Robert Hichens

[Taylor Marino]

Hmmmmmm...what a great question! I personally don't think that I have an answer for that, Evgueni(wonderful name, by the way). In no way do I think that he is a "villain", but I do agree that the media and the public wish to view him that way. The volunteer work that I put on at the "Molly" Brown House Museum, in Denver, has never really had the need for a touch on what happened in Lifeboat No. 6, but lately I have been describing Margaret's views of Robert. Margaret did believe that he was a coward, but wasn't it hard not to be one! You have a gigantic ship in the middle of the freezing as hell ocean, and the gigantic ship is sinking! And we also have to remember that Robert held the wheel at the time that Titanic hit, most likely causing emotional guilt. Some people's coping tool is to curl up in a ball and portray "cowardness." My personal view is that Robert was an emotionally unstable man at the time because of what was going on. I don't think that we can portray him as a coward, but then I don't think we can.

 

[Evgueni Mlodik]

Hey! You live in Denver? What a coincidence, me too! But can you believe I've never been to the Molly Brown house?!

 

[Taylor Marino]

WOW...what a coincidence! And yes, I CAN'T believe that you have not been the the Molly Brown House!! You should try to get there this summer...it is really fun!

 

[Ella Jones]

I am not to sure but I can recall a member months ago mentioning that Hichens had a criminal record at the time of the disaster.
I won't mention he's name just in case I have it all wrong (I don't want to him into a fool)
So Hichens had a criminal record and what for,what was the crime he committed?

 

[Fiona Nitschke]

Ella, I think you're a little muddled on chronology there. Take a look at Hichens' biography and the associated newspaper items, and you'll see he was charged with attempted murder in 1933, and was sentenced to five years penal servitude for the same. There's no mention of any criminal record in the lead up to his sailing on Titanic.

 

[Dan E. Parkes]

Considering the detailed and at times quite heated discussion in this particular thread over whether Hichens was ever a harbourmaster in Cape Town in 1914, I thought it might be beneficial to add that there is now an article that researches this at some length and provides an interesting insight into the life and times of Robert Hichens, which can be found here:

Why Hichens Was Not in Cape Town in 1914 | William Murdoch

 

[Caroline Mendes Ferreira]

quartermaster Hichens

After the disaster he took 6 of the boat which was responsible. Passenger accused that he refused to return to rescue people who were in the water he called the people in the water bodies and he always criticized those who rowed while he was at the helm. From what I studied I saw that many were tired of Hichens. Bad to the investigation said that he never said the word corpses