21st September - Happy Birthday, Mr Wilde
Henry Tingle Wilde was a man whose life was marked by great joy and great tragedy. His father died 3 months before he was born, and his mother when he was 9. He was one of four children. Although the family does not appear to have had a tradition for it, Henry went to sea in his teens, serving aboard the same ship the Greystoke Castle for his 4-year apprenticeship. He continued in sail until 1895 when he transitioned to steam ships with the S.S. Brunswick. In 1897 he joined the White Star Line on the 16th July, setting history in motion. He started as Fourth Officer aboard the S.S. Cevic, then moved to the Cufic where he had a qualification to 'administer first aid to the injured'.
Over the years he moved up through the ranks, on ships such as the Tauric, (Second Officer) during which service he married Mary Catherine Jones, his beloved "Pollie' in 1898 when they were both aged 26.
He then moved to the Delphic on the New Zealand route, back to the Cufic and in May 1900 he sat the examination for his Extra Master's certificate. He eventually passed on the 9th July. His next ship was the S.S. Persic, one of the five Jubilee-class sisters on the Australian run. (Officers he would later serve with on the Titanic also worked on the sisters, including Murdoch on the Medic and Runic, Lightoller on the Medic and Suevic) However, Wilde did not enjoy the Australian run, being that it took him from home for sch lengthy periods of time.
In 1903, Wilde's wish to be closer to home was granted when he was assigned to the Cedric, one of the 'Big Four, which meant shorter trips and less time between visits home. However, this meant a 'demotion' of sorts back to Second Officer.
In 1904, he began training with the Royal Naval Reserves, in 1905 reaching the rank of Lieutenant.
He then worked on the S.S. Arabic as First Officer (Murdoch would later serve on this ship). Service on the Celtic followed, before Wilde moved back the Australian run on the Medic. During his time on this ship, two major things happened - while away, a son was born and he was also promoted to Chief.
Wilde then returned to the Cedric as her Chief Officer in 1908, but in May was back aboard Medic. By March 1909 he was back to the North Atlantic run on the Cymric, then the Laurentic and back to the Cymric. After this he served aboard the Cedric again, before moving to the S.S Canopic where his First Officer was none other than David Blair. This ship served the Mediterranean routes. During this time a daughter was born.
Altogether, Henry and Pollie had 6 children: the last two being twin boys born in November 1910. However the birth was extremely difficult, and the babies seem to have had some kind of deformity or congenital defect which resulted in them passing away, first Archie and then Richard shortly afterward in early December. Wilde had the sad task of reporting their deaths to the registry office. As if that weren't tragedy enough, Pollie never recovered from the birth, declining severely and she died on Christmas Eve 1910. Henry would never recover from her loss, his subsequent letters to family bearing witness to his deep grief and pain.
In January 1911, Wilde must return to work for the sake of his children. He commenced again training for the R.N.R., where he wrote to his sister-in-law: "I am feeling very miserable here in this afternoon… I feel my loss more every day. I don't know how ever I will get over this great blow. I am trying to keep up but I have to give way at times." (Sincerely Harry, Michael Beatty)
The loss of his wife plays on his mind greatly, with his surviving letters stating: "I don't know what I will do when I do come home. I don't seem to have much to look forward to now. Nobody knows the knock I have had. I don't know how I am going to get over my loss. I used to look forward so much to getting home and having a few days with Pollie… I can't understand why I should have this terrible trouble put onto my life. I don't seem to have anything to live for if it was not for the children. I would not care what happened to me." After finally visiting Plymouth he wrote: "It quite upset me seeing all the familiar places and thinking of the emptiness of my life now. I quite broke down…"(Sincerely Harry, Michael Beatty)
Despite his grief, Henry pushed on and by February he was serving aboard the Megantic, until April when Wilde was put as Master on the S.S. Zeeland to replace the sunk Republic on the service. He wrote again to Pollie's sister: "If Pollie had been spared to me how pleased she would have been to see me in this ship. I had looked forward so much to get command for her sake, so that she could have had an easier time with someone to look after the children."(Sincerely Harry, Michael Beatty)
He then returned to the Teutonic and the Cedric until July 1911...
The rest, as we know, was history. Henry would lose his life in the tragic sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic, along with his Captain, First Officer Murdoch and Sixth Officer Moody, as well as over 1500 passengers and crew. His children were left to the care of his sister-in-law Annie:
"I appoint my sister in law Mrs Annie Jones Williams to act with my trustees as the Guardian of my children during their minority and to be consulted by my trustees as to the education and advancement in life of my children until the youngest child attains the age of twenty one years..." Referring to Annie Jones Williams, Henry asserts "...in whose discretion I repose complete confidence as to their domestic comfort and education..." (Liverpool Museum)
Rest in peace, Mr Wilde.
(Information compiled from multiple sources including the work of Inger Sheil, Dan Parkes, "Sincerely, Henry" and TitanicOfficers.com. Text by me - no AI was used. Please credit if reposting outside of Tumblr.)
