h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Halifax considers the Titanic to be part of the story of Halifax. We're a port city; here ships of the Royal Canadian Navy, and ships from all over the world come and go on a daily basis. And from here the ships left for the grizzly task of recovering Titanic's dead. The MacKay-Bennett (locally pronounced Mackie-Bennett), Minia, and Montmagny sailed from Halifax to go out to the site of the disaster. They returned 309 bodies to Halifax by April 30, 1912. Of those, 59 were claimed by relatives, 121 are buried in Fairview Cemetery, 10 in Baron de Hersch Jewish Cemetery, and 19 in Catholic Mount Olivet Cemetery.

100 Years Later

On Thursday, April 12 our first cruise ship of the season, the Azamara docked at Pier 22. She was here for a special reason: a port of call before she cruised out to the Titanic site for a memorial service. While here, her passengers visited the Titanic display at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, and the Titanic graves.

Saturday, April 14, at dusk hundreds of people gathered on the waterfront along with a pipe band, Sea Cadet band and a wagon drawn by two Percherons, symbolizing how the bodies were carried away from the waterfront. The horse-drawn wagon led a candle-light walk up to the Grand Parade, a walled square in Halifax bordered by St Paul's Church and City Hall. There they were joined by hundreds more for a 3 hour program of music, interpretive dance, and writings by survivors of the Titanic. Flares were fired, as 100 years before. At 2:20 am April 15, a minute silence was observed, then St Paul's bells rang.

Sunday, April 15 was a day of memorials. At Fairview, the largest Titanic grave site in the world, Cadets and other children laid roses on the graves, pipes played, and prayers were said. Also on Sunday, J.A. Snow, ancestors of John Snow, Halifax Undertaker, held a memorial in their funeral home.

Of special importance to Halifax is the Grave of the Unknown Child. He has been identified by DNA testing as Sidney Leslie Goodwin, and flowers and stuffed teddy bears are often left at his grave. His leather shoes are on display at the Maritime Museum. Halifax had one survivor, Miss Hilda Slaytor, second class, and one victim, George Wright, in first class. Mr Wright's body was never recovered.

Thanks for this excellent information – I've added it to the article and credited you too.
One question – Have you been to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic and are you able to briefly describe it?

Thanks for your help in making this article balanced for both sides of the Atlantic.

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The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic is a marvelous place to spend an afternoon - allow lots of time! Its a huge building, and covers a lot of Halifax's history. Two displays that shocked me, and several people I've talked to, were the Halifax Explosion on the main floor, and the Titanic display upstairs. These displays are brought right into your face and consciousness through the artifacts on display.

The Titanic display is part of the Museum not to be missed. There are pieces of carved wood from the Titanic, and Wreckwood. Wreckwood is an ancient tradition of keeping bits of wood from a shipwreck and carving them into picture frames, crib boards and paperweights. A recovered deck chair is on display, along with pictures of the ship, including one of the Grand Staircase. Included are a mortuary bag, leather gloves, and the little leather shoes belonging to Sidney Leslie Goodwin.

The display is permanent, and well worth a visit. More information is on their website: http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mmanew/en/home/default.aspx

Thanks. I've added this to the article. Do you want to read and check you're happy with what's written so far? I've made a couple of minor tweaks.

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Just one mistake: the word "tomorrow" in the second last paragraph, "Sunday there was a memorial service tomorrow . . ."

Thank you so much for including this. In talking to another person who moved here from another part of Canada, we concluded Nova Scotia does disaster well. Not only did we help out at the Titanic disaster, and the Halifax explosion in 1917, but also Swiss Air disaster at Peggy's Cove, not far down the coast in 1998. Being sea-bound, there have been lots of losses over the years, with boats going out, and not coming back. Speaks well of the hardy people who make up this province. I'm proud to number myself among them, now that I'm not considered "from away" any more.

Thanks - I've corrected that. Thank you for supporting this article.

I'm from the Isle of Wight (where the hovercraft was invented) but work in Southampton, so too have lived a fairly a sea-bound life (my Dad used to be a ship-builder who made, among other vessels, RNLI lifeboats). There have been a fair number of ships lost from around here too, but fortunately not too many disasters. Perhaps the worst was the 1957 Aquila Airways Flying boat crash, in which 45 people died.

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On Monday, April 30, at 9:30am Halifax church bells will chime, as they did 100 years ago when the MacKay-Bennet sailed into Halifax bearing the recovered bodies from the Titanic. Back then, windows in homes and businesses were draped in black or purple, sign of mourning for the victims.

Five local churches have agreed to ring their bells, and the SS Acadia, docked at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, will also be part of a 10-minute tribute. This is roughly the time the MacKay-Bennet came into Halifax Harbour.

Part of the Museum display is an old marine hardware store, which will be draped in purple and black on April 30.

The complete story from the Halifax Chronicle-Herald is here:
http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/90371-bells-to-mark-titanic-recovery-mission

Thank you for this – I've added it to the entry, which I hope to put into Peer Review by the end of the day.

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Thank you! I thought it was an important gesture that this was done this morning. These men that went out to recover bodies did what, I suspect, most of us couldn't do. (At lease I sure couldn't - I'd be a basket case pretty quickly!)They deserve this honour, and I'm pleased it will be included in this important entry.

It is in, and the Peer Review thread is here: F48874?thread=8292948 if you wish to keep an eye on what is said about this article.

Not something which I think I would go out to do either.

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