File Pictures of our visit
to the Fairview Cemetery in Halifax,
Nova Scotia, in August 2003.
Trip to the Maritimes made possible by kind courtesy of our children - Denise, Denzil & Dahlia.
Fairview Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, is a Canadian cemetery that is perhaps best known as the final resting place for over one hundred victims of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. Officially known as Fairview Lawn Cemetery, the non-denominational cemetery is run by the Parks Department of the Halifax Regional Municipality.
The sinking of the RMS Titanic occurred on the night of 14 April through to the morning of 15 April 1912 in the north Atlantic Ocean, four days into her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. The largest passenger liner in service at the time,Titanic had an estimated 2,224 people on board when she struck an iceberg at 23:40 (ship's time[a]) on Sunday 14 April 1912. She sank two hours and forty minutes later at 02:20 on Monday 15 April (05:18 GMT), causing the deaths of over 1,500 people, making it one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history.
Titanic had received several warnings of sea ice during 14 April but was travelling near her maximum speed when she collided with the iceberg. The ship suffered a glancing blow that buckled her starboard (right) side and opened five of her sixteen compartments to the sea. Titanic had been designed to stay afloat with four flooded compartments but not five, and the crew soon realised that the ship was going to sink. They used rocket flares and radio (“wireless”) messages to attract help as the passengers were put into lifeboats. However, there were far too few lifeboats available and many were not filled to their capacity due to a poorly managed evacuation, confusion and panic.
The ship broke up as she sank with over a thousand passengers and crew members still aboard. Almost all those who jumped or fell into the water died from hypothermia within minutes. RMS Carpathia arrived on the scene about an hour and a half after the sinking and had rescued the last of the survivors in the lifeboats by 09:15 on 15 April, little more than 24 hours after Titanic's crew had received their first warnings of drifting ice. The disaster caused widespread public outrage over the lack of lifeboats, lax shipping regulations and the unequal treatment of the different passenger classes aboard the ship. Enquiries set up in the wake of the disaster recommended sweeping changes to maritime regulations. This led in 1914 to the establishment of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), which still governs maritime safety today.
The Halifax, Nova Scotia, connection
One hundred years ago, on April 10 1912, the Titanic left on her maiden voyage with over 2200 passengers and crew members aboard. Four days later she struck an iceberg south of Newfoundland. She sank in 2 hours 40 minutes. Just over 700 survivors were rescued by the Carpathia and taken to New York. The White Star Line which had offices located on Hollis Street in Halifax commissioned four Canadian vessels to look for bodies in the area of the disaster. Two of these vessels the MacKay-Bennett and the Minia were cable ships based in Halifax. The four ships were able to recover 328 Titanic victims. Many were buried at sea, but 209 victims bodies were brought to Halifax, the closest major port to the area of the sinking. All of the victims thought to be Protestant were buried at the Fairview Lawn Cemetery. Over the years, many many relatives, friends and visitors have come to honour the memory of the Titanic victims buried in Fairview Lawn Cemetery.
An excerpt taken from the inscription on the plaque shown above, placed at the grave site, reads as follows:
Why do the gravestones have the inscription: Died April 15, 1912. The 'Titanic' sank at 2.20 am on April 15, 1912. (She struck an iceberg at 23:40 pm April 14). Given the freezing temperatures, it was believed that most of the victims died of exposure soon after the sinking.
What does the number on the gravestones represent: The bodies of all 'Titanic' victims buried at Halifax were recovered at sea near the area of the sinking. The number on the gravestone is the number assigned when the body was found. James McGrady, victim 330 was the last victim found. His body was recovered by the 'Algerine' in mid-May 1912.
Though it's been a huge tragedy and remembered for the loss of life, the 'Titanic' has fascinated millions of people around the world for a century, admired for its size, glamour and sheer grandeur.
When I was a young lad of nine years or so in school, I remember up to this day our class teacher telling us about the the 'Titanic', and whenever I heard 'Nearer my God to Thee' I somehow still cannot but help reminiscing about this great ship. Apparently, the resident violinist on board the ship continued playing the tune as the ship went down, as it has also immortalized in the film 'Titanic', along with the great spirit of gallantry, heroism and bravery of the crew, risking their own lives so that others, especially women and children, may live.
Tony & Edna Fernandes
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