Leonard James Hoare

Mr Leonard James Hoare (Saloon steward, 1st Class) was born in Southampton, Hampshire, England in the closing months of 1893.

He was the son of William Hoare (b. 1864), an ordnance survey printer originally from Southampton, and Sarah Louisa Pilgrim (b. 1865), a native of Eling, Hampshire. His parents had married in Southampton in 1889 and went on to have five children.

Leonard's siblings were: William Harold (1889-1975), Rodney George (1896-1981), Hilda Maud Louise (1898-1976, later Mrs Frederick Ernest Tupper) and Sydney Charles (1902-1984).

Leonard first appears on the 1901 census living with his family at 13 Raven Terrace, St Mary, Southampton but the family are living at nearby 108 Lyon Street by the time of the 1911 census. Leonard is by now absent and presumably at sea.

He initially signed-on to the Titanic in Belfast for her delivery trip to Southampton. When he signed-on again, in Southampton, on 4 April 1912, he gave his address as 108 High Street, Southampton (possibly a transcription error from 108 Lyon Street) and his age as 21. As a first class steward he received monthly wages of £3, 15s and his last ship had been the Majestic. Also serving aboard was his maternal aunt Mabel Benett and an uncle-by-marriage, Alfred Crawford, the husband of his aunt Emily, née Pilgrim.

Leonard Hoare died in the sinking. His body, if recovered, was never identified. Both his aunt and uncle were among the survivors. His death was reported in the Southern Daily Echo on 26 April 1912:

HOARE--April 15th, 1912, at sea, on S.S. Titanic, Leonard James Hoare, second son of William and Louisa Hoare, of 108, Lyon Street, Southampton, aged 18½. Deeply mourned by his family and friends.

His mother later died on 16 August 1938.

His last surviving sibling was his brother Sydney who died in 1984.

Leonard James Hoare is remembered on a family headstone in the Old Common Cemetery, Southampton (section O92, plot 189).