John Hall Hutchinson was born in Woolston, Hampshire, England in 1884 and his birth was registered in the first quarter of that year. He was the son of Edward Hutchinson (1843-1919) and Dorothy Ann Hall (1849-1926). Both his parents hailed from Sunderland, Durham and they married there in 1869 and moved to Hampshire around 1876.
John had eight siblings: Alice (b. 1870), Elizabeth Ann (b. 1873), Emily (b. 1875), Winifred (b. 1877), Dorothy (b. 1879), Edward (b. 1881), Mary (b. 1886) and William Allison (b. 1890).
John first appears on the 1891 census when he and his family are living at New Road, Woolston, Hampshire. His father is described as a brewery cooper. On the 1901 census John's father is now described as a publican and cooper and the family are listed as living at the Lin (?) Inn Public House, Weston, St Mary, Hampshire, England. John, aged 17, is described as a joiner. On the 1911 census John is absent but his family are now residing at 40 Onslow Road, Woolston, Hampshire. He was unmarried.
When John signed on to the Titanic on April 10, 1912, he gave his age as 26, address as 40 Onslow Road, Woolston and his previous ship as the Olympic. As ship's joiner he would receive monthly wages of £6.
During the voyage Hutchinson made the acquaintance of first class passenger Marie Grice Young. Miss Young was returning to America with some expensive poultry and each day Hutchinson took her below to check on the chickens. As a reward for his kindness Miss Young tipped him with some gold coins; Hutchinson was very grateful, and exclaimed, ''It's such good luck to receive gold on a first voyage''.
Hutchinson may have been the 'carpenter' who rushed onto the bridge to inform Captain Smith that the forward compartments were flooding fast.
John Hall Hutchinson was lost in the Titanic disaster. His body, if recovered, was never identified.
John is mentioned on the family headstone in St Mary Extra Cemetery, Sholing, Southampton:
IN
LOVING MEMORY OF
EDWARD
THE BELOVED HUSBAND OF
DOROTHY ANN HUTCHINSON
DIED OCTOBER 15TH 1919 AGED 75 YEARS
"AT REST"
ALSO OF
JOHN HALL HUTCHINSON
SHIP'S CARPENTER
THE DEARLY LOVED SECOND SON
WHO LOST HIS LIFE
IN THE S.S. "TITANIC," DISASTER
APRIL 15TH 1912, AGED 28 YEARS
AND OF
EDWARD HUTCHINSON, CHIEF E.R.A.
THE DEARLY LOVED ELDEST SON
WHO GAVE HIS LIFE IN THE GREAT WAR,
JUTLAND BATTLE
MAY 31ST 1916, AGED 34 YEARS
"A GLORIOUS END TO A NOBLE LIFE"
"OH THE GLADNESS OF REUNION,
WHEN WE REACH THE OTHER SIDE"
ALSO IN
LOVING MEMORY
OF
DOROTHY ANN HUTCHINSON
BELOVED WIFE OF THE ABOVE
DIED MARCH 18, 1926
AGED 77 YEARS
Comment and discuss
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Hi There everyone, I don't know if anyone will be able to help me, I have spent much time on line and looking up in books trying to find out exactly what happened to the Joiner, John Hull Hutchinson, I know he perished in the sinking, but I do not know as to whether or not his body was found, I have gone through the listings here on the site and could not find his name on the list of bodies found, but yet when searching on another site they had a picture (supposedly) of his grave, but as well as that they also had (supposed) pictures of other peoples graves too, on the list of crew though (as it states the persons position on that site) they are down as having never been found or if so having never been identified, where as with John it doesn't state this at all, can anyone help me with this?
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Stephen First of all let me reassure you that all the photo's on that site are 100% legitimate. As for whether Joiner, John Hull Hutchinson is actually buried there I do not know - What I do know is that his name is mentioned on the family grave stone. If you would like, I could let you have the full inscription on the grave - which lists (I assume) some of his relatives all the best Houghie
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Thanks for the info Houghie, if you could get hold of the inscription it would be fantastic, I am not particularly interested in his relatives name by name, but would like to know what is mentioned on there about him and his family. Many thanks
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No sooner done than said In loving memory of Edward the beloved husband of Dorothy Ann Hutchinson Died Oct 15 1919 aged 75yrs "at rest" Also of John Hall Hutchinson Ships carpenter The dearly loved second son Who lost his life in the SS Titanic disaster 15 April 1912 aged 28 years "Christ gave for wild confusion peace" *(Possibly) and of Edward Hutchinson ERA the dearly loved eldest son Who gave his life in the great war Jutland Battle May 21 1916 aged 34 years "A glorious end to a noble life" "On the gladness of reunion when we reach the other side" Also in Loving memory of Dorothy Ann Hutchinson *Then there is a load of grass & Ivy obscuring the rest Hope this helps - if I can be of further help please let me know all the best Houghie P.S. Welcome aboard
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Stephen, in cases where there was no body for burial it was not uncommon for relatives to have the name added to an existing gravestone of somebody close to the deceased. I think we have to conclude that Mr Hutchinson is one of the many whose body was 'if found, not identified'. The omission of this statement from his biography page is perhaps due to doubts at some stage over the identity of the J Hutchinson buried at Fairview, who was one of the ship's cooks.
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Yes Sounds very much like the grave for Edward snr, John and Edward Jnr, and then Dorothy was added later, sorry to see they had such a loss in there family two sons through two tragic events.
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Des anyone else have any information on his life at all? as I am interested in his life not only his death
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Can anyone help me find more info on John Hutchinson? I've looked at this website's biography of him, but it doesn't have much. Also, if you could help me find any photos of him, that would be great.
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Hello Stefan - Heres a bit of information - I hope that it helps? Cheers Brian Hutchinson, John Hall. Lived at 40 Onslow Road, Nicholstown, Southampton. Occupation - Joiner and carpenter. 26 years old. (Born in Hampshire). In memoriam, The Hampshire Independent, Saturday, April 17, 1915: In memory of John H. Hutchinson, aged 28 years, carpenter, who went down . . . Beloved son of Dorothy A, and Edw. Hutchinson. There is a gravestone at St. Marys Extra Cemetery, Butts Road, Southampton with the inscription: John Hall Hutchinson. Ships Carpenter. The dearly loved second son, who lost his life in the S.S. Titanic disaster, April 15th 1912. Aged 28 years. ''Christ gave for wild confusion - Peace'' Also Edward Hutchinson. Chief ERA, Battle of Jutland, May 31st 1916. The full inscription reads: In loving memory of Edward the beloved husband of Dorothy Ann Hutchinson Died Oct. 15 1919 aged 75 years "at rest" Also of John Hall Hutchinson Ships carpenter The...
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Thank for that, Brian. I'm wondering if you could help me find a photo of him then?
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Stefan - Sorry but I have never come across a photo of Mr. Hutchinson - maybe one day! Cheers Brian
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I'm not sure if this helps but here i go From what i know and what Robert Hitchens stated i feel that it is unlikely that John Hall Hutchinson's body was ever found as, when the carpenter was asked to sound the ship by an officer, he never returned and never reported to the bridge. it is because of this that i feel that he was the first man to die on the night of the 14th-15th and i doubt his body was ever recovered Hope this might help you in some possible way :)
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The carpenter, who did return to the bridge after sounding the ship (see Boxhall's testimony), was John Maxwell. Hutchinson was the joiner, a less senior position. Several of the quartermasters mentioned that "the joiner" had roused them in the accommodation they shared shortly after the collision, but I don't recall any other mention of him. In the Inquiries the officials seem to be somewhat confused about Maxwell and Hutchinson, but at one point where QM Hemming was asked something like "Do you mean the carpenter or the joiner?" (as the man who alerted the off-duty QMs) he specified the joiner. Just as Hichens and others had specified that the carpenter sounded the ship. As they shared the same accommodation, the QMs would surely have known these two men well and it seems unlikely that their mates would be confused about their job titles and responsibilities.
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