Sam Brannigan
Member
Hello all
I managed to catch the tail end of a programme on ITV in the UK tonight called "Find Your Family"
Normally I hate these typically sentimental, gut wrenching programmes, but one segment in it really caught my eye.
There was a gentleman who had checked his genealogy and discovered that he was a close descendent of QM Perkis of the Titanic.
The segment ended with this man standing at his ancestors unmarked grave weeping uncontrollably and chastising himself for doing so as he had only come to know of QM Perkis very recently. He could not give a reason for his emotional reaction, indeed he was quite embarrassed, but he was adamant that an unmarked grave was unfit for a hero and that he would take steps to remedy the situation.
I found myself thinking about salvaging items from the Titanic, and how I had thought that it would be Ok after the last survivor had passed away. Now I am not so sure. I have just seen a very poignant eye-opener.
It is remarkable how the Titanic disaster can still have such a profound effect on people today. Not just you and I who are fascinated by the subject, but also people like the man who stood at the grave of a long dead sailor and lamented his passing and the events of his life.
Perhaps some of you have had the privilege of meeting ancestors and relatives of those on the Titanic and I can only say that your perspective of the disaster must be much more universal, and in many ways sadder, than the rest of us. Mine has certainly become so after what I saw tonight.
I hope you will forgive me naming a conversation after Quartermaster Perkis, an ordinary/extraordinary man. Hopefully somewhere along this thread someone will report that his gravestone has been erected. Until then, although he rests in an unmarked grave I hope you don't mind me marking his name here.
www.encyclopedia-titanica.org
Regards
Sam
I managed to catch the tail end of a programme on ITV in the UK tonight called "Find Your Family"
Normally I hate these typically sentimental, gut wrenching programmes, but one segment in it really caught my eye.
There was a gentleman who had checked his genealogy and discovered that he was a close descendent of QM Perkis of the Titanic.
The segment ended with this man standing at his ancestors unmarked grave weeping uncontrollably and chastising himself for doing so as he had only come to know of QM Perkis very recently. He could not give a reason for his emotional reaction, indeed he was quite embarrassed, but he was adamant that an unmarked grave was unfit for a hero and that he would take steps to remedy the situation.
I found myself thinking about salvaging items from the Titanic, and how I had thought that it would be Ok after the last survivor had passed away. Now I am not so sure. I have just seen a very poignant eye-opener.
It is remarkable how the Titanic disaster can still have such a profound effect on people today. Not just you and I who are fascinated by the subject, but also people like the man who stood at the grave of a long dead sailor and lamented his passing and the events of his life.
Perhaps some of you have had the privilege of meeting ancestors and relatives of those on the Titanic and I can only say that your perspective of the disaster must be much more universal, and in many ways sadder, than the rest of us. Mine has certainly become so after what I saw tonight.
I hope you will forgive me naming a conversation after Quartermaster Perkis, an ordinary/extraordinary man. Hopefully somewhere along this thread someone will report that his gravestone has been erected. Until then, although he rests in an unmarked grave I hope you don't mind me marking his name here.
Walter John Perkis : Titanic Survivor
Aboard Perkis served on the 6-8pm watch; at the time of the collision he was off duty when the ships joiner came to his quarters and advised the men to
www.encyclopedia-titanica.org
Regards
Sam
