Florence Thomas Donoghue

Mr Florence Thomas Donoghue¹, known as Frank, was born in Tiernaboul near Killarney in Co Kerry, Ireland on 27 October 1880², and was baptised three days later.

He was the son of Timothy O'Donoghue (b. 1855), a tram conductor, and Margaret née O'Meara (b. 1856), a native of Queen's County (modern-day Co Laois). The couple had married in Killarney, Co Kerry on 1 September 1877 and were both residents of Ballycasheen in that county at the time of their nuptials. 

The family had seemingly settled in Liverpool not long after Florence's birth, perhaps around 1882, and his parents went on to have six children in that city: James (b. 1885), Margaret (b. 1887), Anne "Nance" (b. 1889), Nora (b. 1893), Emily Bridget (b. 1895) and Winifred Ellen (b. 1903).

The 1891 and 1901 census records show the family living at 10 Beeston Street (?), Kirkdale, Liverpool but Florence would be absent from the later record. When the 1911 census was conducted his widowed father and his siblings were residents of 62 Margaret Road, Walton and his elder sisters Margaret and Annie were both described as school teachers.

He married Annie Furlong (b. circa 1877) on 3 June 1900 at Saint James Church, Bootle, West Derby, Lancashire and had a son Frankie (b. circa March 1906). 

In 1910 his wife and son left British shores for the first time, arriving in New York aboard the Baltic on 24 September 1910 to be reunited with him at Peacock Point in Glen Cove, New York.

When O'Donoghue signed on to the Titanic on 6 April 1912 he gave his age as 35, birthplace as Liverpool and his local address as 60 Ludlow Road, Southampton. His previous ship had been the Olympic and as a bedroom steward he could expect monthly wages of £3, 15s.

O'Donoghue died in the sinking and his body, if recovered, was never identified.

The American Red Cross report in 1913 stated that O'Donoghue's wife and son Frankie had been residents in the USA for two years. Following his demise on Titanic his widow and son returned to England to benefit from compensation from the British Workmen's Compensation Act and she was awarded £300; they returned to the USA aboard Cedric on 17 October 1912; Annie had been unwilling to return to relatives in Liverpool permanently as there were more opportunities in America. She later worked as a domestic to support herself and her son and they later benefitted from $81 of American relief funds. What became of Annie and her son Frankie is not known³. However, a memorial to Frank from his wife appeared in the Liverpool Echo on 15 April 1915:

DONOGHUE--In loving memory of my dear husband Frank Donoghue, a Titanic victim. R.I.P.