News Release
Lakehead University
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Recovering the Last of the Lost from the R.M.S. Titanic Disaster
(Halifax, N.S., May 16,2001) When the Titanic plunged under the North Atlantic waters in the early morning hours of April 15th, 1912, those held in the icy fingers of the ocean were quickly drained of life by the sub freezing waters, except for the 712 fortunate individuals in the open lifeboats. The lifeless forms drifted with the swell of the sea. Those in life jackets stayed afloat, while those without slowly and silently slid beneath the waves.
The disaster required the services of four vessels, contracted by the White Star Line, ILo recover the dead. The agonizing search lasted for nearly two months, April 17 - June 6th, resulting in a grim harvest of 328 bodies. Of these, 150 were buried in Halifax in one of three cemeteries, Forty-three of these remains are still not identified, The rest were either buried at sea, or claimed by family and shipped for burial elsewhere.
For some, the loss remains poignant and personal, even today. Such are the feelings of the second and third generations of individuals and families who lost a relative on that night. Three extended families hope to recover their dead by confirming their relationship to a specific unidentified victim, buried in the Titanic plot of the Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, by DNA analysis. Principal Investigator, Dr. Ryan Parr, Co-Director of the Paleo-DNA Laboratory at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario, will lead the research team, Co-investigators are Dr. Scott I. Fairgrieve of Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario and Mr. Alan Ruffman of Geomarine Associates Limited in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Based on a careful assessment of the coroner's records housed at the Public Archives of Nova Scotia and collaborative research between family members and the research team, a partial exhumation for sampling purposes has been requested for three graves: No. 281, No. 240, and No. 4. The proposed work has been screened by the Lakehead University Research Ethics Board to ensure that it conforms with the 1998 Tri-Council Statement for Research on Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans and the 1999 supplement: Ethics Procedures and Guidelines for Research Involving Humans. Moreover, Ethical Conduct Forms from living relatives have been obtained. The full package of data has been submitted to the Medical Officer of Health for the Capital District Health Authority, Province of Nova Scotia (Dr. Robert Strang, MD, MHSC, FRCPC), for approval of each of the three partial exhumations.
In all aspects of the project, including the partial exhumations, the research team, is committed to respecting individual and family wishes of anonymity. The possible confirmation of the identify of these victims is very important to those involved to gain closure surrounding an aspect of their respective family histories which has eluded them for almost a century,
Applied Biosystems and the Northern Ontario Heritage Foundation Corporation have covered the project expenses.
The scientists will be available to speak to the media at a media conference on Friday May 18 at 7:00 p.m. (Atlantic time). The media conference will take place at the Lord Nelson Hotel, Admiral Room, 151 5 S. Park Street in Halifax.
For further information or to schedule an interview with the researchers, contact:
Nancy Angus, Lakehead University, 807-626-6499 (cell), 807-343-8372, nancy.angus@lakeheadu.ca
Paul de la Riva, Laurentian University, 70"90-8125 (cell), 705-675-1151 X 3406, pdelariva@nickel-laurentian-ca
Alan Ruffman, Geomarine Associates 902-422-6482
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BACKGROUND INFORMATION
DNA Analyses
Mitochondrial DNA
Everyone inherits their mitochondria from their mother because mitochondria, the power plant of cells, are found outside the nucleus in the ovum. In comparison to the nucleus, mitochondria have a modest complement of DNA The order, or sequence of the four letters in the DNA alphabet (G,A,T,C), in a certain, short region of mitochondrial DNA spell out a specific maternal lineage, or maternal "family name." This pattern persists throuah many generations, and can be used in a genealogical sense to identify famly members through the family name written in the genetic sentences of mitochondrial DNA. Two of the unidentified individuals Nos. 4 and 281, have contemporary maternal relatives. In both instances, these relatives have, or are in the process of being typed for their maternal, family names for comparison to the maternal names of burials 4 and 281, if preservation of the burials permits adequate DNA recovery.
Nuclear DNA
Nuclear DINA is inherited from both mother and father, 23 chromosomes from each. In the case of burial No. 240 maternal relatives could not be found, Moreover, the resting place of the mother could not be located. The family requested a genetic comparison between the deceased father and the potential son (No. 240). Kinship in this potential father-son pair will be analyzed by means of chromosomal DNA markers as used for forensic identification and paternity testing to reconstruct so-called "genetic fingerprints" and evaluate the possibility of relatedness. Paternal information can be expected from analysis of similar genetic markers located on the sex-determining Y-chromosome. This chromosome is exclusively passed from a father to son. In case of paternity it should show identical genetic patterns for both individuals, just as mitochondrial DNA is identical through a maternal line. This comparison is also dependent upon the preservation of both father and son.
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PROJECT PERSONNEL AND DUTIES
DNA Analysis:
Dr. Ryan Parr, Principal Investigator
Co-Director of the Paleo-DNA Laboratory
Department of -Anthropology
Lakehead University
Thunder Bay, Ontario
Dr. J.E. Molto
Co-director Of the Paleo-DNA Laboratory
Department of Anthropology
Lakehead University
Thunder Bay, Ontario
Dr. Wera M. Schmerer
Department of Anthropology
Lakehead University
Thunder Bay, Ontario
Exhumation and Procurement of Tissue Samples:
Dr. Scott I. Fairgreve
Co-investisator
Director Of the Forensic Osteology Laboratory
Laurentian Univesiryty
Sudbury, Ontario
Ms. Tracy Oost
Manager of the Forensic Osteology Laboratory
Laurentian University
Sudbury, Ontario
Halifax based expert on RMS Titanic
Mr. Alan Ruffman
Co-Investizator
President, Geomarine Associates Limited
Halifax
Nova Scotia
Author of Titanic Pemembered: The Unsinkable Ship and Halifax
Formac Pubfishing Company Limited (1999)
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Project Funding
Applied Biosystems
Mr. Omead Ostadan
Division Headquarters
850 Lincoln Centre Drive
Foster City, CA, U.S.A.
Northern Ontario Heritage Foundation Corporation
Rae Anne HorLey (Nortbem Development Advisor)
435 James Street South
Suite 312
Thunder Bay, Ontario
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Schedule
Thursday May 17
Tent up and area perimeter secured at Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax Nova Scotia
Friday May 18
Partial exhumations of three burials (No. 281 (female), No. 240 (male), No. 4 (male))
The area surrounding the partial exhumations will be concealed from public view by a tent in order to preserve the dignity of the investigation.
A perimeter will be set up surrounding the tent, Security personnel will be present to control access to the site.
Partial exhumations to be conducted by cemetery personnel and the Director and Laboratory Manager of the Forensic Osteology Laboratory, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario
Samples for DNA testing will be acquired during the partial exhumation procedure. Once samples have been acquired, the remains will be reburied in the same location.
Once the partial exhumations and sample acquisitions are complete, the scientists will be available at a media conference at 7.00 p.m. (Atlantic Time) on Friday May 18. The media conference will be held at the Lord Nelson Hotel in Halifax.
The DNA samples will be transferred, to Drs. Parr and Molto for analysis at the, Paleo-DNA Laboratory, at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario
The results of the DNA analysis should be complete within 6 months, The results will be communicated to the families involved.
With the permission of the families the DNA results win be presented at academic Conferences, and then subsequently in appropriate academic peer-reviewed journals.
Reporting of the results to the scientific community will be conducted in such a way as to preserve the anonymity of the families involved in this project
<HR WIDTH=75% SIZE=2>
BACKGROUND ON R.M.S. TITANIC
Struck an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on April 14, 1912,
Sank, at 2:20 a.m. on April 15.
Designed to carry 3,295 people (2,435 passengers and 860 crew).
Carried 2,209 passengers and crew on the night of the sinking
324 First Class passengers, 285 Second Class passengers, 709 Third Class passengers and 891 crew members.
Lifeboat capacity: 1,178
Number of survivors: 712 (according to Hermann Soldner’s (2000) Passenger and Crew List).
Number of victims: 1,497 (according to Soldner (2000).
209 bodies returned to Halifax, Nova Scotia by recovery vessels,
150 bodies buried in Halifax
121 in Fairview Lawn (non-denominational) Cemetery
10 in Baron De Hirsch(Jewish) Cemetery
19 in Mount Olivet (Catholic) Cemetery
59 bodies identified and returned to families from the morgue in Halifax
43 bodies of unidentified Titanic passengers and crew currently buried in Halifax cemeteries:
Fairview Lawn Cemetery 30
Baron De Hirsch Cemetery 8
Mount Olivet Cemetery 5
Lakehead University
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Recovering the Last of the Lost from the R.M.S. Titanic Disaster
(Halifax, N.S., May 16,2001) When the Titanic plunged under the North Atlantic waters in the early morning hours of April 15th, 1912, those held in the icy fingers of the ocean were quickly drained of life by the sub freezing waters, except for the 712 fortunate individuals in the open lifeboats. The lifeless forms drifted with the swell of the sea. Those in life jackets stayed afloat, while those without slowly and silently slid beneath the waves.
The disaster required the services of four vessels, contracted by the White Star Line, ILo recover the dead. The agonizing search lasted for nearly two months, April 17 - June 6th, resulting in a grim harvest of 328 bodies. Of these, 150 were buried in Halifax in one of three cemeteries, Forty-three of these remains are still not identified, The rest were either buried at sea, or claimed by family and shipped for burial elsewhere.
For some, the loss remains poignant and personal, even today. Such are the feelings of the second and third generations of individuals and families who lost a relative on that night. Three extended families hope to recover their dead by confirming their relationship to a specific unidentified victim, buried in the Titanic plot of the Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, by DNA analysis. Principal Investigator, Dr. Ryan Parr, Co-Director of the Paleo-DNA Laboratory at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario, will lead the research team, Co-investigators are Dr. Scott I. Fairgrieve of Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario and Mr. Alan Ruffman of Geomarine Associates Limited in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Based on a careful assessment of the coroner's records housed at the Public Archives of Nova Scotia and collaborative research between family members and the research team, a partial exhumation for sampling purposes has been requested for three graves: No. 281, No. 240, and No. 4. The proposed work has been screened by the Lakehead University Research Ethics Board to ensure that it conforms with the 1998 Tri-Council Statement for Research on Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans and the 1999 supplement: Ethics Procedures and Guidelines for Research Involving Humans. Moreover, Ethical Conduct Forms from living relatives have been obtained. The full package of data has been submitted to the Medical Officer of Health for the Capital District Health Authority, Province of Nova Scotia (Dr. Robert Strang, MD, MHSC, FRCPC), for approval of each of the three partial exhumations.
In all aspects of the project, including the partial exhumations, the research team, is committed to respecting individual and family wishes of anonymity. The possible confirmation of the identify of these victims is very important to those involved to gain closure surrounding an aspect of their respective family histories which has eluded them for almost a century,
Applied Biosystems and the Northern Ontario Heritage Foundation Corporation have covered the project expenses.
The scientists will be available to speak to the media at a media conference on Friday May 18 at 7:00 p.m. (Atlantic time). The media conference will take place at the Lord Nelson Hotel, Admiral Room, 151 5 S. Park Street in Halifax.
For further information or to schedule an interview with the researchers, contact:
Nancy Angus, Lakehead University, 807-626-6499 (cell), 807-343-8372, nancy.angus@lakeheadu.ca
Paul de la Riva, Laurentian University, 70"90-8125 (cell), 705-675-1151 X 3406, pdelariva@nickel-laurentian-ca
Alan Ruffman, Geomarine Associates 902-422-6482
<HR WIDTH=75% SIZE=2>
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
DNA Analyses
Mitochondrial DNA
Everyone inherits their mitochondria from their mother because mitochondria, the power plant of cells, are found outside the nucleus in the ovum. In comparison to the nucleus, mitochondria have a modest complement of DNA The order, or sequence of the four letters in the DNA alphabet (G,A,T,C), in a certain, short region of mitochondrial DNA spell out a specific maternal lineage, or maternal "family name." This pattern persists throuah many generations, and can be used in a genealogical sense to identify famly members through the family name written in the genetic sentences of mitochondrial DNA. Two of the unidentified individuals Nos. 4 and 281, have contemporary maternal relatives. In both instances, these relatives have, or are in the process of being typed for their maternal, family names for comparison to the maternal names of burials 4 and 281, if preservation of the burials permits adequate DNA recovery.
Nuclear DNA
Nuclear DINA is inherited from both mother and father, 23 chromosomes from each. In the case of burial No. 240 maternal relatives could not be found, Moreover, the resting place of the mother could not be located. The family requested a genetic comparison between the deceased father and the potential son (No. 240). Kinship in this potential father-son pair will be analyzed by means of chromosomal DNA markers as used for forensic identification and paternity testing to reconstruct so-called "genetic fingerprints" and evaluate the possibility of relatedness. Paternal information can be expected from analysis of similar genetic markers located on the sex-determining Y-chromosome. This chromosome is exclusively passed from a father to son. In case of paternity it should show identical genetic patterns for both individuals, just as mitochondrial DNA is identical through a maternal line. This comparison is also dependent upon the preservation of both father and son.
<HR WIDTH=75% SIZE=2>
PROJECT PERSONNEL AND DUTIES
DNA Analysis:
Dr. Ryan Parr, Principal Investigator
Co-Director of the Paleo-DNA Laboratory
Department of -Anthropology
Lakehead University
Thunder Bay, Ontario
Dr. J.E. Molto
Co-director Of the Paleo-DNA Laboratory
Department of Anthropology
Lakehead University
Thunder Bay, Ontario
Dr. Wera M. Schmerer
Department of Anthropology
Lakehead University
Thunder Bay, Ontario
Exhumation and Procurement of Tissue Samples:
Dr. Scott I. Fairgreve
Co-investisator
Director Of the Forensic Osteology Laboratory
Laurentian Univesiryty
Sudbury, Ontario
Ms. Tracy Oost
Manager of the Forensic Osteology Laboratory
Laurentian University
Sudbury, Ontario
Halifax based expert on RMS Titanic
Mr. Alan Ruffman
Co-Investizator
President, Geomarine Associates Limited
Halifax
Nova Scotia
Author of Titanic Pemembered: The Unsinkable Ship and Halifax
Formac Pubfishing Company Limited (1999)
<HR WIDTH=75% SIZE=2>
Project Funding
Applied Biosystems
Mr. Omead Ostadan
Division Headquarters
850 Lincoln Centre Drive
Foster City, CA, U.S.A.
Northern Ontario Heritage Foundation Corporation
Rae Anne HorLey (Nortbem Development Advisor)
435 James Street South
Suite 312
Thunder Bay, Ontario
<HR WIDTH=75% SIZE=2>
Schedule
Thursday May 17
Tent up and area perimeter secured at Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax Nova Scotia
Friday May 18
Partial exhumations of three burials (No. 281 (female), No. 240 (male), No. 4 (male))
The area surrounding the partial exhumations will be concealed from public view by a tent in order to preserve the dignity of the investigation.
A perimeter will be set up surrounding the tent, Security personnel will be present to control access to the site.
Partial exhumations to be conducted by cemetery personnel and the Director and Laboratory Manager of the Forensic Osteology Laboratory, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario
Samples for DNA testing will be acquired during the partial exhumation procedure. Once samples have been acquired, the remains will be reburied in the same location.
Once the partial exhumations and sample acquisitions are complete, the scientists will be available at a media conference at 7.00 p.m. (Atlantic Time) on Friday May 18. The media conference will be held at the Lord Nelson Hotel in Halifax.
The DNA samples will be transferred, to Drs. Parr and Molto for analysis at the, Paleo-DNA Laboratory, at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario
The results of the DNA analysis should be complete within 6 months, The results will be communicated to the families involved.
With the permission of the families the DNA results win be presented at academic Conferences, and then subsequently in appropriate academic peer-reviewed journals.
Reporting of the results to the scientific community will be conducted in such a way as to preserve the anonymity of the families involved in this project
<HR WIDTH=75% SIZE=2>
BACKGROUND ON R.M.S. TITANIC
Struck an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on April 14, 1912,
Sank, at 2:20 a.m. on April 15.
Designed to carry 3,295 people (2,435 passengers and 860 crew).
Carried 2,209 passengers and crew on the night of the sinking
324 First Class passengers, 285 Second Class passengers, 709 Third Class passengers and 891 crew members.
Lifeboat capacity: 1,178
Number of survivors: 712 (according to Hermann Soldner’s (2000) Passenger and Crew List).
Number of victims: 1,497 (according to Soldner (2000).
209 bodies returned to Halifax, Nova Scotia by recovery vessels,
150 bodies buried in Halifax
121 in Fairview Lawn (non-denominational) Cemetery
10 in Baron De Hirsch(Jewish) Cemetery
19 in Mount Olivet (Catholic) Cemetery
59 bodies identified and returned to families from the morgue in Halifax
43 bodies of unidentified Titanic passengers and crew currently buried in Halifax cemeteries:
Fairview Lawn Cemetery 30
Baron De Hirsch Cemetery 8
Mount Olivet Cemetery 5
