TITANIC Survivor Mr Thomas Taverner

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Mario Joseph Alfred Borg

Member
Hi there all, it is me Mario J. Borg from Sydney Australia writing about the TITANIC Survivor Mr Thomas Taverner again and you you all can read this article:

TITANIC Survivor Mr Thomas Taverner was invited to a special meeting in George Street at The Flying Angel Mission to Seaman in 1962 (The Sydney Morning Herald, Saturday April 7th 1962) held by The N.S.W. Ship-Lovers Society. I have a copy of the original newpaper which was kindly sent to me by Gwenda Johnston at The State Library of N.S.W. Someone out there must be able to shed some more light on this matter please!

His grandaughter and her husband are friends of mine and they claim to have seen TITANIC Survivor Mr Thomas Taverner being interviewed on Sydney TV and Radio in the 1960's about his fantastic journey and survival. Mr. Taverner was an apprentice chef aboard the ship and he may have been about 16 at the time...

Mr. Taverner loved to play the Banjo/Mandolin in his spare time and had this instrument on board with him at the time of the disater. When the ship was sinking he had the instrument in a leather style carring bag and dived overboard with the instrument in hand.....

As he surfaced a large piece of timber (may have been a door) passed by him and he placed his body with his treasured Banjo/Mandolin in hand onto the large piece of timber to prevent himself freezing and survive long enough to be recued by the crew of the Carpathia.

The instrument (Banjo/Mandolin) was passed on to his grandaughter after his death......I have read many articles and achives on this fantastic story and it does say that not all names aboard the TITANIC were recorded as there were many stowaways those days....Even the insurer Lloyds of London have been unable to track down every passenger name that boarded the TITANIC on that fatal journey......

Someone out there must be able to shed some more light on this matter please! This story must be of true substance and I have personally held and played the subject Banjo/Mandolin in question.....I had it dated by profession Banjo/Mandolin makers from all over the world to a possible pre-build pre-1912 as well....

Thank you for reading this article about TITANIC Survivor Mr Thomas Taverner.....Mario J. Borg...
Contributor
Mario Joseph Borg
 
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Sally Coogan

Member
How strrnge is this as my late father Victor Thomas Taverner-  His father was called Joseph Thomas Taverner born in London had a brother who stowed away on the titanic  he too was around 16 years of age not sure if is first name was Robert though as everyone has since passed away many years ago.  I was always told he had drowned and my dad could not rember much about either. Odd that 2 people on the Titanic were called Taverner though!
 
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J. Ayliffe

Member
this sounds like my family aswell. Thomas taverner , the story is alittle different fell onto a door , i know nothing about the banjo thou. i have photos of his grave and newspaper clipping of his story. maybe its the same person.
 
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Jade (1859)

Member
Hello- I am researching my family history too- my uncle is Thomas's grandson. I would love to share any of the information you have about his grave.
 
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John Lawrence

Member
I am the grandson of this person Tomas Tavner,I remember the bingo very well, my brother and I had to listen to it every Saturday morning to receive 6 pence pocket money and that was 60 yrs ago, as a kid I was told that he was an apprentice pasty cook,and he had fIoated 19 hrs on a table I have never heard the stow away story, but on a trip the UK several years ago I went to Southampton shipping office and personally went though the Titanic articles and log, there was never a Tom Tavner on board
 
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John Lawrence

Member
If any of the grandchildren of Tom Tavner ( my cousins) are still alive I would like to have contact with them or there family’s,
Email, [email protected]
 
Encyclopedia Titanica

Encyclopedia Titanica

Philip Hind
Staff member
Member
An interview given by Thomas Taverner to Australian TV in the 1960s, courtesy of Mario Borg
 
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Robert T. Paige

Member
As one who has no personal connection with Titanic such as relatives , immigrants, etc., reports such as this are what makes this website so interesting reading.
I just wanted to post this to thank all such persons who contribute.

On doing a little family history research, I have come across the following.
1885- Paige family - mother, father, two young sons, two young daughters - emigrated from Tunbridge Wells, Kent County, England, UK to Belton, Bell County, Texas, USA. Sailed on " A Dutch Ship 'The Edam'". By train New York to Belton. Moved to Dallas in 1905.
1926- Mother and daughter who was born in Belton
from a later marriage visited English relatives still living in Tunbridge Wells. Sailed on SS Leviathan.
1936-1937 ? - Uncle visited England. RMS Queen Mary.
 
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Robert T. Paige

Member
Just a little background on one family who were immigrants who sailed on a ship other than Titanic.
We don't have much information on why the Paige family had chosen to leave England for America.
Not sure if this was for economic reasons such as supporting a family with young children.
Some records indicate that Mr. Paige was employed as a gardener.
The choice of Belton seems to have been based on letters from a friend who had earlier moved to Salado, a town just south of Belton and was being successful as a farmer.
The friend suggested Belton as " A place which offers excellent economic opportunities."
It seems Mr. Paige typed all his letters and the collection includes carbon copies of all those letters to a brother back in Tunbridge Wells.
Mr. Paige reported that " Had a 'hard go of it at first.... chopped cotton....kept store...." to support the family.
However he reported that he "Had struck oil ! "......In using his skills in shorthand as a Court Reporter and found steady employment with a law firm, " I purchased ' a nice little cottage in town ' and settled down to a comfortable life."
Another little twist in this story was that his first wife had died and he eventually married a niece of the first wife.
There were four children born of this marriage - two boys and two girls.
They moved to Dallas in 1905, apparently in connection with a move of the law firm.
Mr. Paige was later successful as a Life Insurance Agent and " moved to a nice larger house" in the middle class East Dallas section of Dallas.
Mr. Paige passed away in 1921.

Just a bit of trivia to add to the collection.
 
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Laws12

Member
Mario Joseph Alfred Borg said:
Mr. Taverner loved to play the Banjo/Mandolin in his spare time and had this instrument on board with him at the time of the disater. When the ship was sinking he had the instrument in a leather style carring bag and dived overboard with the instrument in hand.....
Click to expand...


Do you still have the Mandolin?
 
Arun Vajpey

Arun Vajpey

Member
Mario Joseph Alfred Borg said:
Hi there all, it is me Mario J. Borg from Sydney Australia writing about the TITANIC Survivor Mr Thomas Taverner
Click to expand...
Was there really a Titanic survivor named Thomas Taverner? I cannot find his name on any passenger list and quite frankly, outside this thread and that TV interview, I cannot find any mention of a passenger on the Titanic by that name.

Sally Coogan said:
How strrnge is this as my late father Victor Thomas Taverner- His father was called Joseph Thomas Taverner born in London had a brother who stowed away on the titanic
Click to expand...
Even if he was a stowaway, - in fact, especially if he was a stowaway - by now he would have been discussed by several reliable sources but I cannot find any.

With respect, that TV interview seems distinctly like a put-up job. Can someone throw light on this?
 
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