Henry Samuel Morley was born in Marylebone, Middlesex, England on 3 May 1873.
He was the son of William Morley (b. 1849) and Emily Mace (b. 1850). His father, a tailor, was originally from Hertfordshire whilst his mother was from Norfolk and they had married in London in 1871.
Henry was one of six surviving children from a total of nine. His known siblings were: Arthur William (b. 1872), Ernest (b. 1875), Louis Joseph (b. 1879), Reginald James (b. 1882), Laura Caroline (b. 1883), and Jane (b. 1886).
He and his family appear on the 1881 census living at 4 Elizabeth Cottages, Robert Street South in Plumstead, London. His father died on 30 January 1889 and by the time of the 1891 the remainder of the family were listed as living at 21 Joseph Street, Woolwich, Kent. His mother was described as a tailoress and Henry as a grocer's clerk.
Henry was married in Worcester, Worcestershire in 1899 to Louisa Price (b. 1868 in Worcester). The couple appear on the 1901 census living at Tiernon (?) Park, Bedwardine, Worcester and Henry is described as a grocer's manager. The couple would have only one child, a daughter named Doris Louisa (b. 1903). They later operated a sweet shop in Worcester for the firm L. Morley Confectioners of which Henry was a senior partner. The family appear on the 1911 census living at 22 Foregate Street in Worcester. Also living there was his mother Emily, aunt Alice Mace (who was an assistant in the business) and a nephew, Vincent Morley (b. 1902). One of their employees was a young woman named Kate Florence Phillips.
Henry and Kate, who was only 19, began a clandestine affair that led to Henry abandoning his family and boarding the Titanic with Kate in Southampton. They travelled as second class passengers under joint ticket number 250655 which cost £26 and they were travelling under the pseudonym Marshall. Destined for Los Angeles, California, Henry had told family and friends he was visiting that climate to recuperate from a recent illness.
Henry Morley died in the sinking and his body, if recovered, was never identified. Kate Phillips returned to Worcester and on 11 January 1913 bore a child named Ellen Mary whom she claimed was the daughter of Henry. The validity of this claim was not proven until 2020. Ellen died in 2005 with the issue still unresolved.
Henry's estate, worth £1136, 5, 10d, was administered to his brother Arthur on 28 September 1912.
His widow Louisa never remarried and later lived in Malvern, Worcestershire. She died on 1 September 1930. His daughter Doris was later married to the Reverend Arthur Sidwell Johnson (1899-1992) and she died in Warwickshire in 2000.
Henry Samuel Morley is remembered on his widow Louisa's headstone in Rose Hill cemetery Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, section B1, grave 285
Comment and discuss
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I am originally from Papua New Guinea living in Australia. may have been my great grandfather. He sailed to the Milne Bay Islands in Papua New Guinea in early 1913/1914 and there he met a young chief's daughter, married her and had 5 children. According to my grandmother when all the children were born he had changed all their birth dates so that the records couldn't be traced back. There were no photos of him because he didn't want any pictures taken of him. He told his children where he was from and the life that he had back in England and as a passenger on the titanic. Henry Samuel Morley is recorded as father to these five children and use his name to this day. It is said he died in the sinking and his body never recovered. Is it possible that he may have somehow got on a ship somewhere without anyone knowing and sailed to Papua New Guinea? Is it possible that he didn't...
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It's a good yarn, but it ranks with the Grimm brothers. Survivors of Titanic were recorded by the American immigration authorities. The Americans took immigration seriously. The records are online at NARA and Ellis Island. Phoney Titanic survivors are found all over the world. I've got three, just in Adelaide SA. I must say none of their stories are as much fun as yours.
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Thank you for your reply but it doesn't shed any new information on the identity of my great grand father. However in reply to your scepticism every great disaster man-made or natural, it is believed that a small percentage of survivors probably up to 3% use disasters to escape and change their lives completely. I don't doubt for a second that there are phonies out there eg: the holocaust. But there are people out there that use the experience to escape their lives.
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That's true, Fiona, but the difference in the case of the Titanic wreck is that there was no opportunity to quietly disappear un-noticed, as there would be after a disaster that happened on or least close to land, like a train wreck or an earthquake. Nobody could have survived the Titanic without being in a lifeboat and thereafter becoming a centre of attention on the rescue ship and, as Dave said, nobody got ashore from the Carpathia at New York without undergoing the strict formalities demanded by immigration laws. Everybody in the lifeboats was taken aboard that one ship, and anybody who didn't make it to a boat within minutes would have been dead from exposure long before any other means of rescue arrived on the scene. I know that's not the answer you were hoping for, but it's the only one that fits the facts. .
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Alot of what you say is correct however Morley boarded the Titanic under the assumed name of "Henry Marshall" Whats to say he didn't use another assumed name on the Carpathia, his identity went down with the ship. Don't forget this man was hiding out in the pacific, an extremely isolated place in the first half of the century. He only told his 5 children and had never boasted about it to anyone. The only way to prove conclusively that this really happened, is to find a surviving relative in England and dig up Morley's remains on Woodluk Island and do a DNA test. We know thats never going to happen, all we know is the story he told his children. After all that's how history is past from one generation to the next in a primitive culture.
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Hallo Fiona - The problem with that scenario is that one still has to reconcile the names of those who boarded with those who arrived in the New York, and identify whose name he supposedly appropriated. Who do you think that could be? Most single male survivors have been extensively investigated in their post-Titanic lives. He also would have had to have avoided anyone on board the 'Carpathia' who had met him, and hoped that Kate Phillips didn't spot him! Another scenario is that your g-grandfather may have known Morely (or known of him) and, if he had some element of his background he wished to conceal, adopted this anecdote as a means of explaining to his children why he had gone underground. I envy your family's PNG background, though - if I were going to escape anywhere, Milne Bay would be high on the list (or Kavieng). Splendid diving up around there. My grandmother, mother and aunt spent many years in Port Moresby.
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Everything you have said is possible and it could have happened-That's what I am trying to find out the TRUTH. I have also researched the Australian Archives when his name came up with 'maybes' and 'probably". Yes Milne Bay is beautiful and the diving is awesome. My parents live on an island called Panapompom which was an American base during the second world war. There is a Japanese wreck nearby possibly a fighter aeroplane which is still a popular place to snorkel.
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This is facinating! I'm trying to put everything together listening to my grandmother speaking about our family history. Morley being her Uncle. Her Gran having the titanic pension for him, his mistriss he went on the titanic with, the baby she had, and now he may of survived? If he did survive the DNA of his 5 children could still be proven with mine but i'm finding the whole story amazing.
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I have a couple of pictures of my grandmother before she died a few years ago. There is a strong resemblance of Betty Walker and my grandmother Ethel Morley. My grandmother was the 4th child out of 5 children.
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I am absolutely fansinated by all of this as Kate Florence Phillips was my Great Grandmother. It would be great if we could all sort this out together. As i would love to know if Henry Samuel Morley was indeed my Great Grandfather too. My Grandma sadly died and it can't just end there. Help! Beverley
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