Clifford Henry Harris, 16, was born in Southampton, Hampshire, England on 12 December 1895. He was the son of Wallace Mortimer Harris (1861-1933) and Hendreker Christina Squire (1866-1940).
His father, a mariner, was born in the West Indies to English parents and his mother was born in Poplar, London; the couple were married in Southampton in 1887.
Clifford was one of ten children, his known siblings being: Wallace (b. 1887), Ethel Blanche (b. 1888), Georgina Hendreker (b. 1889), Eliza (b. 1891), Charles William (b. 1893), Joseph (b. 1898), Christina Hendreker w. (b. 1899) and Edward (b. 1903).
Clifford first appears on the 1901 census when he and his family were living at 14 Drummond (?) Road, Sholing, Southampton, his seafaring father being absent. When the 1911 census was taken, his family were residing at 14 Short Street, St Mary, Southampton. Clifford was recorded elsewhere as a Page Boy at a boarding house, address Solen Cliffs, Cliff Cottage Road, Bournemouth. He would go to sea shortly after.
When he signed-on to the Titanic, on 6 April 1912, he gave his address as 14 Short Street, (Southampton). His last ship had been the Asturias. As a bell boy he received monthly wages of £2. Also serving aboard Titanic was his brother Charles, as a saloon steward in second class.
Quartermaster Sydney Humphreys reported that during the sinking the bellboys were herded to their regular posts in the main cabin entry and taken in charge by a leading steward and ordered to remain there so as they did not get in the way. Humphreys said that the boys waited patiently around before they were released and later saw them smoking and joking with passengers.
Both Clifford and his brother died in the sinking. Their bodies, if recovered, were never identified. The following death notice appeared in the Hampshire Advertiser (27 April 1912):
HARRIS--On the 15th inst, at sea on s.s. Titanic, Charles William, aged 19, and Clifford Henry, aged 16, the sons of Wallace and Christina Harris, of 14, Short Street, Chapel Road, Southampton.
Clifford Henry Harris and Charles William Harris, have a memorial in Southampton.
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Clifford Harris was my great uncle whos' brother Charles also served on the Titanic as a saloon steward. He was 16 and his brother Charles was19. The family story is that Charles was offered a place on a life boat but refused as he wanted to find his brother. He was last seen going down to the second class saloon to find his brother. My middle name is in honour of his memory at the request of his sister Laura - my grandmother.
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