Survivors' Suicide Attempts

[lisa lacey]

Hi Can someone please help me. During a conversation I was told of some Titanic survivors committing suicide. After months of trying to find out anything about this I have been unable to find any information on this.This started me thinking about the state of the mental health of the survivors after the event. Was anything documented? If there were suicides were they mostly men? Did society at the time perceive all male survivors to be cowards? i.e J.Bruce Ismay feeling he had to live out the rest of his life as a recluse. If anyone has ANY information at all on this subject, or if anyone could recommend any books/websites I would be really grateful.

Regards

Lisa

 

[Lucy Steigerwald]

Frederick Fleet and Jack Thayer (though there have been discussions about Thayer's death being possibly a murder on these boards) killed themselves maybe decades after being on the Titanic. Fleet was sad about the death of his wife, and Thayer about his son in World War II I believe.

No other suicides come to mind.

 

[Bob Godfrey]

Hallo, Lisa, and welcome to the forum. Here's a link to an archived thread on the subject of survivors who took their own lives:

Survivors' suicides

As did George Brereton, who shot himself and Juha Niskanen, who set fire to his cabin and then shot himself. Their death certificates verify that.

www.encyclopedia-titanica.org

There were seven cases known. All but one were male, and all were due to problems which had no obvious connection with the Titanic disaster.
.

 

[Tad G. Fitch]

Hello Lisa. Another Titanic survivor who committed suicide was Dr. Washington Dodge, but like the others, it was quite a while after the disaster. As Bob wrote, there is no obvious connection between the known suicides of survivors and the Titanic disaster.

Based on knowledge from my own career field, I would have to say that the number of survivors who committed suicide is not any larger than what would be expected if you took a random sample of 700+ people and tracked them over the course of several decades. I suppose it is possible that while not playing a significant role in their suicides, these events could have played a part in a cumulative effect of negative life occurrences leading to it, but to say this would be pure speculation. People all react differently to crisis situations and severe stress, and the more stress and negative life experiences one has had or is having, the more likely they are to suffer from depression or to try harming themselves. However, this would be quite different from saying that these survivors committed suicide directly in reaction to the disaster.
Kind regards,
Tad

 

[Randy Bryan Bigham]

The one survivor suicide that was at least "reported" to have been due to emotional stress brought on by the Titanic was the death of stewardess Annie Robinson, who threw herself off a ship during a fog (I think) as it approached New York Harbor. This was in 1914 or so. I don’t have any notes on it. I just ran across it while doing other research. But I believe there’s a thread somewhere on this site mentioning more about Miss Robinson’s suicide.

 

[Mark Baber]

Hello, Randy---

It was 1914, but it was Boston, not New York. The New York Times' report of Ms. Robinson's apparent suicide appears here: TITANIC SURVIVOR LOST

 

[Tad G. Fitch]

Interesting information Randy, I have never heard of that incident and the reported cause of it. I will have to look for the thread. Hope you're doing well.
All my best,
Tad

 

[Tad G. Fitch]

Thanks for posting that link Mark, looks like our posts crossed, because I did not see your post before I wrote mine. Hmmm, reading that article, it does not claim that she committed suicide due to the Titanic. Was this reported in another article about it I wonder? It might be another case where it is not directly linked, but people suggested it was or assumed it was. Interesting stuff!
Tad

PS: I cannot recall all of the details off-hand, but there has been some speculation that Dr. Washington Dodge was murdered rather than that he committed suicide, but I would have to go back and refresh my memory about any further details, or whether this was just latter-day speculation due to the circumstances surrounding his death.

 

[Mark Baber]

looks like our posts crossed

It does indeed.

Was this reported in another article about it I wonder?

Don't know, Tad; this is the only article I have on this so far. If I get to Boston later this year, as I'd like to, I plan on looking this up in the local papers. I'll report back if I find anything.

 

[Tad G. Fitch]

Thanks Mark.
Tad

 

[Randy Bryan Bigham]

Tad and Mark:

My bad, guys! It looks like I read into Robinson’s nervous state being due to her Titanic experiences. That’s what I get for not making notes! Anyway, I did a quick search of NewspaperARCHIVE.com just now and came up with four articles syndicated to various national papers. The stories all basically match the New York Times notice that Mark posted — very little difference in the reports. The publications carrying the story of Annie Robinson’s suicide include:

Nevada State Journal Oct. 11, 1914
Kansas City Star, Oct. 11, 1914
Indianapolis Star, Oct. 12, 1914
Fresno Morning Republican, Oct. 12. 1914

The only file I was unable to access for some reason was an article in the Daily Northwestern (Oshkosh) for Oct. 13. The later date suggests new information but the file wouldn’t open! Ah well!

As Mark suggests, the Boston papers would be the best bet for a follow-up story, if there was one.

Best wishes to you both,
Randy

 

[Randy Bryan Bigham]

I ran across this small notice, too, about steward William A. Lucas:

Syracuse Herald, Nov. 13, 1921
Page 26, column 1
TITANIC SURVIVOR SUICIDE
London, Nov. 12 — William A. Lucas, who was saved from the Titanic but who acted peculiarly thereafter, shot himself dead on a train travelling from Leeds to London.

There are also a lot of articles about Oscar (Oskar) Palmquist’s death by drowning in 1925; this is mentioned on his biography page here on ET. What’s interesting is that although his death was ruled an accident, some believed it was suicide while others, including Palmquist’s minister, thought he was murdered. People told reporters he was fearful of the water after being warned by a psychic that if he went near it again he would be drowned. His friends said because of this Palmquist would not have voluntarily gone to the lake in which his body was found.

 

[Tad G. Fitch]

Interesting stuff Randy!
Tad

 

[lisa lacey]

Many thanks for all the replies and information, all of which have been of great help to me.

regards

Lisa x