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MurdochsAid
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Re: First Officer William Murdoch
Waaay to go, Jade! I love that photo of him.  Thanks for posting it. 
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"Whatever obstacles control, go on true heart, thou'lt reach the goal." ~ John Henry Mackay, "Writer of Anachist"
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Jun/20/2003, 1:41 pm
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MurdochsAid
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Re: First Officer William Murdoch
Here's something about Will, that I think would be of great interest to everybody. This from his very own gt. granddaughter, Victoria Farrell-Cofield, from a GenForum.com query she posted under the "Murdoch Family Genealogy Forum"...
I have talked to members of my family in Liverpool, England, and they have drawn the same information which I have in regard to William Murdoch, whom went down with the Titanic in 1912. He was married to a woamn Ada in which he had no children with. But being stationed out of Liverpool he went on to have seven children with an Elizabeth Crogent of Liverpool. Unfortunately the children were out fo wedlock so there was never any marriage certificate to back it up. But all of the children have taken the Murdoch name. This would explain the "mystery woman" who burst into and disturbed the congressional hearings after the sinking, in which he was blamed at the time and held accountable. My father has the Murdoch name on his birth certificate with the correct spelling. I have yet to find anymore substantial evidence to back my theory. If anyone out there has any information, would you please let me know. Thanks.
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Please check the next post for the "Controversy About 'Titanic" First Officer" by Catholine Butler...
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"Whatever obstacles control, go on true heart, thou'lt reach the goal." ~ John Henry Mackay, "Writer of Anachist"
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Jun/20/2003, 7:53 pm
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MurdochsAid
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Re: First Officer William Murdoch
Controversy About 'Titanic" First Officer
December 2000
By CATHOLINE BUTLER
VANCOUVER - Not everyone was thrilled with Hollywood's version of the sinking of the Titanic. Victoria Farrell-Cofield of Vancouver feels the movie did a profound injustice to her great-grandfather, William Murdoch, first officer to E.J. Smith, who was captain of the Titanic.
Victoria said, "As everyone knows, the Titanic went down off the coast of Newfoundland and at that time it was one of the grandest and largest ships built. My great-grandfather, William Murdoch was my father's mother's father.
"When he went down on the Titanic, he left a common-law wife and seven orphaned children, who went from being a high-society family to poverty overnight, and it was very, very sad. Because William Murdoch was held responsible for the sinking of the Titanic, there was a lot of shame for the family and they were shunned by society.
"His common-law widow didn't want the shame passed on to the children, so she didn't actually tell the story to them at the time. It remained a family secret for many years. It wasn't until much later that the family started to discover the details.
"I was amazed to learn that completely unaware of my own interest and research, my family in England was also showing renewed interest and doing their own research on our relative to learn what actually happened on that fateful night.
"When we finally made contact, we found that we were all discovering the same facts. Everyone knew that Murdoch was on the Titanic, there were rumors he was a cook or chief engineer, but we all knew he was on board in some capacity.
"Years ago, I went to the Titanic exhibition in the Maritime Museum in Kitsilano and discovered who William Murdoch really was. I saw a picture of him. It really shocked me because he looked so much like my father. They have the same Murdoch lop-ears.
"My great-grandfather was in charge of the bridge at the time the Titanic headed into uncartered waters on a pitch-black night. They were actually warned that they were heading into an ice-field from other ships in the area, but they didn't want to slow down becuase they were trying to beat the speed record for getting to America.
"This decision not to slow down was made by Captain Smith, not William Murdoch. At the time, it was Captain Smith's retirement voyage - it was his final voyage before retirement, and it was supposed to be his crowning glory of achievement.
"The night that the Titanic hit the iceberg, there was a big party going on and Captain Smith could not be aroused from sleep. Apparently, he had celebrated a little too much. He was in charge at the time the ship was steaming forward and hit the iceberg. Actually, they did not see the iceberg until they were on top of it, and then it was too late.
"An iceberg is 3/4-quarters below water, with only a little bit on top. When they tried to go around it, the Titanic was hit underneath the waterline, putting a large gash along the starboard side of the ship.
"The reason the Titanic sank so fast, is that there was a flaw in the ship. Inside the ship, there were supposed to be air-tight chambers, quartered-off to hold the water, so that it wouldn't spill over.
"Whether it was due to lack of funding, or putting the money into furnishings and decor, this area was never finished. As a result, when the water rushed in, it spilled over into the next compartment, and the aft end of the ship went up in the air, and sank within the hour.
"When Director James Cameron released the movie, TITANIC, that was when there was a total uproar in the family. Cameron depicted the movie as historically correct, but in fact, he totally defamed William Murdoch.
"He portrayed him as a coward, as having taken bribes to allow men into the lifeboats with the owmen and children, and that he supposedly shot people. I do believe that he may have had a gun, but that he fired into the air to warn men from jumping into the lifeboats on top of the women and children.
"The worst accusation was that in the end, he turned the gun on himself and committed suicide. The family absolutely does not believe this to be true.
"We were so incensed at these accusations that some of the family wrote into a Liverpool newspaper to protest how William Murdoch, a well-known hero thoughout England and Scotland, had been made to appear as a horrible coward.
"Other relatives living in Dalbeattie, Scotland, where there is a monument in his honour, tried to file a lawsuit against TITANIC director, James Cameron. But they didn't have a lot of money for high-priced lawyers, and they were too far away from the Hollywood scene.
"I think an out-of-court settlement was something like a lump of 10,000 or 20,000 punds, to be put into a bursary to support further education of students. There is still a lot of hard feelings within the family about this settlement."
Victoria is resolute and passionate in her quest to have William Murdoch's name and reputation cleared. I asked her about future plans and she said, "I would like to see a good, strong family tree and a family reunion.
"Also, obviously, more public knowledge about the fact that a lot of witnesses said William Murdoch actually saved many lives. He should have been the captain of Titanic and portrayed as the true hero that he was. I plan to continue my research and write a book and, maybe somebody would like to buy the rights, make a movie and get the real truth out about the sinking of the Titanic."
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Victoria is the manager of Colour Tech II Hair Studio on West Broadway in Vancouver, British Columbia, a family-owned and operated hairdressing salon specializing in hair colour corrections work. The family is originally from Liverpool, England. Victoria's father, Brian Farrell has Limerick, Ireland roots.
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"Whatever obstacles control, go on true heart, thou'lt reach the goal." ~ John Henry Mackay, "Writer of Anachist"
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Jun/20/2003, 8:47 pm
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Lights
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Re: First Officer William Murdoch
Yep. One certainly learns new things every day. I never knew that Mr. Murdoch was a father. Well, well, do tell.
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"What I remember about that night- what I will remember as long as I live- is the people crying out to each other as the stern began to plunge down. I heard people crying, 'I love you.'"
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Jun/21/2003, 11:18 pm
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MurdochsAid
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Re: First Officer William Murdoch
I think many of us are surprised to learn about this, Lights. Just knowing this, my heart really goes out to Aid. Because I don't know if whether or not she knew about this other woman, Elizabeth Crogent, in her husband's life...and nor about their seven children. Wonder if Will ever came clean, and told her about his family? Or did Aid blindly enter into her relationship with him, thinking she was the only woman in her husband's life? Yet it's because of her deep love for him, she chose to "stand by her man" no matter what.
Will we ever learn the answers to our questions about this poignant part of Will's private life?
edited by MurdochsAid, Jun/22/2003, 3:01 am
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"Whatever obstacles control, go on true heart, thou'lt reach the goal." ~ John Henry Mackay, "Writer of Anachist"
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Jun/22/2003, 2:20 am
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