William Clark
William Clark was a Fireman on the RMS Titanic in 1912 as well as the RMS Empress of Ireland in 1914, suriving the sinking of both vessels.
Early life[]
William Clark was born in the small port town of Greenore in Carlingford, Co Louth, Ireland on July 7, 1869.
The Clark family appears on the 1901 census living at house 4 in Greenore, William’s mother by then a widow; his father had passed away a few months earlier from heart disease on 10 November 1900. A veteran of the Boer War, William himself was not listed with his family on the census and was presumably in South Africa at the time. The Northern Daily Mail reporter that interviewed Clark described him as “Dark-haired and blue-eyed, he is a typical Liverpool Irishman, 43 years of age, unmarried, and lives in Derby-road, Bootle.”
Titanic[]
When he signed on to the RMS Titanic on April 6, 1912 Clark gave his address as 30 Paget Street, Southampton, United Kingdom. His previous ship had been the SS Avon and as a fireman he received monthly wages of £6.
He was rescued in lifeboat 15.
Clark was later rescued by the RMS Carpathia which brought Titanic's survivors to New York on April 18, 1912.
Empress of Ireland[]
Clark later served as a fireman aboard the RMS Empress of Ireland, his first voyage aboard that ship and survived the liner’s demise on May 29, 1914. Clark was later rescued by the ship SS Eureka.
Clark died on March 2, 1925 from a heart attack.