George Edward Kearl

Mr George Edward Kearl was born in Southampton, Hampshire, England on 15 August 1886. 

He was the son of Courtney William Kearl (1860-1913), a coal porter, and Isabella Maria Johnson (1860-1928), natives of East Boldre and Basingstoke, respectively, who were married on 25 June 1883.

He had three full siblings: Charles Courtney (b. 1884), Nellie (b. 1889) and Louisa (b. 1893), as well as a maternal half-brother, William Ayers Johnson (b. 1880).

Kearl first appears on the 1891 census with his family living at 66 Kent Road, Freemantle; they had relocated to 44 William Street by the time of the 1901 census and George, by then aged 14, was described as a boiler scaler. The 1911 census shows the family as residents of 37 Bay Road, Sholing, but George was not recorded there, perhaps at sea at the time. 

When Kearl signed on to the Titanic on 6 April 1912 he gave his address as 37 Bay Road, Sholing. His previous ship had been the Olympic and as a trimmer he received monthly wages of £5, 10s.

George Kearl, who was unmarried, was lost in the sinking. His body, if recovered, was never identified.

His parents were assisted by the Titanic Relief Fund; his father died just over one year after his loss whilst his mother rallied until 1928, but not without the loss of another child in tragic circumstances. During WWI George’s half-brother William Johnson was also lost at sea; he was a petty officer on HM submarine G7 when that vessel was lost on 1 November 1918. He left behind a widow and two children.