Frank John William Goldsmith
| Frank John William Goldsmith | |
|---|---|
| Born |
19 December 1902 Strood, Kent, England |
| Died | 27 January 1982 (aged 79) Orlando, Florida, United States |
| Spouse(s) | Victoria Agnes née Lawrence |
| Children |
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| Parent(s) |
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| Relatives |
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Frank John William Goldsmith, Jr. (19 December 1902 — 27 January 1982), was a young third-class passenger of the RMS Titanic and a survivor of the sinking in 1912. He later wrote a book about his experiences on the ship, titled Echoes In the Night: Memories of a Titanic Survivor (1991), which featured in the documentary, Titanic: The Legend Lives On (1994).
Frank Goldsmith [Jr.] was born in Strood, Kent, the eldest child of Frank and Emily (née Brown) Goldsmith. His father was originally from Tonbridge. His parents married sometime between October and December 1901, and Frank arrived the following December. In early 1905, he was joined by a younger brother, Albert John "Bertie" Goldsmith, who died in late 1911 of diphtheria.
Master Goldsmith and his parents boarded the RMS Titanic in Southampton as third-class passengers, en route to Detroit, Michigan. His father, a tool maker, was bringing his bag of tools with him; these were stored in the ship's hold. Accompanying them were Thomas Theobald, Frank Sr.'s friend, and Alfred Rush, the son of a family friend. Rush commemorated his 16th birthday on 14 April on board the ship, celebrating his transformation from a boy to a man as he no longer had to wear knickers, but was now to wear long pants.
The 9-year-old Goldsmith spent his time on board the ship playing with a group of English-speaking third-class boys who were about his age: Willie Coutts, Harold Goodwin, William Johnston, Albert and George Rice, and James and Walter van Billiard. They climbed the baggage cranes and wandered down to the boiler rooms to watch the stokers and firemen at work. Of these boys, only Goldsmith and Coutts would survive the sinking.
When the ship struck the iceberg late in the evening of 14 April 1912, Frank Sr. woke Emily and Goldsmith, and together with Theobold and Rush, they made their way to the forward end of the boat deck, where Collapsible C was being loaded. There was a ring of crewmen standing around it, letting only women and children pass through. Goldsmith wrote of the experience: "Mother and I then were permitted through the gateway, and the crewman in charge reached out to grasp the arm of Alfred Rush to pull him through because he must have felt that the young lad was not much older than me, and he was not very tall for his age, but Alfred had not been stalling. He jerked his arm out of the sailor's hand and with his head held high, said, and I quote, 'No! I'm staying here with the men.' At age 16, he died a hero." Theobold gave Emily his wedding ring, asking if she would give it to his wife if he did not survive. Goldsmith later recalled: "My dad reached down and patted me on the shoulder and said, 'So long, Frankie, I’ll see you later.' He didn’t and he may have known he wouldn’t." Goldsmith Sr., Theobold, and Rush all died in the sinking. Of the three, only Theobold's body was recovered.
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