Lawrence Beesley

Lawrence Beesley (born 31 December 1877 in Wirksworth, Derbyshire, England; † February 14, 1967 in London) was a British teacher, journalist and author of the 1912 sinking of the Titanic survived and his experiences in his book The Loss of The SS Titanic held. Later, he also worked on other books and film productions with the topic. He also was the father of the British writer Dodie Smith, who was known primarily for her work hundred and one Dalmatians.

Family

Lawrence Beesley came on the Good Steeple Grange near the small town of Wirksworth to the world. He was the third of eight children of bank employees ( and later manager of the Capital & Counties Bank) Henry Beesley and his wife Annie Mary James. His siblings were Frederick Arnold, Ernest, Henry Lewis, Cyril James, Frank Meredith, Arthur and Edith Anne Beesley.

On June 17, 1901 Beesley married at St. Margaret Church in Lancaster, five years older Gertrude Cecile Macbeth, Cissy called. She was the daughter of the wealthy Thomas Alexander Macbeth. From the marriage of son Alec Beesley emerged.

Career as a teacher and journalist

Beesley attended Derby School and later studied at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. There he was awarded for various academic achievements with prizes and discovered a new, later named after him algae called Ulvella Beesleyi.

In 1902 he took up his duties as a teacher of science subjects at Anthony Gell -Gymnasium in his home town of Wirksworth. The following year, he passed the National Science Tripos, a scientific exam, and graduated from the title of " First Class" from. In 1904 he moved to Dulwich College, where he among other things, the later American writer Raymond Chandler (1888-1959) taught. At the same time Beesley took a liking to the ideas of Christian Science ( Christian Science ) and the teachings of Mary Baker Eddy ( 1821-1910 ), then a very popular theologian and writer. He began to write articles and columns for magazines Christian Science Journal and Constancy.

Titanic and experience report

After Beesleys wife had died in 1911 of tuberculosis and had left him as a single father, he sought distraction and diversion. So in spring 1912, when he booked a passage as a passenger Second class on the luxury liner Titanic, to visit his brother Frank in Toronto, Canada. He booked from Southampton for £ 13, the cabin D -56 ( Ticket-Nr. 248 698 ). When the Titanic on the night of April 14, collided with an iceberg at 23:40 clock, Beesley was still awake and reading a book. He did not feel the collision, but noticed that the ship suddenly stood still, and asked a steward for the cause. Since this could give him a satisfactory answer, Beesley went on deck. After he was able to identify any signs of danger, he went down again, but could see a strange steep slope of the stairs. Back on deck, he waited at first and watched after and were veered after the lifeboats.

At 1:35 clock he rose to the starboard side in the lifeboat No. 13, in which there were a total of 64 people. On this side of the ship and male passengers were allowed into the boats under the supervision of the First Officer William M. Murdoch, when after boarding of women and children was space. Once on the water surface, No. 13 has been pressed from the right after deflated No. 15 almost under water. At 2:20 clock sank the Titanic, against 4:45 clock Beesleys rescue boat from the British passenger ship Carpathia was taken. He was one of only eight men of the Second Class, who survived the disaster.

Immediately after his arrival in America Beesley began to write down his impressions and memories. Already in June 1912, two months after the disaster, the English publisher Houghton Mifflin published his work The Loss Of The SS Titanic. In Germany the book came much later under the title tragedy of the Titanic and Titanic. How I survived the sinking out. Beesley was later other authors and historians with its reports to the side, including he supported the U.S. nonfiction author Walter Lord (1917-2002) in his 1955 published book The Night to Remember (Original Title: A Night To Remember ), which is now regarded as one of the basic reference work on the subject. Beesley was also filmed as a consultant on the set, as the director and producer Roy Ward Baker Lords book in 1958 under the same title.

As a consequence of the experience crossed Beesley, after he had begun the journey home to England, never again the ocean, not even the English Channel. Even with bathing trips with his family to the British coast Beesley rarely went into the water.

Late life

1919 married Muriel Beesley ' Mollie ' Greenwood, who already have a three year old daughter named Dinah had from her first marriage. Together had Lawrence and Muriel Beesley three more children: Daughters Laurien and Waveney and the son of Hugh. He began playing golf in his spare time and took several times successfully in the British Open. Hugh Beesley was a member of the Royal Air Force in World War II.

Beesleys son from his first marriage, Alec, was an actor and manager of the English author Dorothy ' Dodie ' Smith, with works such as I Capture The Castle (1948 ) and 101 Dalmatians (1956 ) was known. Alec and Dodie migrated to the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 to America, so the avowed pacifist could not be drafted for military service. They married in the same year.

Lawrence Beesley died in 1967 at the age of 89 years.