J. Bruce Ismay

Infobox_Person
name = J. Bruce Ismay
other_names =


imagesize =
caption =
birth_name = Joseph Bruce Ismay
birth_date = 12 December 1862
birth_place = Crosby, Lancashire, England
death_date = 17 October 1937
death_place = Mayfair, London, England
death_cause =
occupation = Ship-owner
title =
spouse = Julia Florence Schieffelin
children =

Joseph Bruce Ismay (12 December 1862 – 17 October 1937 ["The Times", Monday, Oct 18, 1937; pg. 16; col D] ) was an English businessman who served as Managing Director of the White Star Line of steamships. He travelled on (and survived) the maiden voyage of his company's marquee ocean liner, the RMS "Titanic". [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=J. Bruce Ismay, 74, Titanic Survivor. Ex-Head of White Star Line Who Retired After Sea Tragedy Dies in London. |url= |quote=Joseph Bruce Ismay, former chairman of the White Star Line and a survivor of the Titanic disaster in 1912, died here last night. He was 74 years old. |publisher=New York Times |date=19 October 1937 |accessdate=2008-04-06 ]

Biography

Early life

Ismay was born in Crosby, Lancashire. He was the son of Thomas Ismay (7 January 1837 – 23 November 1899) and Margaret Bruce (1837 – 9 April 1907), daughter of ship-owner Luke Bruce. Thomas Ismay was the senior partner in Ismay, Imrie and Company and the founder of the White Star Line. The younger Ismay was educated at Elstree School and Harrow, then tutored in France for a year. He apprenticed at his father's office for four years, after which he toured the world. He then went to New York City as the company representative, eventually rising to the rank of agent.

On 4 December 1888, Ismay married Julia Florence Schieffelin, daughter of George Richard Schieffelin and Julia M. Delaplaine of New York, with whom he had five children (one of whom died in infancy):
* Margaret Bruce Ismay (born 29 December 1889), who married George Ronald Hamilton Cheape (1881 - 1957) in 1912
* Henry Bruce Ismay (born April 1891; died 1 October 1891), who died in infancy
* Thomas Bruce Ismay (born 18 February 1894), who married Jane Margaret Seymour
* Evelyn Constance Ismay (born 17 July 1897), who married Basil Sanderson (1894 - 1971) in 1927
* George Bruce Ismay (born 6 June 1902), who married Florence Victoria Edrington in 1926

In 1891, Ismay returned with his family to the United Kingdom and became a partner in his father's firm, Ismay, Imrie and Company. In 1899, Thomas Ismay died, and Bruce Ismay became head of the family business. Ismay had a head for business, and the White Star Line flourished under his leadership. In addition to running his ship business, Ismay also served as a director of several other companies. However, in 1901, he was approached by Americans who wished to build an international shipping conglomerate. Ismay agreed to merge his firm into the International Mercantile Marine Company.

RMS "Titanic"

In 1907, Ismay met with Lord Pirrie of the Harland & Wolff shipbuilding company of Belfast. Together, they planned to build a steamer that would outdo the RMS "Lusitania" and the RMS "Mauretania", the recently-unveiled marvels of White Star's chief competitor, Cunard Line. Ismay's new type of ship would not only be fast, it would also have huge steerage capacity and luxury unparalleled in the history of oceangoing steamships. The latter condition was largely meant to woo the wealthy and the prosperous middle class. Three ships were planned and built. The second of these would be White Star Line's pride and joy, the RMS "Titanic", which began its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, on 10 April 1912. The first and third ships of this class were the RMS "Olympic" and HMHS "Britannic", which the firm had originally intended to name Gigantic.

Ismay occasionally accompanied his ships on their maiden voyages, and "Titanic" was one of them. When the ship hit an iceberg 400 miles south of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and started sinking on the night of 14 April 1912, Ismay was rescued in Collapsible Lifeboat C. Reports (resulting from his personal testimony) say that as the ship was in her final moments, Ismay turned away, unable to watch his creation sink beneath the waters of the North Atlantic. He was taken aboard the Cunard liner RMS "Carpathia" and arrived in New York on 18 April. Ismay later testified at "Titanic" disaster inquiry hearings held by both the U.S. Senate (chaired by Senator William Alden Smith) the following day, and the British Board of Trade (chaired by Lord Mersey) a few weeks later.

After being picked up by the "Carpathia", Ismay was led to the cabin belonging to the ship's doctor, which he reportedly did not leave for the entire journey. He ate nothing solid, received only a single visitor, and was kept under the influence of opiates.

After the disaster, Ismay was savaged by both the American and the British press for deserting the ship while women and children were still on board. Some papers called him "J. Brute Ismay" and suggested that the White Star flag be changed to a yellow liver. Some ran negative cartoons depicting him deserting the ship. London society ostracised him and labelled him one of the biggest cowards in history. Strong negative press came particularly from newspapers owned by William Randolph Hearst, who is said to have had a personal vendetta against Ismay. [ [http://www.titanichistoricalsociety.org/articles/ismay.asp Titanic Historical Society, Inc. - "Ismay and the Titanic" ] ] On June 30, 1913, Ismay resigned as president of International Mercantile Marine and chairman to the White Star Line, to be succeeded by Harold Sanderson.

Although his reputation was irreparably damaged and he maintained a low public profile after the disaster, Ismay did continue to be active in maritime affairs. He inaugurated a cadet ship called "Mersey" used to train officers for Britain's Merchant Navy, donated £11,000 to start a fund for lost seamen, and in 1919 gave £25,000 to set up a fund to recognise the contribution of merchant mariners in World War I.

Later life

Ismay kept out of the public eye for most of the remainder of his life. He retired from active affairs in the mid-1920s, and settled with his wife in a cottage near Costelloe in County Galway, Ireland. His health declined in the 1930s, following a diagnosis of diabetes, which took a turn for the worse in early 1936, when the illness resulted in amputation of part of his right leg. He returned to England a few months later, settling in a small house on the Wirral across the River Mersey from Liverpool. J. Bruce Ismay died in Mayfair, London, on 17 October 1937, of a cerebral thrombosis, at the age of 74. His funeral was held on 21 October 1937, and he is buried in Putney Vale Cemetery, London. [cite book |last=Kerrigan|first=Michael|title=Who Lies Where - A guide to famous graves|year=1998|publisher=Fourth Estate Limited|location=London|isbn=1-85702-258-0|pages=pp.285] He was survived by his wife, Julia Schieffelin. After his death, Schieffelin renounced her British citizenship to become an American citizen on 14 November 1949. Julia Florence Ismay, "née" Schieffelin, eventually died 31 December 1963, aged 92, in Kensington, London.

Trivia

Ismay's son-in-law, George Cheape, was a brother of Mrs. Albert Jaffray Cay, the former Miss Catherine Beatrice Cheape (1875-1914), who perished in another famous shipwreck of the 20th century, the sinking on 29 May, 1914, of the ill-fated Canadian Pacific ocean liner RMS "Empress of Ireland" in the waters of Saint Lawrence River.

Portrayals

J. Bruce Ismay has been played by many actors in different versions of the "Titanic" story.
*1943 German film "Titanic", portrayed by actor Ernst Fritz Fürbringer.
*1958 British film "A Night to Remember", portrayed by actor Frank Lawton.
*1979 British/American TV-film "S.O.S. Titanic", portrayed by actor Ian Holm.
*1982 American TV series "Voyagers!" in the episode "Voyagers of the Titanic", portrayed by actor Sam Chew, Jr..
*1996 American TV mini-series "Titanic", portrayed by actor Roger Rees.
*1997 American film "Titanic", portrayed by actor Jonathan Hyde.
*2003 documentary "Ghosts of the Abyss", portrayed by maritime artist Ken Marschall

He is also referenced in Derek Mahon's poem 'After the Titanic'. In all versions, Ismay is portrayed as a somewhat arrogant businessman, who forced himself into one of the last lifeboats to leave the Titanic, and he always turns away from looking at the sinking Titanic during the ship's final plunge into the ocean.

Controversy

There are a number of controversies concerning Ismay's actions on board the Titanic.

During the congressional investigations, some passengers testified that during the voyage they heard Ismay pressuring Captain Edward J. Smith to go faster, in order to arrive in New York ahead of schedule and generate some free press about the new liner. One passenger claimed to have seen Ismay flaunting one of the iceberg warnings at dinner time, waving it around, then placing it back in his pocket. However these claims are not supported by evidence from any of the surviving officers. The testimony of some passengers is regarded as, at best, unreliable, and, at worst, invention.

During the sinking, Ismay assisted the crew in loading and lowering the lifeboats. When there were no female passengers in the vicinity of the deck, he and another first-class passenger (William Carter) were invited to board one of the collapsible lifeboats if they took the place of one of the seamen. This incident would, according to Ismay, haunt him for the rest of his life, as there were still women and children present on the ship. His personal servant, Richard Fry, and secretary William H. Harrison, remained on board and perished when the ship sank. "Titanic's" ship builder Thomas Andrews also died in the sinking.

External links

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* [http://www.titanichistoricalsociety.org/articles/ismay.asp Article on Ismay and the Titanic]

References