Passengers of the Titanic

A total of 2,208 people sailed on the maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic, the second of the White Star Line’s Olympic-class ocean liners, from Southampton, England, to New York City. The ship was one of the largest and most luxurious of its time, carrying people from many different backgrounds and places.

Partway through the voyage, the ship struck an iceberg and sank in the early morning of 15 April 1912. This tragic event led to the loss of many lives, and it changed how ships were built and operated forever.

The passengers were separated into three classes based on the price of their ticket. First-class passengers were often the wealthiest, including important business leaders, politicians, and members of high society. Second-class passengers were usually middle-class travelers, such as professors and tourists. Third-class, or steerage, passengers were mainly immigrants hoping for a new life in countries like the United States and Canada.

First Class

The Titanic's first-class passengers were some of the most well-known and wealthy people of the time. Tickets for first class cost a lot of money, and passengers could enjoy special places like a gym, a swimming pool, and even a barbershop. They also had personal helpers with them, like maids and cooks.

Many famous people from both Britain and America were on the ship. Some were members of British nobility, while others were rich business people and leaders from the United States. Even a famous actress and a tennis player were travelling in first class. The ship offered many comfortable features for its richest guests.

Second Class

Second-class passengers were leisure tourists, academics, members of the clergy, and middle-class British and American families. The ship's musicians traveled in second-class accommodations. The average ticket price for an adult second-class passenger was £13. Second-class passengers had their own library and the men had access to a private smoking room. Second-class children could read books or play games on the second-class promenade. Twelve-year-old Ruth Becker passed the time by pushing her little brother around in a stroller.

Two Roman Catholic priests on board celebrated mass every day for second- and third-class passengers during the voyage.

Rev. John Harper, a well-known Baptist pastor from Scotland, was travelling to the United States with his daughter and sister to preach at the Moody Church in Chicago.

Schoolteacher Lawrence Beesley, spent much of his time aboard the ship in the library.

The Laroche family, were the only known passengers of black ancestry on board the ship. They were travelling to Haiti.

Another French family travelling in second class was the Navratils. Michel Navratil had taken his two young sons on board the ship, intent on taking them to the United States. Michel Sr. died in the sinking and photographs of the boys were shared worldwide in the hopes that their mother or another relative could identify them. After arriving in New York, the children were cared for by Titanic survivor Margaret Hays until their mother traveled from Nice, France, to claim them. The last living second-class survivor was Barbara West; she was 10 months old at the time of sinking and died in 2007 at the age of 96.

Third Class

Third-class passengers on the Titanic were people hoping to start new lives in the United States and Canada. They paid £7 for their tickets, which sometimes included the cost of train travel to the departure ports. Children paid £3.

These passengers came from many different places, including Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia, Central and Eastern Europe, the Levant, and Hong Kong. Many were families joining husbands who had already gone to America to find work. Some larger families included John and Annie Sage with their nine children, and Anders and Alfrida Andersson with their five children and relatives.

Third-class passengers had their own dining area with chairs and meals prepared for them. Instead of sleeping in large shared spaces, they had their own cabins with beds, blankets, and running water. There were separate areas for men and women, and public bathtubs for each group. Passengers could relax in the common room, play games, or explore parts of the ship. Children often played in the common room or looked around the vessel.

Ticket-holders who did not sail

Many famous and important people had tickets to travel on the Titanic but did not end up sailing on the ship. Some were planning to board later in New York for the return trip to Plymouth, England. Tickets that were not used have become valuable historic items. Notable individuals who had tickets but did not sail included Theodore Dreiser, Henry Clay Frick, Milton S. Hershey, Guglielmo Marconi, J. P. Morgan, John Mott, George Washington Vanderbilt II, and Edgar Selwyn.

Passengers by ethnicity

The Titanic carried passengers from many different backgrounds. The Laroche family, including father Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche and his daughters Simone and Louise, were the only known passengers of Black ancestry. They were traveling to Haiti, Joseph’s native island, to escape racial discrimination in Paris.

There were passengers from many other countries as well. Eight travelers were from China, and six of them survived. After being rescued, they continued their journey to the United States. From the Ottoman Empire, which included areas such as Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey, there were over 80 passengers. Many were from what is now Lebanon, with some surviving the disaster.

Survivors and victims

Main articles: Sinking of the Titanic and Lifeboats of the Titanic

On the night of 14 April 1912, the Titanic struck an iceberg and began to sink. The crew prepared the lifeboats and sent out a call for help. The nearest ship, the Carpathia, arrived several hours later but could not reach everyone in time. Lifeboats were lowered with the rule that women and children would go first.

After the Titanic sank, the Carpathia rescued those in the lifeboats. Many people were saved, but some sadly did not survive. The ship helped recover bodies and take them to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where families could try to identify them. Some bodies could not be identified and were buried in local cemeteries.

Passenger list

The following is a full list of known passengers who sailed on the maiden voyage of the Titanic. This list includes the nine-member Guarantee Group and the eight members of the ship's band, who were listed as both passengers and crew. They are also included in the list of crew members on board Titanic.

Passengers are shown with colors to indicate whether they were saved or did not survive. Survivors are listed with the lifeboat from which they were thought to be rescued, though this information is not always exact. For victims whose remains were found after the sinking, a superscript next to the body number shows which ship recovered them:

• MB – CS Mackay-Bennett (bodies 1–306)
• M – CS Minia (bodies 307–323)
• MM – CGS Montmagny (bodies 326–329)
• A – SS Algerine (body 330)
• O – RMS Oceanic (bodies 331–333)
• I – SS Ilford (body 334)
• OT – SS Ottawa (body 335)

Numbers 324 and 325 were not used, and the six bodies buried at sea by the Carpathia were also not numbered.

Cross-channel passengers

In addition to the main passengers, the Titanic also carried 29 cross-channel passengers. These passengers got on the ship at Southampton and got off at either Cherbourg, France, or Queenstown, Ireland.

First passenger survivors to die

Last passenger survivors to die

The Titanic was a big ship that carried many people on its first trip from England to America. Sadly, it hit an iceberg and sank, and many people could not be saved. Some of the last people who were still alive when help arrived were older when the ship went down, and they lived for many years after the disaster before passing away naturally.