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RMS Titanic Passengers and Crew
Crew Research
Individual Officers
William McMaster Murdoch First Officer
Did Murdoch shoot himself?
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[QUOTE="Seumas, post: 452665, member: 168076"] With regard to Harry Wilde (to his family and friends he was Harry, not Henry) suffering from crippling depression, the publication of his letters (he was an articulate man and a prolific letter writer) rather knocked that idea on the head. Sadly they haven't been as widely read in the Titanic community as they should have. The death of Polly Wilde in 1911 on the back of the death of his two sons likely born premature in 1910, had indeed left him suffering from what we would now call clinical depression. Indeed, he mentions not really trying or paying attention during his RNR spell in 1911 and yet to his surprise still manages to pass his courses with high marks. However, by 1912 his letters show clear, strong evidence that he was beginning to move on. He remarks that Polly would want him to get on with his life, and then there were the kids. If there is one thing you take away from reading his letters, Wilde was a fiercely devoted father, he writes of knowing that they needed him and he needed them. He wasn't the kind to abandon them forever. Before taking up his appointment aboard the Titanic, Wilde wrote to his eldest daughter mentioning that he planned to apply for leave and take them all to North Wales for a family holiday. Then there was the matter of the career he loved. Wilde had also been told verbally by the WSL that he would be promoted to captain permanently and take command of the Cufic on the Australian run that year. He was very excited about this. It would have been his first permanent command and second overall, having previously taken been acting captain of the Zeeland for one voyage. The appointment was of course delayed by the coal strike which was frustrating for him. Nonetheless, with the strike now over and things slowly getting back to normal Wilde would have known that the command of the Cufic was now back on the horizon. The Cufic was also an ideal command for him, she was based in Liverpool, and he could now see his children more often than when he had to serve aboard the Oceanic or Olympic out of Southampton. He had even bought a new cap, the WSL regulation cap for a captain no less, a few weeks before sailing aboard the Titanic . This cap is still in the possession of his grandchildren. The evidence for Harry Wilde being in a depressive stupor and welcoming his death aboard the Titanic is not there. Quite the opposite in fact. On the subject of the Portrush letter, I'm afraid that I don't take Mr Molony's "knockout evidence" of Murdoch's suicide that seriously, I'm afraid. Mr Molony is very, very careful not to mention whether the so called "Portrush letter" actually, physically exists today. That is highly suspicious. A court of law for example would not admit evidence of "he heard about from X who heard it from Y who was told about it by Z who read it in a letter". That's just ridiculous. Let's see the letter if it truly does exist. Alternatively, file under "dubious". [Moderator's note: This post and the previous recent ones above have been moved to this thread, which is discussing the supposed officer suicide. JDT] [/QUOTE]
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RMS Titanic Passengers and Crew
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William McMaster Murdoch First Officer
Did Murdoch shoot himself?
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