Harold Reynolds

Mr Harold Reynolds was born in Lewisham, Kent, England, during the early months of 1891.

He was the son of George Reynolds (1855-?), a house painter, and Rachel Liddle (1858-1932), both Kent natives who had married in St Mary's Church, Lewisham on 24 September 1877; the couple would live at different times in Hampshire and Croydon before settling in Lewisham.

One of nine children born to his parents, Harold's siblings were: Walter Sale (1878-1951), Maude (b. 1881), Burgess (1881-1916), George (b. 1884), Rachel Roslyn (1886-1957), John (b. 1887), Henry Arthur (b. 1893) and Stanley Jeffrey (b. 1896).

On the 1891 census, a two-month-old Harold and his family were residing at 17 Wendale Road, Blackheath, London.  The family had relocated to 37 Ladywell Park, Lewisham, by the time of the 1901 census. By the time of the 1911 census, the family are located at 10 Court Hill Road, Lewisham, but Harold himself was not present.

Reynolds had enlisted with the British Army on 21 May 1908, joining at Woolwich and describing himself as a baker's assistant and adding a year to his age¹. He stood at 5' 5", weighed 116 lbs and had brown hair, blue eyes, a fresh complexion and sported a scar on his right cheek. He served as a driver until March 1909, when he became a Private. His service records are, unfortunately, largely illegible, but on 19 February 1909, he was punished for being a nuisance in the stables. On the 1911 census, he was shown as a Private in the West Kent Regiment at his barracks in Alton, Hampshire.

On 9 April 1912, Reynolds visited his mother at the family home, 10 Court Hill Road, Lewisham, but gave no indication that he had made plans to travel; his military records show that he was described as a deserter as of 10 April 1912; having abandoned his unit, 9304 of the Royal West Kent Regiment. On 15 April 1912, his mother enquired at the Lewisham Office about his whereabouts. 

Reynolds had reportedly deserted his regiment because of a “misunderstanding” with a superior officer, telling one comrade he intended to sail on the Titanic, possibly using the pseudonym "J. C. Cameron", which he did not eventually do. Through correspondence between those who knew him, it was determined he was headed to a sister in Wyoming, Ontario.

Harold, described as an unmarried baker, boarded the Titanic at Southampton as a third-class passenger on 10 April 1912; his ticket (number 342684) had cost £8, 1s, and he gave his address as 10 Court Hill Road, Lewisham. 

Harold Reynolds died in the sinking. His body was recovered by the Montmagny (#327) on 10 May 1912 and was buried at Fairview Cemetery, Halifax, Nova Scotia, on 22 May 1912.  On his body was found the address, 807 Yonge Street, Ontario, the home address of F. W. Cannon, who previously served with Reynolds in the Royal West Kent Regiment. 

His mother, Rachel, died in Lewisham in 1932, but what became of his father is not certain.