Joseph Fynney

Mr Joseph Fynney was born in Great Sutton, Cheshire, England on 11 August 1876.

He was the son of Richard Fynney (b. 1828) and Frances Windsor (b. 1841). His father, a cowkeeper and dairyman was originally from Wetton, Staffordshire and his mother hailed from Maryport, Cumberland. They were married in Liverpool in 1872 and went on to have three children, of whom Joseph was the youngest. His siblings were: John (b. 1873) and Martha Jane (b. 1874, later Mrs John Bruce Hoseason).

Joseph first appears on the 1881 census when he and his family were living at 65 Parliament Street in Liverpool then on the following census at 4 Crump Street, Liverpool. When his father died on 16 July 1894 the family were living at 168 Brownlow Hill, Liverpool. The 1901 census shows Joseph, his mother and sister living at 6 Sandon Street, Liverpool and he was, by that time, described as a rubber salesman. When the 1911 census was conducted the family were recorded as living at Brookfield, Park Way, Liverpool with Joseph still being described as a rubber merchant.

His sister (and possibly brother) had emigrated and settled in Montréal, Québec.

Fynney was a handsome bachelor and spent a lot of his time in the company of younger men. He worked with delinquents at his parish church, St. James, Toxteth, and neighbours often complained about the late night comings and goings of younger men to his house at Parkway in Liverpool. He often travelled to Canada to visit his family, and each time he made the trip, he brought a male companion with him. On this occasion he was travelling with eighteen year old apprentice barrel maker, William Alfred Gaskell. Both men boarded the Titanic at Southampton (number 239865 which cost £26) as second class passengers and both died in the sinking.

Fynney's body was recovered by the Minia and is buried in Mount Royal cemetery in Montreal, Section G-1701A.

IN LOVING MEMORY OF JOSEPH FYNNEY, OF LIVERPOOL, ENG. 
AGED 35 YEARS
WHO LOST HIS LIFE AT R.M.S. TITANIC DISASTER
APRIL 15, 1912
AND WAS FOUND MAY 3, 1912.
HIS DELIGHT WAS IN DOING GOOD

He also has a memorial on his father's grave at Liverpool Cemetery, Anfield, Liverpool, England

His estate, worth £4509, 17s, 8d was administered on 25 July 1912 to his sister Martha Jane Hoseason and one George Frank Upton.

His mother, sister and nieces and nephews later made the journey across the Atlantic and departed from Bristol aboard the Royal Edward of the Royal Line on 18 September 1912 bound for Montréal. His mother died in Toronto on 11 January 1916 and was buried in Montréal.