![]() However, the Borderer had no wireless, so Captain Black was not able to warn other ships. The crew saw two large icebergs in Latitude 41.50 North, Longitude 50.01 West. By April 1912 their ship was on its way from Calais to New York when on April 13 and 14 she passed near an icefield. Murdoch's cousin of the same age William Black, who he had likely spent time as a child, had by 1912 become the captain of a cargo steamer named the Borderer. ![]() The effect on the Murdoch family back home was obviously deeply felt (refer to The Effect on the Murdoch Family on the left of this page), but also work mates and friends felt his loss. Presumed drowned hisīody was never recovered. Raddall collection)Īfter Titanic disappeared into the Atlantic in the early hours of April 15, 1912, nothing more was ever seen of First Officer William Murdoch. ![]() Richard Edkins, Murdoch of the Titanic (1.)Ĭrew of recovery ship the Mackay-Bennett turning over a capsized Titanic lifeboat to check if any bodies are trapped beneath (Thomas H. Her love must have been abiding and very deep.” She said to her family that her only disappointment in the marriage was that she and William had never had any children. “To the day of her death, Ada remained bitter at the way in which the White Star Line had ignored her as William’s widow. In 1918, Ada returned to Christchurch, New Zealand, dying on the 21st April 1941 aged 65 years. The start of the First World War (Great War) in 1914 made Ada leave Brittany and settle in London, where she was visited by some of her New Zealand relatives who were on leave from the fighting in France. “Ada Florence Murdoch probably left Britain before the memorial was erected and stayed for a time in Brittany, possibly to try to overcome her anguish and to be close enough to deal with the sale of her house. Samuel Murdoch died on the 6th March 1917 aged 75… Although she suffered from considerable illness in her later years, it is possible that the tragic loss of William was a factor in her decline. “Jeannie Murdoch, William’s mother, died on the 20th January 1914, aged 75 years. The Council was also to set up the Murdoch Memorial Prize fund paying £4 a year to the school as a prize for the best 14-year-old scholar, later the ‘Junior Dux’. The Minutes of the Meeting were to be published in the Dumfries and Galloway Standard and Advertiser not long after Lightoller’s letter. The Town Council held a meeting that decided to erect a memorial to William, even before the outcome of the Board of Trade Inquiry. The worst impact would be the allegations of murder, bribery and suicide…Even before the Board of Trade Inquiry, the Town Council had looked at the evidence to hand, and the local paper had no doubt of the heroism of William. “The Murdochs had already lost four of their menfolk to the sea within five years, so they knew that death was all too possible. Regarding the loss of William Murdoch, Dalbeattie resident Richard Edkins writes:
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