Wallace Hartley: Bandmaster of the Titanic

Early life and tragic death

Wallace Hartley was born in the Lancashire town of Colne on 2 June 1878 to Albion and
Elizabeth. He was introduced to music at an early age through the local Methodist Chapel
where his father was choirmaster. By the age of 15, Hartley was already accustomed to giving
violin solos and a career in the music industry beckoned.
After a brief spell as a bank clerk, Hartley returned to his musical roots when he landed his first
job on a transatlantic cruise liner. In 1912, Hartley was headhunted by the White Star Line to
lead one of the two bands on the Titanic. The Titanic was built on an extravagant scale, White
Star Line did their utmost to ensure she was the most luxurious liner of her time. Evidently
Hartleys career as a band conductor was a success, only the best would do for the Titanic and
that, it seemed, was Wallace Hartley.

Hartley was leader of Titanics quintet band which generally played

after dinner concerts and Sunday Services. On the evening of April
14th 1912, few passengers onboard Titanic noticed or paid attention
to the jolt as the iceberg struck the side of the ship. As the
seriousness of the situation became apparent, Wallace Hartley
assembled the band on deck and started playing. According to Philip
Gibbs, British journalist and author of the hugely popular The
Deathless Story of the Titanic published two weeks after the
tragedy, the band began by playing the latest popular melodies.
Once the band realised the gravity of their own and the passengers
plight, instead of trying to save themselves, legend has it that they
began playing hymns. Gibbs account describes how they played
until they were waist high in water and were only silenced when the
ship reared up in her death agony.
Nearer My God to Thee?
The debate over what Hartley and his band played immediately prior to the sinking of Titanic
reveals much about the mood of the British public in the wake of the tragedy. If the raft of
commemorative postcards, editions of sheet music, newspaper testimonials and Hartleys own
grave are to be believed, the band played the hymn, Nearer, My God, To Thee when Titanic
took her final plunge.

This popular, well-known hymn about death and the afterlife was the perfect song for Hartley to
conduct in the last moments of his life. However, perhaps this song fits the Titanic setting a little
too perfectly, and suggests that Hartleys legend was subject to editorialising?
The first reports from Titanic survivors appeared in the New
York press seven days after the disaster. They identified the
last song played by the band as the popular, jolly dance-hall
waltz: Autumn and not the sombre hymn Nearer, My God, To
Thee. This song was named by British Marconi operator Bride
in an interview printed on April 19th 1912. Bride was in the
near unique position of being on board the ship immediately
prior to her end; he survived by chance after grabbing hold of
an overturned life boat which freed itself just before Titanic
sank. Gibbs commemorative piece in the British press, The
Deathless Story of the Titanic, also quoted from Bride, and
identified a jolly rag-time tune, Song dAutomme, as the last
song played by the band. Where, then, did the claim that the
band played Nearer, My God, To Thee originate?

Richard Howells in the 'The Myth of the Titanic', writes that the first claim that the band played
this hymn came from first-class passenger Vera Dick. Page four of the same edition of the New
York Times which had Brides interview on the front page, carries Vera Dicks recollection that:
as the ship sank we could hear the band playing Nearer, My Got, To Thee. We looked back
and could see the men standing on deck absolutely quiet and waiting for the end.
As Howells points out, the fact that Dick escaped onboard a lifeboat some hour and 20 minutes
before the band were supposed to have played this song, casts doubts on the validity of her
memory. However, her claim does demonstrate the desire of both survivors and the public to
idealise Hartleys band, having them play this grave and serious hymn made them even more
noble and tragic.
As the legend developed, the claim by one person that Hartley led the band in playing Nearer,
My God, To Thee as Titanic sank became accepted as fact. Myths and anecdotes began to
appear supporting Wallace Hartleys legendary rendition. When Hartleys body was recovered
from the sea, it was reported that his music case was still strapped on, bearing his initials.
Whilst in a commemorative edition of the Colne and Nelson Times at the time of his funeral, an
article attributed to An Old Colne Lad set in writing the myth that Hartley had once said in a
conversation that he would play Nearer, My God, To Thee if we ever found himself on a sinking
ship.
Wallace Hartley put into practise a resolution he had expressed to a friend, that if ever disaster
overtook the ship on which he was abroad he would stick to his violin and play the hymn he
loved, Nearer, My God, To Thee.

A heros welcome

In the two weeks that elapsed between the disaster and the
recovery of Wallace Hartleys body, the legendary rendition of
Nearer, My God, To Thee had become an accepted part of
the Titanic story. By May 18th 1912, when his body returned
to his home town of Colne to be buried, Hartley was famous
across the country as the musician who bravely met his
death with a fanfare. Colne played host to a phenomenal
turnout for the funeral; according to the local paper, the
Colne and Nelson Times, 40,000 people lined the route of
the funeral cortege.
The coffin bearing his remains passed before the eyes of a
multitude, saddened but proud, stricken in heart but of manly
bearing, grave, yet secretly grateful that a townsman and a
friend should have died so heroically.
Hartleys funeral procession
This final comment reveals the ownership which Hartleys home town took of his fame and
courageous reputation. Hartley provided the town of Colne with a proud connection to the
Titanic disaster, the aftershock of which was gripping the entire nation. Hartleys grave has a
carved violin and open hymn book. The notes inscribed on the hymn book are the opening bars
pf Nearer, My God, To Thee, setting in stone the legend that Hartley welcomed death with this
poignant hymn.
Colne paid homage to their most famous townsman in a fittingly musical manner; no less than
nine bands took part in the funeral procession. Music lies at the heart of the Hartley legend.
Music was the reason Hartley was onboard Titanic, whilst his desire to continue playing music
secured his fate. It is fitting, then, that music was the tool of manipulation, responsible for
Hartleys legend.