Titanic hero who played on to the bitter end

Published on Monday 23 May 2011 14:44

THE great-niece of a young violinist who played on the Titanic as it sank has told his story for the first time.

John "Jock" Hume, 21, from Dumfries, was the youngest member of the RMS Titanic orchestra, which famously continued to perform after the ship struck an iceberg.

Survivors of the disaster recalled the reassuring strains of Nearer, My God, to Thee playing out before the musicians were swept to their death.

Now, Mr Hume's story is the subject of a new book by his great-niece Yvonne Hume.

Ms Hume described her great-uncle, who was the youngest member of the orchestra, as a "hero".

She said: "He was engaged to Mary Costin, a girl from his area, and decided that this would be his last voyage before he settled down to married life.

"He said goodbye to his fiancee, who was pregnant with his baby, although I don't know if he was aware of that when he left.

"It was the ultimate accolade to be chosen to play on the maiden voyage of the Titanic.

"Survivors who got in the lifeboats talked about the band playing on as the ship sank. They played to keep the passengers calm - talk about stiff upper lip.

"When John's body was recovered he wasn't wearing a life jacket, he didn't even pause in his playing to put one on. I think they were absolute heroes and the quiet courage and dignity they displayed deserves to be recognised and admired.

"John was only 21 yet he stood with his band members and faced death with honour. It was a selfless and poetic act."

Ms Hume, who lives in King's Lynn, Norfolk, was researching for a recipe book Dinner is Served, based on the Titanic's menus, when she was contacted by a woman whose father was also a musician on the ship.

The woman had a picture of Mr Hume taken six weeks before his death with three fellow musicians on the deck of the Carmania, where he worked before joining the Titanic.

Mr Hume grew up in Dumfries with his brother Andrew - Ms Hume's grandfather - and his sisters Kate and Grace.

He started playing the violin at the age of five and before he was a teenager he had played in the town's theatre.

The trainee solicitor was playing onboard ships from the age of 17 and had sailed on five vessels before he boarded the Titanic.

He was offered a place as a violinist on the Titanic and sailed from Southampton to New York on Wednesday, 10 April, 1912.

Records show that he boarded with ticket number 250654, musician 2nd class passenger, cabin number E.

None of the eight band members survived and the story of them playing by the Grand Staircase as the waters raged about them has become legend.

Ms Hume, 56, added: "It is part of my history. My grandfather, Andrew, was John Hume's younger brother so I have heard stories about him since I was little.

"It was very emotional to find the picture as it's the last known photograph of Jock before he died." Mr Hume's body was pulled from the ocean by the rescue ship Mackay-Bennett and was buried in Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, on Wednesday, 8 May, 1912.

After his death his father rejected his fiancee, of whom he had never approved, and refused to recognise their child Johanna.

The single mother was even forced to take Andrew Hume to court to claim for a grant from the fund set up to help families of Titanic victims. The family was split until Ms Hume tracked down the couple's grandson and healed the family feud.

She said: "I was so thrilled, it has tied the story together and I have discovered family I never knew existed."