Wallace Hartley
Wallace Henry Hartley (June 2, 1878 - April 15, 1912) was a violinist and bandleader on the RMS Titanic on its maiden voyage. He became famous for leading the eight member band as the ship sank on April 15 1912.
Life and career
Wallace Hartley was born in Colne, Lancashire, England on June 2, 1878, and later moved to Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. In school he learned to play the violin and in 1909 began working on Cunard Line ocean liners, primarily on the RMS Mauretania. In 1912 Hartley worked for the music agency C.W. & F.N. Black which supplied musicians for Cunard and the White Star Line.
In April of that year Hartley was assigned to be the bandmaster for the White Star Line ship RMS Titanic. He was at first hesitant to again leave his fiancée, Maria Robinson, to whom he had recently proposed, but Hartley decided that working on the maiden voyage of the Titanic would give him possible contacts for future work.
Sinking of the Titanic
After the Titanic hit an iceberg and began to sink, Wallace Hartley and his fellow band members started playing music to help keep the passengers calm as the crew loaded the lifeboats. Many of the survivors claimed that he and the band continued to play till the very end. None of the band members survived the sinking and the story of them playing to the end became a popular legend. A newspaper at the time reported "the part played by the orchestra on board the Titanic in her last dreadful moments will rank among the noblest in the annals of heroism at sea."
While the final song played by the band is unknown, "Nearer, My God, To Thee" has gained popular acceptance. Former bandmates claimed that Hartley said he would either play "Nearer, My God, to Thee" or "O God, Our Help in Ages Past" if he was ever on a sinking ship, but Walter Lord's book A Night to Remember popularized wireless officer Harold Bride's account of hearing the song "Autumn". It is believed Bride meant either the hymn called "Autumn" or "Songe d'Automne," a popular song at the time.
Hartley's body was recovered by the Mackay–Bennet as body number 224. One thousand people attended his funeral, while 40,000 lined the route of his funeral procession. He is buried in Colne where a 10-foot bust was erected in his honour. Wallace Hartley's large Victorian terraced house in West Park Street, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, bears a blue plaque to remind passers-by that this was the bandleader's home.
Hartley was portrayed by Jonathan Evans-Jones in the 1997 blockbuster Titanic.