Joseph Bruce Ismay was born on December 12, 1862 to Thomas Henry and Margret Bruce Ismay. His father was the part owner of Firm of Ismay Imrie which started the White Star Line, Asiatic Steam Navigation Company and other companies. He went to study in Estree School Harrow, France and was an apprentice to a ship building company for 4 years and then took an around the world trip for a year. When he came home, he married Julia Florence in 1888 and two sons and two daughters. They moved to England
in 1891. In 1899, Thomas Ismay died leaving all the companies to Joseph. One day at a dinner party, J Bruce Ismay and a friend Lord Pirrie got an idea to build three huge ships. But when they looked for a shipbuilding yard, they could not find one big enough, so they had to build a shipbuilding yard and named it Harland and Wolff. The work started on the Olympic, then a month later the Titanic, then a year later the Britannic.
J. Bruce Ismay went on the Olympic and made it to New York, then Titanic which was going to reach New York early and surprise everyone, but she struck and Iceberg. As he was sinking, J Bruce Ismay, saw no women or children, so he got into a lifeboat, when he arrived in New York, he became a scapegoat for the public, because he was the owner of the ship. Ismay was able to keep his job until Britannic was built and launched. He was forbidden to speak about the Titanic after he went before an inquiry. He died a broken man in 1937.
3 comments:
Dear Southern Belle,
As a fellow Titanic enthusiast, I invite you to look at my latest novel, Titanic: Relative Fate, about a modern-day Titanic and the fate of those who sail her. The book reviewer for the Titanic Historical Society thought that I had clearly modeled one of the main characters after the negative Hearst Newspaper accounts of J. Bruce Ismay. Although I appreciate the comment, it is simply not the case. If you get a chance to read my novel, I'd love to know what you think. You may find more information about Titanic: Relative Fate at www.myspace.com/vcking. I also have a blog on the topic of Mr. Ismay there as well. Also, if you are a member of the Belfast, Canadian, or International Titanic Historical Societies, look for write-ups and reviews on Titanic: Relative Fate in their upcoming journals. Thank you! V. C. King (www.vcking.net or www.myspace.com/vcking)
Ismay deserved to be broken. Babies died because of him, He was a self absorbed pig who unfortunatly, as you state in another post, people act like today. It is people like him also that have changed our culture to be immoral and self-centered. His desendants should be ashamed and apologize for his immature and ruthlessly selfish behaviour. I truly despise Bruce Ismay.
Let me begin by saying that my thought of Ismay have changed since writing this post and I need to go through the blog correcting it.
Ismay was actually offered a seat on the lifeboat and got in. His actions have been the subject of controversy. He has yet to be portrayed correctly in a film and was made the villan by the public because he was the chairman of the White Star Line.
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