Was EJ alive in 1936

[Martin Pirrie]

Has anyone noticed the likeness between Capt. Warwick of QM2 and Capt. Smith? Could this be where Smith is hiding, sailing the North Atlantic?

 

[ruth rose]

Well shipmates I am still checking the wills of those who served aboard because i do think it exceptional that Cptn Smith's property and effects only added up to £3,186.4s 6d. His salary was £100 a month.
Joseph Bell,chief engineer, his estate/effects were valued at £6,457.0s.10d
Andrew Latimer, Chief Steward was valued at £3082.9s.3d.
EJ did not have a lot of sons to educate privately and the days of dowries for daughters were over.
Inger do we definitely know Chief Wilde had yet profited financially by marriage since Polly probably predeceased her father..do you know ?
EJ...I would like to know what the reason is...I seem to remember that Mrs Smith had to apply to the Titanic fund for herself as well as the Wilde children later on.
The photo...reincarnationists believe that if your life is cut short you may return to complete...so perhaps it is EJ on the bridge of QM2.....

 

[Inger Sheil]

Hallo Ruth -

Then as now, I suppose a lot of it depends on how one manages one's money - although that was still a very decent estate to leave, and not exactly evidence of profligate spending on E.J.'s part.

I don't have the figures to hand, but Polly left even more in her will than her husband did in his!

 

[Donald J A Smith]

Perhaps one of us - possibly Martin - should ask Captain Warwick (in a charming Senator-McCarthy-like way) "Captain Warwick: Are you at this time - or at any time in the past have you ever been - a resident of Missouri?".

 

[ruth rose]

And I thought we might discover something really interesting about the Captain....like a mistress in another port or a gambling addiction. ! I still wonder though why his estate is less than one would expect as one writer put it...it may be like Inger says just a question of management...and yet..he was just about to retire with the same as the Chief Steward.
It was unusual then for wives to keep their money separate...so am intrigued by Mrs Wilde having a Will of her own.

 

[Gary Cooper]

I have always been of the impression that perhaps Smith's estate was so paltry, because he just enjoyed himself. No evidence for this of course, but its as good an explination as any. Afterall, you can't take it with you.
As for Smith having survived, obviously he did, he's regurlarly been on British TV for the past twenty-odd years encouraging kids to eat more fish fingers.

 

[Inger Sheil]

Not all that unusual, Ruth, particularly when the wife had inherited something more-or-less substantial - I've found that Harold Lowe's mother, for example, had her own will.

Gary - lol! There was that brief stint when they tried to sex-up Captain Birdseye, and we got a youthful bloke with stubble who looked a bit Pierce Brosnanish and tried a bit of high-tech gadgetry. It didn't last, though, and we returned to the good old EJ prototype.

 

[Donald J A Smith]

Inger, in reference to an Edwardian married woman having her own Will, says: "Not all that unusual". Rightly so, Inger. Nor was it unusual her having her own way.

 

[Kritina Johnston]

"Was it Captain Peter Pryal's beardless E.J. of St. Paul's Street, Baltimore? Or the Smith at Grand Central Railway station, who ducked the person who confronted him because he was off to buy a ticket South? Or "Whispering Smith" the tramp? Or the "Silent Smith" who died in Lima, Ohio, as reported 1940"

Now, how could you forget the Smith who was working the Great Lakes in the mid-30's?

As for that one on St. Paul, he actually performs in a drag revue up around Charles Street...or, so I've heard.

 

[ruth rose]

Gary, glad somebody else thinks his estate paltry too. I would be interested to read your book on Capt Smith...what is the title ?

Donald it takes me a few readings to get your puns...you're dangerously close to being non-PC.

Women's wills..were only brought in in 1883...and in 1912 women still couldnt vote...in pre-divorce days it was usual for couples to pool their resources...but I will look into this further....(after WW1 there was a change in women's status i know)

 

[Inger Sheil]

Reading through the legal documentation for her estate as kept by her son, it is apparent that Emma Harriet Lowe had both a Will and a will! For context, it may be useful know that she died before 'Polly' Wilde did...and the paperwork indicates she had a very definite ideas on the disposal of her estate!

The following is a brief summary on the legal status of married women in this area:

quote:

At British common law a married woman could not (with a few exceptions) make a will without her husband's licence and consent, and this disability was specially preserved by the Wills Acts of Henry VIII and of 1837. A common mode of avoiding this difficulty was for the husband to contract before marriage to permit the wife to make an appointment disposing of personalty to a certain value. Courts of equity from an early time allowed her, under certain restrictions, to make a will of property held for her separate use. In some cases her husband could dispose of her property by will, in others not. The law as it existed previously to 1883 is now practically obsolete, the Married Women's Property Act 1882 enabling a married woman to dispose by will of any real or personal property as her separate property as a feme sole without the intervention of any trustee. The act also enables a married woman who is executrix of a will to act as if she were a feine sole. The Married Women's Property Act 1893 extended the act of 1382 by making it unnecessary for the will of a married woman to be reexecuted or republished after the death of her husband.

 

[Paul Rogers]

Slightly off topic, but to prove that, in the UK, the past is still very much with us: One can still write life policies under a Trust written according to the rules of the 1882 Married Women's Property Act (MWPA). A Trust so written would be, therefore, a Statutory Trust, or one grounded in law. (Most Trusts are non-Statutory, and are created by a Trust Deed.)

MWPA Trusts are quite restrictive, as the Trust can only be set up alongside a brand new life policy, and the Beneficiaries of the Trust must be the Life Assured's Spouse and/or legitimate & adopted children (but not step-children). The major benefit of a MWPA Trust is that it can provide protection against the Settlor's debts and creditors, including Inheritance Tax. (This tax is often seen as an important financial planning issue, especially in Estates valued at over £255k presently.)

MWPA Trusts are rarely used these days, as their inflexibility is seen as too great a disadvantage. But I remember setting a few up when I first started out in the Insurance industry in 1993.

Regards,
Paul.

PS: You can all wake up again now! ;-)

 

[Carl Ireton]

I'm glad I'm not the only one whose noticed the uncanny resemblance between Captain Warwick and Captain Smith. Has anyone ever seen the photos of Captain Smith 'posing' for the cameras back then. He was the first perfect publicity model for White Star Line. Can you imagine receiving brochures in the mail, with beautiful scenic color photos of the Titanic and Olympic at sea, and Captain Smith proudly posing alongside the railing, or presiding over a dinner or entertainment, such as you see in the Cunard brochures?

 

[Aly Jones]

I have seen a news reel when captain Smith on film gave a smile to wards the camera.
Maybe if the picture of commadore warick was B&W it will be more so like captain Smith.

 

[Tim Bucknall]

just wondering if the Captain Smith who signed that item in 1936 was the nephew of the original captain smith who lived at 33 Freehold Street Newcastle Under Lyme until his death between 1922 and 1938
My Great Aunt (Lily Smith) & Uncle (James Bucknall)were carers of the same and inherited the house when he died.
i don't even have a first name for him. but he was a captain