Roderick Chisholm (20 December 1868 – 15 April 1912) was a Scottish ships' draughtsman who served as chief

draftsman A drafter (also draughtsman / draughtswoman in British and Commonwealth English, draftsman / draftswoman, drafting technician, or CAD technician in American and Canadian English) is an engineering technician who makes detailed technical drawi ...

Harland & Wolff Harland & Wolff Holdings plc is a British shipbuilding and Metal fabrication, fabrication company headquartered in London with sites in Belfast, Arnish yard, Arnish, Appledore, Torridge, Appledore and Methil. It specialises in ship repair, ship ...

. He met his demise aboard the when she sank during her maiden voyage. He was notable for designing the ''Olympic'' class-liners amongst longstanding architect Alexander Carlisle – until his retirement in 1910 – as well as

Thomas Andrews Thomas Andrews Jr. (7 February 1873 – 15 April 1912) was a British businessman and shipbuilder, who was managing director and head of the drafting department of the shipbuilding company Harland and Wolff in Belfast, Ireland. He was the naval ...

Early life and education

Chisholm was born in

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

in 1872. Beginning in 1881, the family lived in the village of

Old Kilpatrick Old Kilpatrick (, meaning "Patrick's church"), is a village in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. The name ''Old Kilpatrick'' is said to be derived from St. Patrick ostensibly being born here. It has an estimated population of 4,820. It belonged to ...

, in

Dunbartonshire Dunbartonshire () or the County of Dumbarton is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbar ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Occupation

in 1891 Chisholm moved to

Clydebank Clydebank () is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Milton beyond) to the w ...

. He worked for

Harland and Wolff Harland & Wolff Holdings plc is a British shipbuilding and Metal fabrication, fabrication company headquartered in London with sites in Belfast, Arnish yard, Arnish, Appledore, Torridge, Appledore and Methil. It specialises in ship repair, ship ...

at their Clyde works. The subsequent year, he moved to

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

to work in their primary shipyards, where he rapidly rose through the ranks, eventually becoming a draftsman. At some point over the next six years, he met his wife, Susan Anderson, before subsequently marrying her in

Lisburn Lisburn ( ; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with t ...

, County Down in 1897; They had two children, Alice in 1897, and James in 1899. They moved into the Pottinger area of eastern Belfast shortly afterwards.

''Titanic''

Chisholm worked with Andrews and Carlisle on the design of the ''Olympic'' and ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...

'', having a paramount role in conceiving her structure. He was selected as one amidst nine other Harland & Wolff employees to witness the smooth operation of ''Titanic'' maiden voyage, in what was known as the " Guarantee Group", a team dedicated towards appointing those who have esteemed themselves in merit throughout the vessels' own development. Throughout the voyage on ''Titanic'', he participated in regular inspection of her mechanisms as well as functions, routinely writing notes regarding their overall status before disclosing them with Andrews. Should any anomalies have been discovered during the journey, they were swiftly recorded within the ships' entries in the logbook. She then would have undergone immediate changes as soon as possible following the maiden voyage. Chisholm regularly spent his leisure within first class discussing business and politics amongst other passengers. On the night of 14 April 1912, the ''Titanic'' fatally struck an iceberg before sinking two hours and forty-minutes later; Chisholm never survived. His body, if recovered, was never identified. His assets amounted to about 140 pounds, of which his widow became the beneficiary, worth just over £20,000 in modern terms, on 10 June 1912.

Personal life and legacy

In 1897, he married Susan Anderson in

, County Down; the couple had two children: Alice (1897–2002) and James (1899–1960), both born in

. His wife remained at Sandford Avenue, in Pottinger (Belfast) for the rest of her life and died on 22 February 1961 at the age of 87. She is buried in Roselawn Cemetery, Belfast, with her son and daughter. His daughter Alice married in Belfast in 1919 with Alfred McCambley (1894–1976) and died on 11 February 2002 at the age of 104 and she is also buried in the Roselawn Cemetery. His son James, never marrying, later followed his own profession as a draughtsman, and received ownership of his late father's residence until he died on 18 September 1960.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chisholm, Roderick 1868 births 1912 deaths Deaths on the RMS Titanic People from Dumbarton Scottish shipbuilders British naval architects 19th-century Scottish businesspeople 20th-century Scottish businesspeople