Titanic 2015: Wallace Hartley

Titanic 2015: Wallace Hartley by ric Gustafson


Wallace Hartley was a hero on that fateful night because he kept the ship's eight member orchestra playing until water washed them off the deck. In the town of Colne, Hartley is a local hero.
Hartley was born in Colne on June 2 1878. By 1912, his family had moved to Dewsbury in Yorkshire. Colne is a textile town and by 1824 there were twenty two cotton mills in town. The Hartley's were Nonconformists. Details about Hartley's life before Titanic are scant and in short supply. At age 12, he began taking violin lessons. By age fifteen, he was giving solo concerts.  Hartley was part of two opera companies, the Carl Rosa and the Moody Manners Opera Company.
Hartley was hired by Cunard as an orchestra leader. White Star gave him a huge pay raise to be on the Titanic as the bandleader.
On the Titanic, Hartley had seven musicians under his direction. There was pianists Theodore Brailey and P.C. Taylor. There was violinist Jock Hume, cellists Roger Bricoux and J.W. Woodward. There was bass violist Fred Clark and violist George Krins. The musicians played on Sunday, the reception room on B Deck, the Café Parisien and the a la carte restaurant. The musicians played until 11:00 pm when most passengers had gone to their rooms.
After the ship struck an iceberg, Captain Smith asked the group to play. They played in the first class lounge and then moved to the Boat Deck level of the Grand Staircase. Eventually, the moved to the Boat Deck itself.
A controversy has become a Titanic myth. What tune was played as the ship went under?. Some say it was ' Nearer My God To Thee' or another song.
Hartley's family took his body home after it was found with his violin case still wrapped around him. He was buried in the family's plot in Colne.


research help: ' Titanic A Night Remembered' by Stephanie Barczewski


Peace and God's blessings. Love Ric