Wallace Hartley
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Wallace Henry Hartley (2 June 1878 – 15 April 1912) was an English violinist and
bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a dance band, rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhyth ...
on the ''
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 ...
'' during its maiden voyage. He became famous for leading the eight-member band as the ship sank on 15 April 1912. Neither he nor the rest of the band survived the sinking.


Life and career

Hartley was born and raised in
Colne Colne () is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. The town is northeast of Nelson, Lancashire, Nelson, northeast of Burnley and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. The ...
, Lancashire, England. Hartley's father, Albion Hartley, was the
choirmaster A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...
and
Sunday school ] A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes. Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...
superintendent at Bethel Independent Methodist Chapel, on Burnley Road where the family attended Church service, worship services. Albion himself introduced the hymn "
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 ...
" to the
congregation Congregation may refer to: Religion *Church (congregation), a religious organization that meets in a particular location *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administrative body of the Catholic Church *Religious congregation, a type of religious instit ...
. Wallace studied at Colne's Methodist day school, sang in Bethel's choir and learned to play the violin from a fellow congregation member. After leaving school, Hartley started work with the Craven & Union Bank in Colne. When his family moved to
Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...
, Hartley joined the
Huddersfield Philharmonic Orchestra The Huddersfield Philharmonic Orchestra is an amateur orchestra based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Origins In 1862 the first orchestra in Huddersfield to achieve lasting permanence was established by Rev JH Thomas, as ‘Mr Tho ...
. In 1903, he left home to join the municipal orchestra in
Bridlington Bridlington (previously known as Burlington) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is on the Holderness part (Flamborough Head to the Humber estuary) of the Yorkshire Coast by the North Sea. The town is ...
, where he stayed for six years. He later moved to
Dewsbury Dewsbury is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder, West Yorkshire, River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, ...
, West Yorkshire and in 1909, he joined the
Cunard Line The Cunard Line ( ) is a British shipping and an international cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its four ships have been r ...
as a musician, serving on the ocean liners , and . Whilst serving on the ''Mauretania'', the employment of Cunard musicians was transferred to the music agency C.W. & F.N. Black, which supplied musicians for Cunard and the
White Star Line The White Star Line was a British shipping line. Founded out of the remains of a defunct Packet trade, packet company, it gradually grew to become one of the most prominent shipping companies in the world, providing passenger and cargo service ...
. This transfer changed Hartley's onboard status, as he was no longer counted as a member of the crew, but rather as a passenger, albeit one accommodated in second-class accommodation at the agency's expense. It later transpired that neither the shipping company nor the music agency had insured the musicians, with each claiming it was the other's responsibility. In April 1912, Hartley was assigned to be the bandmaster for the White Star Line ship . He was at first hesitant to again leave his fiancée, Maria Robinson, to whom he had recently proposed, but Hartley decided that working on the maiden voyage of the ''Titanic'' would give him possible contacts for future work.


Sinking of the ''Titanic''

After the ''Titanic'' hit an iceberg on the night of 14 April 1912 and began to sink, Hartley and his fellow band members started playing music to help keep the passengers calm as the crew loaded the lifeboats. Many of the survivors said Hartley and the band continued to play until the very end. None of the band members survived the sinking, and the story of them playing to the end became a popular legend. A newspaper at the time reported "the part played by the orchestra on board the Titanic in her last dreadful moments will rank among the noblest in the annals of heroism at sea." Though the final song played by the band is unknown, "
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 ...
" has gained popular acceptance.
Walter Lord John Walter Lord Jr. (October 8, 1917 – May 19, 2002) was an American author, lawyer, copywriter and popular historian known for his 1955 account of the sinking of the ''Titanic'', '' A Night to Remember''. Biography Early life Lord was bo ...
's book '' A Night to Remember'' (1955) popularised wireless officer
Harold Bride Harold Sydney Bride (11 January 1890 – 29 April 1956) was a British merchant seaman and the junior wireless operator on the ocean liner during her ill-fated maiden voyage. After the ''Titanic'' struck an iceberg at 11:40 pm 14 April 1912, B ...
's account of hearing the song "Autumn". Ellwand Moody, a musician on the ''Mauretania'' alongside Hartley, claimed that Hartley had said he would play either "Nearer, My God, to Thee" or "
Our God, Our Help in Ages Past "Our God, Our Help in Ages Past" (or "O God, Our Help in Ages Past") is a hymn by Isaac Watts in 1708 that paraphrases Psalm 90, the 90th Psalm of the Book of Psalms. It originally consisted of nine stanzas; however, in present usage the fourth ...
" if he were ever on a sinking ship. If "Nearer, My God, to Thee" was played, it is uncertain which version Hartley used. His father used the "Propior Deo" version, by
Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...
, at church, and his family were certain that he would have used that version. It is this tune's opening notes that appear on Hartley's memorial and that were played at his funeral.


After the sinking

Hartley's body was recovered by the ''Mackay–Bennett'' almost two weeks after the sinking. Several press reports confirmed that Wallace was found "fully dressed with his music case strapped to his body". He was transferred to the ''Arabic'' and returned to England. Hartley's father Albion met the ship at Liverpool and brought his son's body back to his home town of Colne, Lancashire. The funeral took place on 18 May 1912. One thousand people attended Hartley's funeral, while an estimated 30,000–40,000 lined the route of his funeral procession. Hartley is buried in the Keighley Road cemetery, Colne, where a high headstone, containing a carved violin at its base, was erected in his honour. A memorial to Hartley, topped by his bust, was erected in 1915 outside what was then the town library. The memorial is inscribed: Wallace Hartley This was later moved slightly to make way for the World War One memorial. Hartley's large
Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...
terraced house in West Park Street,
Dewsbury Dewsbury is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder, West Yorkshire, River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, ...
, West Yorkshire, bears a
blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...
to remind passers-by that this was the bandleader's home. Another memorial to the ''Titanic'' musicians as a whole was erected in
Broken Hill Broken Hill is a city in the Far West (New South Wales), far west region of outback New South Wales, Australia. An inland mining city, it is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Hi ...
, in north-west New South Wales. The people of Broken Hill were so moved by the bravery of the ship's bandsmen that within a few weeks they had launched a public appeal to create a memorial to them. The memorial, in the shape of a broken pillar, was unveiled in December 1913. The
City of Ballarat The City of Ballarat is a local government area in the west of the state of Victoria, Australia. It covers an area of and, in June 2023, had a population of 118,137. It is primarily urban with the vast majority of its population living in the ...
, Victoria, Australia, has an Edwardian bandstand to commemorate the musicians lost. It was erected by the Ballarat Council with funds raised by the Victorian Band Association, and citizens of the area. The Titanic Memorial bandstand, was unveiled on October 22, 1915. Every year on the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, a band still plays "Nearer, My God, To Thee", in the bandstand. In 2001, Hartley's name was still being used when naming new streets and housing in the town of Colne. In 2008, the pub chain
J D Wetherspoon J D Wetherspoon (branded variously as Wetherspoon or Wetherspoons, and colloquially known as Spoons) is a British pub company operating in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Ireland. The company was founded in 1979 by Tim Martin and is based ...
named a newly opened pub, (the building having been the long-standing King's Head Hotel up until the mid-1990s), in Colne after the bandleader.
Frederick Cayley Robinson Frederick Cayley Robinson (18 August 1862 – 4 January 1927) was an English artist who created paintings and applied art, including book illustrations and theatre set designs. Cayley Robinson continued to paint striking Pre-Raphaelite and ...
's 1912 oil painting ''The Outward Bound'' shows a youth in a boat watching as Titanic leaves Southampton. It was commissioned in memory of Hartley, and given to
Leeds Art Gallery Leeds Art Gallery in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, is a gallery, part of the Leeds Museums & Galleries group, whose collection of 20th-century British Art was designated by the British government in 1997 as a collection "of national importance ...
by the Leeds Professional Musicians. The painting was unveiled in the City Art Gallery by the Lord Mayor of Leeds on 23 December 1912.


Violin

In March 2013, after two years of in-depth trace analysis by The Forensic Science Service on behalf of auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son, and seven years of evidence-gathering by the Wiltshire-based auction house, it was announced that a violin found in a British man's attic inside a leather case with the initials "W. H. H." was the instrument used by Hartley during the ship's last moments. The identification was helped by an engraving on the German-made violin which his fiancée (Maria Robinson) had placed on the instrument in 1910 which read: 'For Wallace on the occasion of our engagement from Maria.' Further tests by a silver expert from the
Gemmological Association of Great Britain The Gemmological Association of Great Britain (Gem-A) is an international gemmology education and qualifications body based in the United Kingdom. History Gem-A emerged from an ''Education Committee'' set up by ''The National Association of Gold ...
confirmed that the plate on the base of the violin was original and that the metal engraving done on behalf of Maria Robinson was contemporary with those made in 1910. A
CT scan A computed tomography scan (CT scan), formerly called computed axial tomography scan (CAT scan), is a medical imaging technique used to obtain detailed internal images of the body. The personnel that perform CT scans are called radiographers or ...
enabled experts to view 3D images of the inside of the violin. The fine detail of the scan meant experts could examine the construction, interior and the glue holding the instrument together showing signs of possible restoration. While researching the origins of the violin, the auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son and Christian Tennyson-Ekeberg, biographer of Wallace Hartley and author of ''Nearer, Our God, to Thee: The Biography of the Titanic Bandmaster'', discovered the transcript of a telegram sent to the Provincial Secretary of
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...
, Canada, dated 19 July 1912 in the diary of Hartley's grieving fiancée, Ms. Robinson, in which she stated: :"I would be most grateful if you could convey my heartfelt thanks to all who have made possible the return of my late fiancé's violin." After Maria Robinson's death in 1939, her sister gave the violin to the
Bridlington Bridlington (previously known as Burlington) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is on the Holderness part (Flamborough Head to the Humber estuary) of the Yorkshire Coast by the North Sea. The town is ...
Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...
and told its leader, a Major Renwick, about the instrument's association with the ''Titanic''. The violin was later passed on to a violin teacher who gave it to the next owner's mother. "It's been in the same family for over 70 years," Henry Aldridge & Sons state. Craig Sopin, the owner of one of the world's largest collections of ''Titanic'' memorabilia, a leading ''Titanic'' expert, and a general skeptic of ''Titanic'' claims believes the violin is "Hartley's violin and not a fraud" reports
ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...
. The Hartley violin was exhibited in Northern Ireland at the shipyard where the RMS ''Titanic'' was built, ''Titanic'' Belfast, and in the United States at Titanic Branson and Titanic Pigeon Forge museums. It was sold by auction house Henry Aldridge & Son in
Devizes Devizes () is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman architecture, Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-cent ...
,
Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...
, England, on 19 October 2013 for £900,000 ($1.7 million US), as reported by
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
,
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
, and ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
''. The violin now resides at Titanic Belfast Museum and is open to public viewing. It has two large cracks and is no longer playable. After seeing the violin auctioned at Aldridges, British folk singer/songwriter Reg Meuross was inspired to write a song about the story of the violin, "The Band Played Sweet Marie", that was released on his album ''England Green and England Grey'' in 2014. The story of Wallace Hartley and his violin is also the inspiration behind the song "Titanically" written by Canadian singer/songwriter Heather Rankin and
David Tyson David Michael Tyson is a Canadian rock music producer and songwriter. He is best known for co-writing Alannah Myles' 1990 number one hit single " Black Velvet" (with Christopher Ward) and producing her debut album. He also co-wrote three hit ...
, with a music video directed by American-Canadian filmmaker
Thom Fitzgerald Thomas "Thom" Fitzgerald (born July 8, 1968) is an American-Canadian film and theatre director, screenwriter, playwright and producer. Life Fitzgerald was born and raised in New Rochelle, New York. His parents divorced when he was five years ol ...
. The music video was released June 2, 2017, to honour Hartley's birthday.


Portrayals

*Charles Belchier in '' A Night to Remember'' (1958 film adaptation of
Walter Lord John Walter Lord Jr. (October 8, 1917 – May 19, 2002) was an American author, lawyer, copywriter and popular historian known for his 1955 account of the sinking of the ''Titanic'', '' A Night to Remember''. Biography Early life Lord was bo ...
's eponymous 1955 book) *Victor Langley in ''
S.O.S. Titanic ''S.O.S. Titanic'' is a 1979 drama disaster television movie that depicts the doomed 1912 maiden voyage from the perspective of three distinct groups of passengers in first, second and third class. The script was written by James Costigan and ...
'' (1979
television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...
) *Jonathan Evans-Jones in ''
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 ...
'' (1997 film) *Csongor Veer in ''
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 ...
'' (2012 television miniseries) * Brendan Petrizzo (2022) ''
Titanic 666 ''Titanic 666'' (also known as ''Titanic Rises'' and ''Titanic 3'') is a 2022 American Horror fiction, supernatural horror film directed by Nick Lyon and produced by The Asylum. It is a sequel to ''Titanic II (film), Titanic II'' (2010) and stars ...
'' (television movie)


References


External links


Wallace Hartley on Titanic-Titanic.comWallace Hartley's Memorial on Titanic-Titanic.comWallace Hartley Information
on
Encyclopedia Titanica ''Encyclopedia Titanica'' is an online reference work containing extensive and constantly updated information on the . The website, a nonprofit endeavor, is a database of passenger and crew biographies, deck plans, and articles submitted by hist ...

More on the Issue of Music Played Near the Climax of the Disaster
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartley, Wallace 1878 births 1912 deaths 19th-century English male musicians 19th-century English musicians 20th-century English male musicians 20th-century English musicians Deaths on the RMS Titanic English bandleaders English male violinists English Methodists English violinists People from Colne