John Wesley Woodward (11 September 1879 – 15 April 1912) was an English musician. Born in West Bromwich on 11 September 1879, he was the youngest of ten children born to Joseph and Martha Woodward.
Known to all as Wesley, he became a professional musician, playing in Oxford, and
Eastbourne
Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...
. In Eastbourne, he played the
cello
The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...
both at the Grand Hotel and in the local orchestra. While in Eastbourne he joined the White Star Line musicians, playing on transatlantic ships.
Titanic and death
On 10 April 1912, he boarded the at
Southampton
Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
for her maiden Transatlantic voyage. Five days later, on 15 April 1912, the ship hit an iceberg and he and the other musicians famously continued to play as the Titanic sank. Their final tune was, according to some survivor accounts, "
Nearer, My God, To Thee
"Nearer, My God, to Thee" is a 19th-century Christian hymn by Sarah Flower Adams, which retells the story of Jacob's dream. Genesis 28:11–12 can be translated as follows: "So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night because t ...
". All members of the band, including his friend Jock Hume, drowned, and the body of Wesley Woodward was never recovered.
Legacy
A memorial plaque was erected to Woodward on the promenade in Eastbourne depicting the ''Titanic'' as it sank.
[PBS America: Titanic and Me]
See also
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Musicians of the RMS Titanic
The musicians of the ''Titanic'' were an Octet (music), octet orchestra who performed chamber music in the first class section aboard the ship.
The group is notable for playing music, intending to calm the passengers for as long as they possi ...
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodward, John Wesley
1879 births
1912 deaths
People from West Bromwich
English cellists
Deaths on the RMS Titanic
20th-century English male musicians
20th-century British cellists
19th-century English people