Rayleigh Titanic exhibition to display Essex’s links

Now a new, free exhibition focusing on Essex’s links to the Titanic – and there are plenty of them – is destined for the Rayleigh Town Museum.

“RMS Titanic” will be on at the museum, based in High Street, Rayleigh for three days from Friday April 12 through to Sunday April 14 – the date the famous ocean liner hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Display items - Some of the many Titanic related memorabilia and artefacts at the museum (Image: Provided)

The display will feature an exhibition of Titanic related items and the chance to find out about the several Essex residents who perished on or survived the sinking of the Titanic as both passengers and members of the crew.

Among them was Eva Hart from Ilford. She was a second class passenger on board the Titanic and was just seven-years-old at the time.

Eva was sleeping when the ship struck the iceberg. Eva’s father rushed into her cabin to alert his wife and daughter, and after wrapping Eva in a blanket, carried her to the boat’s deck.

He placed his wife and daughter in Life boat No. 14 and told Eva to ‘hold mummy’s hand and be a good girl.’

It was the last time she would ever see her father. Eva’s father perished and his body, if recovered, was never identified.

Survivor- Mike Davies pictured with Eva Hart and two other Titanic survivors (Image: Provided)

Another passenger onboard, but not so lucky, was Thomas Franklin, of Ceylon Road, Westcliff. He was a first class passenger and occupied cabin D-34. Franklin died in the disaster. It later transpired he had written two letters from onboard the Titanic, one of them to his mother.

Then there was Gurshon (“Gus”) Cohen, 18, an out-of-work printer who was seeking his fortune in America. He borrowed the equivalent of $32 and booked passage on the Adriatic, but the coal strike forced him to take the Titanic instead.

Cohen managed to clamber to safety onboard lifeboat 12. He later worked as a cloth buyer. He and his wife lived in Southend.

Titanic survivor Gus Cohen lived in Southend (Image: Provided)

The exhibition has been organised by Mike Davies, chairman of the Rayleigh Town Museum and his colleagues.

Mike has spent years researching the Titanic – its history, its brilliance, its flaws and its victims.

He recalls how he first got hooked on all things Titanic: “My first interest came about at a postcard fair in Southend in the mid 1980s.

“On looking through a batch of cards I came across a postcard of the Titanic (miss-sorted) and noticed it was for sale at £30! I could not believe that any postcard could be worth that incredible amount.

“I wanted to find out more about the ship so I went to the local library, borrowed a book on the Titanic and was soon hooked.

“I became one of the very early members of the British Titanic Society.”

Map - Mike Davies shows a young visitor a chart of exactly where the doomed liner went down in the Atlantic (Image: Provided)

Over the years Mike has attended a number of the conventions of the British Titanic Society.

At one such event, held in Southampton in 1989, Mike got to meet three survivors of the tragedy – including Eva Hart.

A photograph of him with Mrs Hart can be seen at the exhibition.

Another interesting photo that can be seen at the exhibition shows a dramatic Titanic ‘re-enactment’ featuring a lifeboat launched off Southend Pier.

Also on display will be identical china and crockery created by the Titanic’s owners, the White Star Line, which first class passengers would have used for afternoon tea on the ship.

“We also have money and other memorabilia from the year 1912 so that visitors can immerse themselves in what life was like in Essex at the time of the disaster,” said Mike.

Entry to the Titanic exhibition is free. The museum can be found at 91 High Street, Rayleigh, above Pizza Express. rayleightownmuseum.co.uk