Passengers of The RMS Titanic - Third Class

Third Class

The third class passengers or steerage passengers left hoping to start new lives in the United States and Canada. Third class passengers paid between £7 (£514 today) and £9 (£660 today) for their ticket, depending on their place of origin; ticket prices often included the price of rail travel to the three departure ports. Tickets for children cost £3 (£220 today).

Third class passengers were a diverse group of nationalities and ethnic groups. In addition to large numbers of British, Irish, and Scandinavian immigrants, there were passengers from Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe (Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, Russia, Turkey etc.), the Middle East (primarily Lebanon and Syria) and Hong Kong. Some travelled alone or in small family groups. Several groups of mothers were travelling alone with their young children—most going to join their husbands who had already gone to America to find jobs, and, having saved up enough money, could now send for their families.

Large families were common—John and Annie Sage were immigrating to Jacksonville, Florida with their nine children, ranging in age from 4 to 20 years; Anders and Alfrida Andersson of Sweden and their five children were travelling to Canada along with Alfrida's younger sister Anna, husband Ernst and baby Gilbert; Frederick Goodwin was moving with his wife, Augusta, and their six children to his new job at a power plant in New York. In 2007, scientists using DNA analysis identified the body of a small fair-haired toddler, one of the first victims to be recovered by the CS Mackay Bennett, as Frederick's youngest child, 19-month-old Sidney. The Sages, Anderssons and Goodwins all perished in the sinking.

The youngest passenger on board the ship, two-month-old Millvina Dean who, with her parents Bertram Sr. and Eva Dean and older brother Bertram, were emigrating from England to Kansas, died in 2009. She was the last survivor of the Titanic disaster to die.

In order to compete with rival shipping company Cunard, the White Star Line offered their steerage passengers modest luxuries, in the hopes that emigrants would write to relatives back home and encourage them to travel on White Star Line ships. Third class passengers had their own dining facilities, with chairs instead of benches, and meals prepared by the third class kitchen staff. On other liners, the steerage passengers would have been expected to bring their own food. Rather than dormitory-style sleeping areas, third class passengers had their own cabins. The single men and women were separated, women in the stern in two to six berth cabins, men in the bow in up to ten berth cabins, often shared with strangers. Each stateroom was fitted with wood panelling and beds with mattresses, blankets, pillows, electric lights, heat and a washbasin with running water, except for the bow cabins which did not have a private washbasin. Two public bathtubs were also provided, one for the men, the other for women.

Passengers gathered in the third class common room where they could play chess or cards, or walk along the poop deck. Third class children played in the common room or explored the ship—nine-year-old Frank Goldsmith recalled peering into the engine room and climbing up the baggage cranes on the poop deck.

Ship's regulations were designed to keep third class passengers confined to their area of the ship. The Titanic was fitted with grilles to prevent the classes from mingling and these gates were normally kept closed, although the stewards could open them in the event of an emergency. In the rush following the collision, the stewards, occupied with waking up sleeping passengers and leading groups of women and children to the boat deck, did not have time to open all the gates, leaving many of the confused third class passengers stuck below decks.

Several passengers on the Titanic came were of Arab origins. At the time, many carried identification from the Ottoman Empire that stated they were from Greater Syria which included the modern day countries Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria. Passengers from modern-day Lebanon, for instance, had hometown villages which correspond to modern day Lebanese villages. Kamal Kobeissi of Al Arabiya said "Even though the list of victims who died on the Titanic denotes who among them was Arab, it is difficult to find enough information on their Arab nationalities and what circumstances drove them to board the doomed ship. This even applies to Encyclopedia Titanic, the most comprehensive source on the 1912 tragedy." The names of Arab people on the passenger register do not necessarily correspond to the original Arabic. For instance "Badr" was rendered "Badt," Yusuf" was rendered "Joseph," and "Boutros" was rendered as "Peter." Of the Arab passengers who died, all were from modern day Lebanon except for one Egyptian. According to Mayor of Hardin, Lebanon Bakhos Assaf, 93 passengers originated from what is today Lebanon and Hardin had 20 passengers, the highest number of any Lebanese place. Of the Hardin passengers, 11 adult men died, while eight women and children and one adult man survived.