Christopher Ward (2)

Jock Hume was a young violinist, playing in the band on the Titanic – the band that famously played bravely on, as the ship sank. Jock, along with the rest of the band, died that night. The author of the book is a descendant of Jock and is looking not only at the aftermath of the Titanic disaster, but is looking closely at Jock’s life and volatile relationship with his musician/violinist and violin-maker father. Ward also looks at, in the aftermath of the Titanic disaster, the woman that show more Jock left pregnant, Mary, whom he intended to marry. The baby that resulted, Johnann (later called Jackie), is the author’s mother.

I really liked this. The first half of the book was more focused on both Jock and the aftermath of the Titanic. There was also some look (I think for comparison purposes) at millionaire John Jacob Astor and his subsequent recovery and his body’s trip home. The second half really did focus on Jock’s family; his father did not like Mary and there were “squabbles” (to put it mildly) and legal battles. I love reading more about the Titanic and I also love biographies, so this worked really well for me. There are plenty of nice photos included, as well. I read the paperback, which had a few updates that didn’t get into the hardcover edition. show less

On 14th April 1912, 1,497 passengers and crew lost their lives on The Titanic's maiden voyage. As the ship sank the orchestra took their instruments on deck and continued to play.

A young man by the name of Jock Hume who played the violin with this Orchestra lost his life that night while his finance Mary who was expecting their first child was awaiting his return back home in Scotland.

This is a fascinating story of the Hume and Costin Family and offers a different side of the Titanic story show more as the author takes up where many other Titanic books finish and tells the story of what happens after the ship goes down.

I found the first few line of the introduction of this book fascinating and was hooked after reading the following;

" Of the 1,497 passengers and crew who died in the North Atlantic that night only 328 bodies were recovered, one of them was my grandfather, Jock Hume a violinist in the Titanic's band. He was twenty one. His pay was stopped the moment the ship went down and two weeks later his father received a bill for the White Star line brass buttons and epaulettes on his uniform"

I found this was a moving and well researched book and the author while recounting the tragic story of his family's history manages to give the reader a great historical account from the moment the Titanic sank and this was information that I had not read before.

I have read quite a lot about the Titanic through the years but really enjoyed this book as it was really well written and a real page turner. show less

Haven't read a non-fiction book just for my pleasure for a while so it was nice to pick up a book that was very well written and very easy to fall into (forgive the pun). The Titanic disaster will forever remain a sad poignant event in our history but this book brought the individuals alive with a well researched history. I have not seen many books out there that discuss the implications that so many deaths had on British society but this did not mean that this book had a sombre tone to it. show more It is a very realistic and strong narrative of only a few families/individuals involved in the Titanic disaster but it made the whole event come alive for me. show less

Haven't read a non-fiction book just for my pleasure for a while so it was nice to pick up a book that was very well written and very easy to fall into (forgive the pun). The Titanic disaster will forever remain a sad poignant event in our history but this book brought the individuals alive with a well researched history. I have not seen many books out there that discuss the implications that so many deaths had on British society but this did not mean that this book had a sombre tone to it. show more It is a very realistic and strong narrative of only a few families/individuals involved in the Titanic disaster but it made the whole event come alive for me. show less