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Thomas Mullin was a steward aboard Titanic.

Background[]

Thomas Mullin’s date of birth was August 26, 1891. as the first of 5 children given to the pair of Charles Mullin and Mary Jane Gunyon, both Scottish from origin. Mary stemmed from the town of Troqueer, Kirkcudbrightshire while Charles was born in the region where he married and raised his children, which was Dumfriesshire. After their union, their son saw the light in Maxwelltown, Dumfriesshire, Scotland. In 1894, Thomas had a brother named John. A sister followed in 1897, Ellen Jane, who they also called 'Nellie'. Annie and Eva were his other sisters, Annie being granted life in 1899 and Eva being the last to arrive in 1901.

Thomas grew up in his native town which was close to Dumfries. In that town, the young Mulllin attended the Saint Michael’s School, while his father worked at a mill. The mill would later become Thomas’ place to learn for his upcoming career, as he did some pattern weaving in the early 1900’s.

He lost both parents in 1908, after which his aunt Margaret Beattie took care of him. She lived in Itchen in Hampshire, England, where Mullin soon joined her household. As a teenager, Thomas wanted to follow in his father's footsteps to also become a pattern weaver in the Rosefield-tweed factories. In 1911, he was an apprentice at his profession, for the shipping industry. He was populair in his environment and worked hard, but his eye-sight got gradually worse. He needed medical assistance. A surgical treatment at the local hospital couldn't improve things. This way, he could not continue his beloved work as a pattern weaver.

Thomas Mullin got a friendly hand from a fellow scholar. He knew John Law Hume, a talented pupil on Saint Michael’s, who excelled in music. He was born in Dumfries. As a close friend, Jock, as he was also called, thought about a different job for Tom. Jock had suggested to Thomas that he should sollicit for a job at seafaring, as a steward. To his advice, Thomas went to Liverpool to apply for such a job on the Saint Louis. This ship had a weekly express service between Southampton and New York. Thomas sought a boarding space at a Southampton pension to abide into. He found one.

From March 1911 till April 1912, he sailed across the Atlantic at least 5 times as a Saloon Steward for Third Class. His efforts earned him the respect of his employers who thought he did a fine job. This led to his career taking off to something bigger, quite literally.

Titanic[]

As the large, new vessel and pride of the White Star Line, RMS Titanic, was delivered in April 1912, Mullin was appointed to be part of her victualling crew. On Titanic, he worked as a 20-yeard old Third Class steward. His acquaintance, John Law Hume, was one of the eight musicians playing in Titanic's band. From his lodge in Southampton, he went to sign himself onto the ship on the 6th of April. Titanic sailed out in the early afternoon of April 10.

Titanic was in the middle of the North Atlantic on the night of April 14, 1912, headed for New York. Everything seemed fine but it was too good to be true. The relatively steady Maiden Voyage was crudely interrupted by three alarm bells from the crow’s nest at late night, just 21 minutes away from midnight. The ship was directly on course towards an iceberg which was reveiled at the last minute, as it couldn’t be seen by the lookouts until she was right there. The bridge responded quickly and turned the engines to full astern while making Titanic go hard to starboard, which meant that her rudder went to the right so Titanic could steer to port.

It was too tight for her to get clear of the iceberg and her starboard side scraped against the mass underneath the water line. The damage was great, as several cracks appeared which soon led the water into the ship.

At midnight, April 15, Captain Edward Smith and Thomas Andrews, the designer, were briefing over the situation of their vessel. It was a mess. As Thomas Andrews studied her plans, he had a tough thing to say to the Captain. The Titanic couldn’t be saved and would soon sink to the bottom of the Atltantic, in 2 hours at best. The stunned captain soon gave order to get the lifeboats prepared.

Where Thomas Mullin was at the moment of impact and shortly afterwards, is not established, but he must have been on duty to look after passengers and bring them to safety like many other stewards in steerage. While doing his job, Thomas became a victim when the White Star Liner sank. His good friend John Hume kept playing with the orchestra till the end and perished as well, along with 1500 other souls, who mostly ended up in the water after Titanic slid away, having broken in two. The cold sea proved too much for the human body to stay alive longer than 20 minutes.

After his death[]

Later, several ships were sent out by the White Star Line company, to go to the wreck site and recover the corpses of those that had deceased. The Minia was busy recovering bodies when she found Thomas Mullin. He was body number #323.

Later, he was laid at rest at  Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, Nova Scotia, where many Titanic victims were buried. A few days earlier, the Mackay-Bennett had also taken the body of his former school mate John Law Hume, aboard.

The towns of Dumfries and Maxwelltown were united in their loss of two very loved young men. An obelisk was created for both brave men, who seemingly did their best for the people on board the ship with a brave heart, till the end.

Sources[]

  1. 'En de band speelde door' ©2011 (second print, 2012, Dutch version) Christopher Ward [the son of Johnann Law]
  2. https://www.geni.com/people/Thomas-Mullin/6000000016058896699
  3. https://nl.findagrave.com/memorial/8854700/thomas-a-mullin
  4. https://ancestors.familysearch.org/nl/27CT-5WB/thomas-a.-mullin-1891-1912
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