Alfred George Crawford

http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-survivor/alfred-crawfo...

• Name: Mr Alfred George Crawford
• Titanic Survivor
• Born: Saturday 27th February 1869 in London, Greater London, England
• Age: 43 years 1 month and 16 days (Male)
• Last Residence: at 22 Cranbury Avenue, Southampton, Hampshire, England
• Occupation: Bed Room Steward
• Last Ship: "Olympic"
• Victualling crew
• First Embarked: Belfast on Monday 1st April 1912
• Rescued (boat 8)
• Disembarked Carpathia: New York City on Thursday 18th April 1912
• Died: Wednesday 9th February 1938 aged 68 years
• Reference: https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-deckplans/ deck plans of R.M.S. Titanic
• Reference: https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-lifeboat-8/ Life Boat No. 8
• Reference: https://www.wrecksite.eu/peopleView.aspx?165230 R.M.S Titanic Passenger and Crew Data

Mr Alfred Crawford, 36 [1], was born in London.

When he signed-on to the Titanic, on 4 April 1912, he gave his address as 22 Cranbury Avenue, (Southampton). His previous ship was the Olympic. As a Bedroom Steward he received monthly wages of £3 15s.

Cawford was rescued in lifeboat 8. He later testified before the United States Senate inquiry.

Notes 1.When he signed-on he gave his age as 36, he told the Senate Inquiry he was 41.

References and Sources United States Senate (62nd Congress), Subcommittee Hearings of the Committee on Commerce, Titanic Disaster, Washington 1912 Wreck Commissioners' Court, Proceedings before the Right Hon. Lord Mersey on a Formal Investigation Ordered by the Board of Trade into the Loss of the S.S. Titanic

• Reference: FamilySearch Family Tree - SmartCopy: May 29 2019, 17:25:22 UTC
• Reference: Full text- https://archive.org/details/truthabouttitani00grac/page/n6 "The Truth About the Titanic" by Colonel Archibald Gracie, IV 1913 pp. 141-146

BOAT NO. 8 *

British Report (p. 38) puts this boat second on port side at 1.10. Notwithstanding Seaman Fleet's testimony (Am. Inq., p. 363), I think she must have preceded No. 6.

No male passengers in this boat.

Passengers: Mrs. Bucknell and her maid (Albina Bazzani) ; Miss Cherry, Mrs. Kenyon, Miss Leader, Mrs. Pears, Mrs. Penasco and her maid (Mile. Olivia) ; Countess Rothes and her maid (Miss Maloney) ; Mrs. Swift, Mrs. Taussig, Miss Taussig, Mrs. White and her maid (Amelia Bessetti) ; Mrs. Wick, Miss Wick, Miss Young and Mrs. Straus' maid (Ellen Bird).

Women : 24.

Said good-bye to wives and sank with the ship: Messrs. Kenyon, Pears, Penasco, Taussig and Wick.

Crew: Seaman T. Jones, Stewards Crawford and Hart, and a cook.

Total: 2S.

INCIDENTS

T. Jones, seaman (Am. Inq., p. 570). The captain asked me if the plug was in the boat and I answered, 'Yes, sir. All right," he said, "any more ladles?" He shouted twice again, "Any more ladies?"

I pulled for the light, but I found that I could not get to it; so I stood by for a while. I wanted to return to the ship, but the ladies were frightened. In all, I had thirty-five ladies and three stewards, Crawford, Hart and another. There were no men who offered to get in the boat. I did not see any children, and very few women when we left the ship. There was one old lady there and an old gentleman, her husband. She wanted him to enter the boat with her but he backed away. She never said anything; if she did, we could not hear it, because the steam was blowing so and making such a noise.*

Senator Newlands : Can you give me the names of any passengers on this boat?

Witness : One lady — she had a lot to say and I put her to steering the boat.

Senator Newlands: What was her name?

Witness: Lady Rothes; she was a countess, or something.

A. Crawford, steward (Am. Inq., pp. in, 827, 842).

By the testimony of the witness and Steward Crawford it appears that Mr. and Mrs. Straus approached this boat and their maid got in, but Mr. Straus would not follow his wife and she refused to leave him. After we struck I went out and saw the iceberg, a large black object, much higher than B Deck, passing along the starboard side. We filled No. 8 with women. Captain Smith and a steward lowered the forward falls. Captain Smith told me to get in. He gave orders to row for the light and to land the people there and come back to the ship. The Countess Rothes was at the tiller all night. There were two lights not further than ten miles — stationary masthead lights. Everybody saw them — all the ladies in the boat. They asked if we were drawing nearer to the steamer, but we could not seem to make any headway, and near daybreak we saw another steamer coming up, which proved to be the Carpathia, and then we turned around and came back. We were the furthest boat away. I am sure it was a steamer, because a sailing vessel would not have had two masthead lights.

Mrs. J. Stuart White (Am. Inq., p. 1008). Senator Smith: Did you see anything after the accident bearing on the discipline of the officers or crew, or their conduct which you desire to speak of?

Mrs. White : Before we cut loose from the ship these stewards took out cigarettes and lighted them. On an occasion Hke that! That is one thing I saw. All of these men escaped under the pretence of being oarsmen. The man who rowed near me took his oar and rowed all over the boat in every direction. . I said to him: *'Why don't you put the oar in the oarlock?" He said: "Do you put it in that hole?" I said: "Certainly." He said: "I never had an oar in my hand before." I spoke to the other man and he said: "I have never had an oar in my hand before, but I think I can row." These were the men we were put to sea with, that night — with all those magnificent fellows left on board who would have been such a protection to us — those were the kind of men with whom we were put to sea that night! There were twenty-two women and four men in my boat. None of the men seemed to understand the management of a boat except one who was at the end of our boat and gave the orders. The officer who put us in the boat gave strict orders to make for the light opposite, land passengers and then get back just as soon as possible. That was the light everybody saw in the distance. I saw it distinctly. It was ten miles away, but we rowed, and rowed, and rowed, and then we all decided that it was impossible for us to get to it, and the thing to do was to go back and see what we could do for the others. We had only twenty-two in our boat. We turned and went back and lingered around for a long time. We could not locate the other boats except by hearing them. The only way to look was by my electric light. I had an electric cane with an electric light in it. The lamp in the boat was worth absolutely nothing. There was no excitement whatever on the ship. Nobody seemed frightened. Nobody was panic-stricken. There was a lot of pathos when husbands and wives kissed each other good-bye.

We were the second boat (No. 8) that got away from the ship and we saw nothing that happened after that. We were not near enough. We heard the yells of the passengers as they went down, but we saw none of the harrowing part of it. The women in our boat all rowed — every one of them. Miss Young rowed every minute. The men (the stewards) did not know the first thing about it and could not row. Mrs. Swift rowed all the way to the Carpathia. Countess Rothes stood at the tiller. Where would we have been if it had not been for the women, with such men as were put in charge of the boat? Our head seaman was giving orders and these men knew noth- ing about a boat. They would say: "If you don't stop talking through that hole in your face there will be one less in the boat.'* We were in the hands of men of that kind. I settled two or three fights between them and quieted them down. Imagine getting right out there and taking out a pipe and smoking it, which was most dangerous. We had woollen rugs all around us. There was another thing which I thought a disgraceful point. The men were asked when they got in if they could row. Imagine asking men who are sup- posed to be at the head of lifeboats if they can row!

Senator Smith : There were no male passengers in your boat?

Mrs. White: Not one. I never saw a finer body of men in my life than the men passengers on this ship — athletes and men of sense — and if they had been permitted to enter these lifeboats with their families, the boats would have been properly manned and many more lives saved, instead of allowing stewards to get in the boats and save their lives under the pretence that they could row when they knew nothing about it.