Nye Descendants on the Titanic

Thanks to information sent to us by Leonard Goldsmith, of Lobethal, South Australia, we have been surprised to learn that there were descendants of the Nye family on the fateful voyage of the Titanic.

Thomas Nye + Ann Walker (married 1775)

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Job Nye + Ann Rolfe (married 1815)

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Elizabeth Nye + Richard Goldsmith (married 1852)

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James George Goldsmith + Maria Barton (married 1875)

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Frank John Goldsmith + Emily Alice Brown (married 1901)

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Frank John Goldsmith, Jr.

Frank John Goldsmith, the grandson of Richard Goldsmith and Elizabeth Nye Goldsmith, boarded the Titanic in Southampton, England, on 10 April 1912 with his wife Emily and son Frank Jr. as 3rd Class passengers. Their destination was Detroit, Michigan, where many of Emily's family had relocated.

Frank Goldsmith Snr, his wife Emily Brown, Frank Goldsmith Jr, baby Bertie.
Photo taken in Kent, England about 1907. The baby died in Kent in 1911.

When the ship struck the iceberg on 15 April 1912, Frank Sr. woke his wife and son, and, together with others made their way to the forward end of the Boat Deck, where lifeboat Collapsible C was being loaded. There was a ring of seamen standing around the boat, letting only women and children pass through.

Frank Jr. wrote of the experience in his book, Echoes in the Night: "Mother and I then were permitted through the gateway." He later recalled "My dad reached down and patted me on the shoulder and said, ‘So long, Frankie, I’ll see you later.’ He didn’t and he may have known he wouldn’t." Frank Goldsmith Sr. died in the sinking. His body was never recovered.

The story of Frank John Goldsmith Jr. is very well told on a page dedicated to him on Wikipedia. The story of his mother, Emily Alice Brown Goldsmith, is also told on the website Encyclopedia Titanica.

Emily Alice Brown Goldsmith later married Henry Illman.

Wedding photo of
Emily Alice Brown Goldsmith and Henry Illman
courtesy of Leonard Goldsmith