Mr James Crimmins was born in Southampton, Hampshire, England on 17 February 1891.
He was the son of Daniel Crimmins (1853-1902), a dock labourer, and Johanna Leahy (1852-1917), both Southampton-natives who had married in late 1877.
James was one of fourteen children born to his parents, ten of whom survived infancy. His known siblings were: Thomas (b. 1879), John (b. 1880), Helen (b. 1881), Mary (b. 1884), Michael (b. 1886), Dennis (b. 1888), Johanna (b. 1893), Catherine (b. 1894) and Elizabeth (b. 1897).
James first appears on the 1891 census as an infant living at 19 Cross Street, St Mary, Southampton. They would move to 7 King Street, Southampton by the time of the 1901 census and would still be at this address at the time of the 1911 census. At the time of the latter census James was still at home and described as an unmarried scaler for the White Star Line and his mother was now a widow, his father having died in 1902.
When he signed on to the Titanic, on 6 April 1912, James gave his address as 7 King Street, Southampton. His previous ship had been the Oceanic and as a fireman, he could expect to earn monthly wages of £6. Also serving aboard was his brother-in-law Tommy Kerr, the husband of his sister Johanna.
In a 1955 interview, James recalled that he was working in the boiler rooms at the time of the collision and that the "bump" threw him from his feet.
"We were told to stay at our posts. No one seemed excited, and it never occurred to anyone that the ship would sink."
He reported that when they learned the ship had struck an iceberg the tone became more serious and they were ordered to draw the fires in the boilers. Once released from his post he went to the upper decks and assisted in loading the lifeboats and stated that he was in the last lifeboat although it is more likely he left in one of the aft starboard boats, escaping clad in only light boiler room garments that afforded little protection from the bitter cold of the Atlantic.
(National Archives / Gavin Bell)
James returned to Southampton and continued working at sea, remaining a bachelor for the rest of his life. He was in the Royal Navy Reserves and served in the Merchant Navy during WWII, later as a night watchman, and survived the sinking of the Windsor Castle which was troop carrying in 1943, following which he was invalided from the service. Reportedly in ill health for some time afterwards, he spent his last years living at the Salvation Army Hostel in Northam, Southampton but continued to work. He died on 15 February 1956 and was buried in Southampton's Old Cemetery.
One of the few surviving members of the crew of the liner Titanic, Mr James Crimmins, died suddenly at a Southampton Salvation Army hostel yesterday, at the age of 65.
Comment and discuss
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James was my great uncle. He survived. He returned to Southampton, without being asked any questions at the enquiry, and resumed his work on the sea. As it happens he survived another sea disaster in WW2. He died - I believe from smoke and dust inhalation, almost in obscurity, and very lonely. He felt guilty for the rest of the life for having survived and getting into one of the Titanic lifeboats, when so many perished. He told my Aunt what happened in the area he worked. Does anyone have any information about my uncle please. Thank you.
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If you haven't seen these already there is some info in them. Good luck on your search.
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Thank you Steven Christian for your response. I have seen all these articles and had a copy of my family member's (Peter Crimmins) booklet for some years.
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Your Welcome. Sounds like you got it covered. Sometimes theres not a lot of info out there especially from people long ago. Good luck on your continued search.
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Its always a pity to read how so many survivors died in poverty or alone in unfortunate circumstances. One an only imagine his thoughts on being shipwrecked a second time. Just reading through the biography there, the date of death in the main text is 15th February, but in the stats below that, it says 16th February. I assume one is a mistype. Nevertheless, it’s good to see the lives of these people recorded for posterity.
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Hello, I do not know if you have been in contact with my father Charles (James Crimmins' great nephew). He has a whole host of family information concerning the Crimmins and Coogans. If you would like me to facilitate contact I am happy to do so. Regards, M.
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Unsure of the named person above who started this investigation will ever see my feedback of the Crimmins story. Depending your place of residence I would suggest if you are in the area nearer to Southampton then I would strongly advise to pay a visit at Southampton Archives. Crimmins did actually make a request after the Seconf World War for a financail support from the Relief Fund, but his claim was simply refused - no reasons are confirmed for the refusal -- but Woolleey the Secreatry was instructed to write to an organsation to see if they were able to aid him with anything of a financail support. I did write some years back but all of the documents were destroyed years ago, but it is a sad story as poor Crimmins didn't even get a look in, compared to the other Titanic Crew survivor who did get finiancial aid all because he was married and had children, compared to poor Crimmins who didn't. The Relief Fund hides many more of the sadden stories of the Crew Survivors, some were...
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There are a few sources including Gunter Babler's Guide To The Crew Of The Titanic which confirm that Fireman James Crimmins was on duty on the 8pm to midnight shift that Sunday and so, his report about working on the boilers when the shock of the collision threw him off his feet is likely to be true. It appears on ET: He then worked with his colleagues to draw the fires from the boilers before being released and going to the boat deck. There he helped with loading some boats before being rescued himself "on the last boat", but it is unclear in which lifeboat Crimmins was actually rescued. It is generally thought that it was one of the aft starboard lifeboats where there were plenty of male survivors, including crew members. But according to Gavin Bell's report in Crimmins' ET bio, the Fireman reported that he was...
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from lifeboat number 16 to lifeboat number 6.
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The issue with that supposition is that any crew member on Lifeboat #16 would have been one of those ordered to support the passengers and row. If Crimmins had been one of those, why would he have said things that suggested that he was rescued from the water? Also, since Lifeboat #16 was lowered around 01:20 am, other crew on it or even Crimmins himself would have said so. Also, I doubt very much if he would have described Lifeboat #16 as the "last boat"
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I agree as well. The fireman was described by Mrs. Brown as having a Cockney accent too, which leads me to believe that the fireman in question was born near London, Fireman Thomas Jubilee Mayzes (1887-1928) and Fireman Christopher Arthur Shulver/John Dilley (1883-1922) were both born around the area were a Cockney accent originated from and both gentlemen's lifeboat aren't certain. However I am not too sure if Crimmins was one of the eight people saved from the water by...
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The part about being "unconscious" in his lifeboat might have been Crimmins' way of covering up for his Survivor's Guilt, something that many male survivors suffered from. I believe that he was on Lifeboat #11 or #15.
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CRIMMINSLADY. I met James shortly before he died. I visited him when he was in the Salvation Army hostel. As you rightly state he was a sad and lonely man
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Thomas, the renewal of this thread reminded me of the exchange we had about Crimmins last year. I re-read and thought about that linked entry about him in Bill Wormstedt's page and I think there is an intersting point made, which does suggest the possibility that Crimmins was indeed rescued in Lifeboat #16 and later transferred to Lifeboat #6. I meant to get back to you about it soon afterwards but somehow forgot at the time. Did Lifeboat #16 pick-up a swimmer? There is not much evidence to support it, but it is believed that the McCoy sisters Agnes and Alice were placed in #16. Later Agnes McCoy gave an interview to the New York Herald and claimed that Alice and she helped to rescue their brother Bernard McCoy out of the...
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