WESTBURY Probus Club spent its last meeting hearing about a family who left Melksham for New York in 1912 but died in the sinking of the Titanic.
Guest speaker, Lieutenant Commander Geoffrey Carr RN, gave the talk on the Goodwin family.
Club member Bruce Hewitson reports, “Geoffrey talked about a family who had moved from London to Melksham in the early 20th century. The Goodwin family settled in with their six children, the youngest of whom, Sydney, was only 19 months old.
“They then decided to move to the USA and booked tickets for the whole family. They planned to meet up with Frederick Goodwin’s brother in America.
“As fate would have it, they sailed from Southampton on the Titanic as third class passengers.
“Our speaker then changed tack to talk in great detail about the construction of the Titanic and why people believed her to be unsinkable. As we all know, in early 1912 Titanic hit an iceberg and, indeed, did sink on a quiet moonless night. 2,201 passengers, many of them third class passengers, perished in the sea.
“The Goodwins were among those who did not survive.
“Sometime after the sinking a cable-laying ship, Mackay Bennett, was sent to pick up dead passengers floating on the Atlantic. Among those picked up was a small unidentified body of a child.
“The crew were moved by the sight of the young body and when they docked in Halifax, Nova Scotia they buried the child in a marked grave.
“More recently, with the aid of DNA technology, the body of the child was exhumed. DNA samples were extracted from the bones of the child and eventually the child was identified. The body was the youngest child of the Goodwin family, Sydney .
“Our speaker finished his talk by explaining the measures put in place to reduce the risk of a sinking like the Titanic ever again. He finished to rousing applause from the audience.
“Chairman Chris Saunders thanked the speaker and announced the date of the next meeting, 6th December, when our speaker will be Elizabeth Herring, bringing art to life. Christmas Luncheon is on the 8th December.
“Chris also presented badges to new member Chris Gould and existing club member Angela Greenslade.”
For more information about the Probus Club go to www.probuswestbury.co. uk.
Above: Geoffrey Carr (left) with Probus member John Harris.
