Alfred Rowe grave (24th February 1853 to 15th April 1912)

Most of the victims from the doomed Titanic were buried in America and Canada. Of the estimated 45 passengers who were British 25 perished due to hyperthermia. Here I am in the main cemetery is Toxteth by the Rowe family grave of one of those. Wealthy businessman Alfred Rowe frozen to death and was brought home to Toxteth to be buried.

He came from a large, comfortably-off family and had seven siblings. The family lived in Toxteth according to the 1871 census. For two years Arthur worked for the family business but left to study at the Royal Agricultural College in Gloucestershire before leaving for America with a £500 loan. Living in Texas he set up a ranch with two of his brothers (the ranch was one of the largest and most successful in the district.)

Aged 48 he was back living in England for good and got married to Constance Kingsley. They had four children but lost one in infancy. By then the family lived in Kensington in London but Alfred continued to make trips to Texas to oversee his ranch. On one trip he decided to buy a first-class ticket on the Titanic liner. He made his way to Southampton on 10th April Wednesday 1912 as a first-class passenger (ticket £1,680 in today’s money.) It was the largest ship in service at the time.

The liner set sail for Cherbourg in France and Queenstown in Ireland. In Ireland Alfred posted a letter to his wife saying the ship was “too big” and “a positive danger” after a near-miss with the SS New York. From Ireland the liner set off across the Atlantic ocean carrying around 2,200 passengers and crew.

On Sunday 14^th April at around 11:40pm the liner hit an iceberg. It took about two hours and 40 minutes to fully submerge. Alfred died of hypothermia in the early hours of the Monday. Accounts report that when the Titanic began to sink Alfred refused a place in a life raft, declaring himself a strong swimmer and froze in the water. Another account says he climbed onto a floating chunk of ice. Whatever happened his frozen body picked up by the Cable Ship Mackay-Bennett which had been alerted to the sinking. Most of the 1,500 victims died of hypothermia. The ocean was -2̊C though not frozen due to the salt content. Passengers diving or falling in the water would have died within half an hour. They started shivering, before feeling numb and confused and then losing consciousness and drowning. Or they died of heart failure due to the cold.

Six weeks after the sinking Alfred's eldest brother Charles received his effects which consisted of one gold signet ring, a card case containing two photos, cards and a certificate of posting of a registered postal packet, three Bank of England £5 notes, newspaper cuttings and memos in pencil. His £7973 estate was administered to his brothers Charles and Henry and his widow who was pregnant with a son at the time (she never remarried and in later years settled in Wales where she died.)

Alfred was buried under this impressive headstone on Tuesday 14th May 1912. His heartbroken wife gave birth to their son five months later and named him after his dad. She sold the Texas ranch to one of his hired cowboys whose heirs still own parts of the original land today.

I'm not sure how many Rowes are buried here. The kingly headstone is festooned with various names. I think I've now visited the graves of four Titanic victims. I did a salute and left.

Arthur's wife and children...