Samuel Ernest Hemming (December 24th, 1868 - April 12th, 1928) was the lamp trimmer of the RMS Titanic.
He was married to Miss Elizabeth Emily Browning (born 30 August 1881, died on 22 January 1940) on June 4, 1903, and they had several children.
At 7.15 pm on the night of April 14th 1912 Hemming arrived on the bridge of the Titanic to report to First Officer Murdoch that the ship's navigation light had all been lit. As he left Murdoch called him back and asked if he would closed the fore scuttle hatch. Murdoch had noticed that light was coming from the hatch and was concerned that it might interfere with the lookouts ability to spot ice.
After the collision Hemming and Boatswains Mate Albert Haines heard air escaping from the forepeak tank. They reported it to Chief Officer Wilde who was busy making an inspection. Hemming told Wilde that water was filling the forepeak tank but that the storeroom was still dry. Wilde left to report back to Captain Smith on the bridge.
Hemming was the last person to see sixth officer Moody, when he was on top of the officers' quarters, trying to launch Collapsible A (a collapsible canvas lifeboat) just a few minutes before the final sinking. When Hemming entered the bridge seconds after Captain Smith was seen walking towards it, he found the bridge apparently empty.
Daniel Allen Butler has an explanation for the seeming disappearence. He writes: "If Smith did indeed go to the bridge around 2:10 a.m. as Steward Brown said, and took refuge inside the wheelhouse, that would explain why Trimmer Hemming did not see him when he went onto the bridge a few minutes later. Earlier, at nightfall, the shutters on the Titanic‘s wheelhouse windows would have been raised, to keep the lights of the wheelhouse from interfering with the bridge officers’ night vision: Trimmer Hemming would have been unable to see Captain Smith had the captain indeed been inside the wheelhouse, awaiting his end."
Hemming didn't enter a lifeboat before the sinking of the Titanic. It is unknown when he entered the water, but he had been in it for quite a long time.
Finally, he was pulled out of the water in a bad condition by lifeboat 4. He made a full recovery.
Hemming died in Southampton of 12 April 1928 aged 59.
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Sources
Image: http://hercolano2.blogspot.be/2012/04/titanic-lifeboats-extinguished-their.html