The baby Moody gave Violet Jessop

[Sarah S]

Hello again,

so Violet Jessop reported as she entered lifeboat No 16 Officer Moody handed her a baby to take care of.
Now I wonder, how did that baby end up in Moody‘s hands? Did a mother just give her baby to an officer and then disappeared? Where were the parents, didn’t the mother enter boat 16 as well?

This little information of Moody holding a little baby also opens another dimension for me about the sinking, namely how the officers dealt with all the crying children and mothers who had to part with their loved ones who couldn’t enter a boat. Are there any reports about the officers conduct with weeping passengers? I assume there was little time for officers to comfort and console everyone..but still interesting to me with regards to the baby in Moody‘s hands.



Kind regards,
Sarah

 

[Thomas Krom]

Hello again,

so Violet Jessop reported as she entered lifeboat No 16 Officer Moody handed her a baby to take care of.
Now I wonder, how did that baby end up in Moody‘s hands? Did a mother just give her baby to an officer and then disappeared? Where were the parents, didn’t the mother enter boat 16 as well?

This little information of Moody holding a little baby also opens another dimension for me about the sinking, namely how the officers dealt with all the crying children and mothers who had to part with their loved ones who couldn’t enter a boat. Are there any reports about the officers conduct with weeping passengers? I assume there was little time for officers to comfort and console everyone..but still interesting to me with regards to the baby in Moody‘s hands.



Kind regards,
Sarah

Hello Sarah,

It's funny you bring up the topic of the baby since yesterday I talked about the matter of the baby before with someone one who means a lot to me. There are two versions of this story, version one as described by Violet Jessop in her autobiography:

"My arm was suddenly jerked and I turned to see young Mason who had been busy filling a boat. His face looked weary and tired, but he gave a bright smile as he ordered my group into the boat, calling out “Good luck!’ as we stepped in, helped by his willing, guiding hand. I nearly fell over the tacke and oars as I tried to assist An in beside me. She was suffering with her feet, I could see, and found her lifebelt got in the way of moving freely. Before I could do anything, young Mason hailed me and held up something, calling as he prepared to throw it, “Look after this, will you?” and I reached out to receive somebody’s forgotten baby in my arms."

The second version, as released in John Maxtone-Graham his book: "Titanic Tragedy" described where this baby came from:

“That civilized tenor was disrupted by the arrival of a steerage woman who had clambered up from the after well deck. Se was carrying a baby. Although she spoke a language no one understood, it was clear that she feared for her child’s life. Hysterical with grief, she put the baby down on a coil of rope that would shortly be used to lower lifeboat No.16 to the water and disappeared. James Moody, Titanic’s sixth officer, responsible for loading boats nos. 16 and 14, picked up the infant and, spying Violet among the boat’s occupants, called out, “Here, Jessop take this child.” She did om wrapping it in the quilt she had provincially brought for one of “her passengers”; this was not one of hers but clearly a passenger in need. Keeping the baby wrapped in quilt she not only kept it warm but also protected it from the sharp cork blocks of her lifejacket. Violet clutched the infant lightly throughout the remainder of that bitter night.”

If the second version is indeed accurate it appears that the mother of the baby putted the baby down and was spotted by sixth officer Moody.

I hope this might offers some insight,

Kind regards,

Thomas

 

[Sarah S]

Hello Sarah,

It's funny you bring up the topic of the baby since yesterday I talked about the matter of the baby before with someone one who means a lot to me. There are two versions of this story, version one as described by Violet Jessop in her autobiography:

The second version, as released in John Maxtone-Graham his book: "Titanic Tragedy" described where this baby came from:

If the second version is indeed accurate it appears that the mother of the baby putted the baby down and was spotted by sixth officer Moody.

I hope this might offers some insight,

Kind regards,

Thomas

Thank you very much, this is another example of Officer Moody being so attentive and competent that night. This is quiet a moving passage to me. I wonder if the mother of the child survived, I hope she did.

Kind regards

 

[Wednesday Prince]

Thank you very much, this is another example of Officer Moody being so attentive and competent that night. This is quiet a moving passage to me. I wonder if the mother of the child survived, I hope she did.

Kind regards

The mother survived and was reunited with the child on the Carpathia.

Here's an excerpt from Violet Jessop's autobiography:

"I was still clutching the baby against my hard cork lifebelt I was wearing when a woman leaped at me and grabbed the baby, and rushed off with it, it appeared that she put it down on the deck of the Titanic while she went off to fetch something, and when she came back the baby had gone. I was too frozen and numb to think it strange that this woman had not stopped to say 'thank you'."

 

[Jason D. Tiller]

Years after her retirement in 1950, Violet claimed to have received a telephone call, on a stormy night, from a woman who asked Violet if she saved a baby on the night that the Titanic sank. "Yes," Violet replied. The voice then said "I was that baby," laughed, and hung up.

 

[Thomas Krom]

Years after her retirement in 1950, Violet claimed to have received a telephone call, on a stormy night, from a woman who asked Violet if she saved a baby on the night that the Titanic sank. "Yes," Violet replied. The voice then said "I was that baby," laughed, and hung up.

Wednesday and I tried to uncover the identity of the baby yesterday, however for as the moment we haven't found any matches. We are detriment to keep searching however.

 

[Arun Vajpey]

That civilized tenor was disrupted by the arrival of a steerage woman who had clambered up from the after well deck. Se was carrying a baby. Although she spoke a language no one understood, it was clear that she feared for her child’s life. Hysterical with grief, she put the baby down on a coil of rope that would shortly be used to lower lifeboat No.16 to the water and disappeared. James Moody, Titanic’s sixth officer, responsible for loading boats nos. 16 and 14, picked up the infant and, spying Violet among the boat’s occupants, called out, “Here, Jessop take this child.” She did om wrapping it in the quilt she had provincially brought for one of “her passengers”; this was not one of hers but clearly a passenger in need. Keeping the baby wrapped in quilt she not only kept it warm but also protected it from the sharp cork blocks of her lifejacket. Violet clutched the infant lightly throughout the remainder of that bitter night.

The mother survived and was reunited with the child on the Carpathia.

Here's an excerpt from Violet Jessop's autobiography: "I was still clutching the baby against my hard cork lifebelt I was wearing when a woman leaped at me and grabbed the baby, and rushed off with it, it appeared that she put it down on the deck of the Titanic while she went off to fetch something, and when she came back the baby had gone. I was too frozen and numb to think it strange that this woman had not stopped to say 'thank you'."

Years after her retirement in 1950, Violet claimed to have received a telephone call, on a stormy night, from a woman who asked Violet if she saved a baby on the night that the Titanic sank. "Yes," Violet replied. The voice then said "I was that baby," laughed, and hung up.

All the above quotes make it a very interesting thread. Are there any guesses who that Third Class passenger or the baby might have been? Did Violet Jessop say whether that 1950 caller was a man or woman?

One can only assume that the mother left the baby on a coil of rope and went back in to fetch another child. I don't have my copy of Walter Lord's A Night To Remember to check right now (but will do in a fortnight when we go to India) but I seem to recall a scenario in that book where soon after the surviving passengers were assembled on the deck of the Carpathia, a hysterical woman was frantically searching for two of her small children and eventually both were found. "Jessop's baby" might have been one of the two of that same woman.

 

[Thomas Krom]

Hello Arun,

How are you my friend?

All the above quotes make it a very interesting thread. Are there any guesses who that Third Class passenger or the baby might have been? Did Violet Jessop say whether that 1950 caller was a man or woman?

As Jason cited in his account the caller was a woman. We also know that it doesn't appear she was born in either the United Kingdom or United States considering her mother spoke "a language no one understood". It appears after she immigrated she learned to speak English and was still alive in the 1950s. Those are the leads we have on finding out who this baby was.


I hope you are doing well my friend, and I hope you'll will enjoy your Oktoberfest.

Kind regards,

Thomas

 

[Arun Vajpey]

I hope you are doing well my friend, and I hope you'll will enjoy your Oktoberfest

That was almost 3 weeks ago. I did enjoy it immensely and was in 3 pieces when I got back to the UK. Over the next week, those pieces coalesced to become me again.

If you want details, PM me!

 

[Sarah S]

Are there any reports about the officers conduct with weeping passengers?

I wonder if we have more information on that part of my question.

 

[Thomas Krom]

I wonder if we have more information on that part of my question.

I'll look deeper into it for you this week.

 

[Arun Vajpey]

Are there any reports about the officers conduct with weeping passengers?

I have read that Lowe in Lifeboat #14 adopted a somewhat cavalier attitude towards the weeping women, but that seems to be natural to him. There was something about his telling them that if he was not responsible for the wailing women, he'd gladly put his gun to his own head and blow his brains out or something like that. Compassion did not appear to be one of Lowe's strong points.

 

[Sarah S]

I'll look deeper into it for you this week.

This is very kind, thank you

I have read that Lowe in Lifeboat #14 adopted a somewhat cavalier attitude towards the weeping women, but that seems to be natural to him. There was something about his telling them that if he was not responsible for the wailing women, he'd gladly put his gun to his own head and blow his brains out or something like that. Compassion did not appear to be one of Lowe's strong points.

There were indeed complaints about Lowe‘s conduct towards the women, but there were also those that praised him for being a gentleman. In fact he did receive some (even expensive) gifts from passengers after the sinking who wanted to express their gratitude. Maybe his personality was just not for everyone?

 

[Arun Vajpey]

Maybe his personality was just not for everyone?

Could be. The fact that he was pro-active in going back to see if he could pick-up any live ones from the sea, tying lifeboats together etc does indicate resourcefulness. But at the same time, his patronizing attitude towards the passengers, rather free use of his pistol ino the air etc does leave question marks about his personality. I think he was a sincere man but lacked public relations skills.

 

[George Jacub]

I wonder if we have more information on that part of my question.

Esther Hart account
Ilford Graphic, Friday, May 10, 1912
"The officer in charge of our boat was standing on that raised part of it right at the end. We were all women and children aboard (at least I thought so then, but we were not, as I will presently tell you) and we were all crying and sobbing; and the officer said, not roughly, but I think with a kindly desire to keep our minds off the terrible time we had gone through. “Don’t cry,-please don’t cry. You’ll have something else to do than cry; some of you will have to handle the oars. For God’s sake stop crying. If I had not the responsibility of looking after you I would put a bullet through my brain.” So we got away from the ship for a safe distance, for there was no doubt now about her sinking. "