give out Titanic relatives’ addresses or phone numbers at the on- or off-line request of individuals without knowing them, or at least being familiar with their work.

ET should stand on the side of protecting the privacy of survivors’ and victims’ descendants, and should discourage the use of this message board by unprincipled fans to surreptitiously gain contact that could prove problematic or even harmful to those relatives.

What has been offered above is basically a "get-out-of-jail-free" card for anyone who wants to contact other members through this site and berate them to give them what they want. Obviously, the only plan of action for members to protect themselves against unwanted correspondence is to choose not to receive private messages at all. I’ve always tried to be open to other members’ questions and projects, and have usually helped them if I possibly could. But I don’t have another option.

Even so, the moderators should have taken a stronger stance against misuse of the message board and the harassment of members.

 

[Jim Kalafus]

>It’s a matter of members being harassed via the ET email system by others seeking that contact info. This should be addressed as it’s an abuse of the system and the forum’s membership.

>What has been offered above is basically a "get-out-of-jail-free" card for anyone who wants to contact other members through this site and berate them to give them what they want.

Respectfully- delete the emails unopened after the first one, and report the sender to one of the moderators. Cut and paste the inappropriate message, and include it with an explanation of why you find it inappropriate, and I am sure that they will take action.

 

[Randy Bryan Bigham]

That makes sense now but at the time I didn’t realize what I was in for. I felt sorry for the guy and wanted to help him, but I couldn’t shake him off after I realized he just wanted addresses. I also initially didn’t want him to be suspended or banned, which may have happened if I made a formal complaint. I know what to do now, of course, and your points are well taken.

 

[Grant Woollacott]

"but I couldn’t shake him off after I realized he just wanted addresses." randy please stop making me out to only want addresses.

 

[Mark Baber]

Randy and Grant, you're obviously at loggerheads over the nature of Grant's emails. Continuing this discussion in public serves no useful purpose.

Please be guided accordingly.

 

[Mark Baber]

To address Randy's first message in this thread:

quote:

It’s a matter of members being harassed via the ET email system by others seeking that contact info.

As I said in the email I sent you earlier, Randy, that's an entirely different issue than the one raised by Kyrila. The sending of abusive or harassing messages through the message board private message system is not permitted.

quote:

Their privacy should be guarded just as the privacy of the last two survivors’ privacy is being guarded.

We have never permitted anyone's private contact information to be posted on the board, except where (a) someone posts his or her own information or (b) the information appears on that person's web site (as mine does on greatships.net, for example).

quote:

I can’t think of a researcher of any standing who would give out Titanic relatives’ addresses or phone numbers at the on- or off-line request of individuals without knowing them, or at least being familiar with their work.

That's their decision, though, no? As long as we don't permit it to be posted on the board, there's nothing we can do to stop that.

quote:

What has been offered above is basically a "get-out-of-jail-free" card for anyone who wants to contact other members through this site and berate them to give them what they want.

I don't see it that way, and I don't plan to administer it that way, and I'm sure the same is true of the other moderators.

At this point I haven't had a chance to hear from most of the other moderators about the content of this message, so it should for now be considered a response from me alone, and not from us as a group.​

 

[Liz N]

My grandfather was James Dennis Lester known as Dennis who father was Jsmes Lester who died on the Titanic

 

[Alexi]

My grandfather was James Dennis Lester known as Dennis who father was Jsmes Lester who died on the Titanic

Thank you for writing here x
have you got any family stories about him you feel comfortable to share with us?