The Goodwin Family
- Charlotte Zureick
- Nov 10, 2024
- 4 min read
Articles in the aftermath of the Titanic disaster about the Goodwin family
A picture of the Goodwin family from The Buffalo News dated April 17, 1912 via Newspapers.com
One tragic story from the Titanic is that of the Goodwin Family. Frederick Joseph Goodwin (42) and his wife Augusta Goodwin (43) did not survive the sinking along with all of their children: Charles Goodwin (14), Harold Goodwin (10), Jessie Allis Mary Goodwin (12), Lillian Amy Goodwin (16), Sidney Leslie Goodwin (1) and William Frederick Goodwin (13). They travelled in third class on the maiden voyage.
Here are a few news articles from 1912 in the aftermath of the disaster about this family.
“Whole Family, Relatives of Niagara Falls Residents, May Have Gone Down With The Titanic”
The Buffalo News
Buffalo, New York
April 17, 1912
“No word yet has been received by Thomas Goodwin of 520 Twenty-fifth street, concerning the fate of his relatives aboard the ill-fated Titanic. The name of his brother, Frederick Charles Goodwin, does not appear in the published passenger list. Neither is that of his brother’s wife and six children included in the list of those that were saved and he is inclined to believe that they went down with the ship. Mr. and Mrs. F. C. Goodwin and their children were on their way to Niagara Falls which was to have been their future home. They left Melkaham, Wiltshire, Eng., a week ago Saturday, intending to sail on the steamship Philadelphia from Southampton. The sailing of the Philadelphia was canceled, however, and the steamship officials made arrangements for the family to sail second-class on the Titanic. In addition to Thomas Goodwin, there is also another relatives of the ill-fated family here, Mrs. William Rottger, a sister, living at 1034 Cleveland Avenue.”
“Were Aboard Titanic: Mr. and Mrs. F. C. Goodwin and Six Children Coming to Falls”
Buffalo Courier Express
Buffalo, New York
April 17, 1912
“F. C. Goodwin with his wife and six children, who was on his way to this city to make his home, was on the Titanic, according to information received by Thomas Goodwin of No. 1034 25th street, a brother of the man. The Goodwins were to have sailed on the Philadelphia, but canceled their passage and boarded the Titanic.”
“Goodwin Family Reported Rescued”
The Buffalo News
Buffalo, New York
April 18, 1912
“A dispatch has been received, by Thomas Goodwin of Niagara Falls from the White Star Line Company to the effect that his brother Fred Goodwin and his family have been saved. Mr. Goodwin scouts the idea as their names do not appear among the official list of the saved issued in New York.”
“Entire Family Believed to Be Dead”
The Inter Ocean
Chicago, Illinois
April 18, 1912
“F. C. Goodwin, who, with his wife and six children, was on his way from England to make his home in this city, was on the Titanic, according to word received by his brother Thomas Goodwin today. Their names do not appear among those rescued by the Carpathia.”
“Probably Lost: Thomas Goodwin Gets No Reassuring News of His Relatives”
The Hamilton Spectator
April 18, 1912
“‘Fred Gordon and his family on lists of Titanic.’ This is the only word that Thomas Goodwin received from the officials of the White Star line as to the possible fate of his brother and family, who are known to have been aboard the ill-fated steamer when she struck the iceberg Sunday night.
“Mr. Goodwin, through the local representatives of the company, inquired if his relatives had been rescued, and the reply quoted above is the only word received.
“It is meager and contains nothing of any value to the grief-stricken brother. ‘I don’t know what to do,’ said Mr. Goodwin when asked by the Spectator representative if he proposed going to New York to meet any possible survivors. ‘I don’t know whether any of them were rescued or not. You know just as much as I do about them. I think I shall wait and see if they were saved.’”
Niagara Falls Power Plant, Niagara Falls, New York (approximately 1912) via Wikicommons
“Fulham Family Dead”
The Daily Telegraph
London, England
April 29, 1912
“News had just come to hand of the deaths of a Fulham family of eight people on the Titanic. Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Goodwin and their six children of 10 Vernon-street, Fulham were emigrating to America, Mr. Goodwin having obtained a position as electrical engineer at the famous Niagara Falls power station. They booked passages by another boat, but transferred to the ill-fated Titanic and went down with her, the whole family being wiped out.”
“Niagara Falls, Special to the Commercial”
The Buffalo Commercial
Buffalo, New York
June 27, 1912
“Mrs. William Rottger and four children of Cleveland Avenue left last night for New York from which port they will on Saturday sail for Europe to visit relatives. The Goodman family lost on the Titanic were relatives of Mrs. Rottger.”
The cenotaph erected in honour of the Goodwin family at the St. Michael's and All Angels Churchyard in Melksham, England reads:
"On Sunday 14th, April 1912 the S. S. Titanic on her first voyage to America with 2207 souls on board struck an iceberg, and sank in less than 3 hours, only 705 being saved. Amongst those who were drowned was a whole family from this parish, Frederick and Augusta Goodwin, with their six children, Lillian, Charles, William, Jessie, Harold, Sidney. The children were all in Sunday school and the three elder boys in the choir of this church. When thou passest through the waters I will be there."
Further reading:
Biography of Frederick Joseph Goodwin
Find a grave site of Frederick Joseph Goodwin
A Youtube video of the family cenotaph in England and the grave of Sidney Goodwin in Halifax, Canada
A Youtube video on Melksham, England’s loss of life on Titanic including the Goodwin Family
A Youtube video on the Goodwin family and the grave of Sidney Goodwin
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