William French Able Bodied Seaman

[Jacqui Pemberton]

William French, able bodied seaman was my grandmother's uncle and by all accounts, according to "Sinking of Titanic - Eyewitness Accounts edited by Jay Mowbray p.p.151 152 he and his sailor chum Jack Williams who were interviewed afterwards spoke of witnessing life boats being over filled, men being shot, and William French confirms seeing 1st officer Murdock put a pistol to his head.

Further searches have got me nowhere to find out what happend to William after he was rescued. Some on line crew lists show him and his chum but others - particularly the crew list on this site do not mention either of them. I can not find any record of which life boats they were in either.

If anyone can help or suggest where else I can look I would appreciate help here.

Can email me on [email protected]

Thank you.

 

[Tad G. Fitch]

Hi Jacqui, how are you? Based on the crew sign-on sheets and based on who signed for pay after the disaster, William French was not an able-bodied seaman or even a crewmember on the Titanic when it sank.

He is listed on some crew lists floating around the internet, and the origin of his name connected with the Titanic disaster seems to have been in press accounts back in 1912.

I suppose it is possible that William French was not his real name or vice versa, but there definitely wasn't anyone by that name on the ship.

I once thought that there was based on press mentions of him, but it doesn't appear to be the case. There are many other instances of people giving accounts in the papers in 1912 claiming to be Titanic crewmembers, but who really weren't.

Does your grandmother's family have any additional information about William French? Maybe your relative was a sailor coincidentally with the same name, and not connected with the William French who was supposedly on the Titanic?

I hope that this helps.

Kind regards,
Tad

 

[Maree van den Berg]

William French was my grandfather. He joined the Titanic in Southhampton