Joseph J. Fynney: about 1877 - April 15, 1912
OutHistory is seeking sources about the birth date and life of this man who died in the Titanic sinking.
Bibliography
Brewster, Hugh. Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage: The Titanic's First Class Passengers. Crown: March 27, 2012.[1]
- Joseph J. Fynney, 35, a Liverpool rubber merchant was going to visit his widowed mother who lived in Montreal, Canada. Fynney's father died in 1894, and his mother moved to Canada to live with her daughter, Martha Hoseason.
- Fynney was a handsome bachelor, and spent a lot of his time in the company of younger men. He worked with delinquent youngsters at his parish church, St. James, Toxteth, and neighbours often complained about the late night comings and goings of young boys to his house at 13 Parkway in Liverpool.
- He often travelled to Canada to visit his mother, and each time he made the trip, he brought a male teenage companion with him. On this occasion he was travelling with a sixteen year old apprentice barrel maker, Alfred Gaskell. Both men boarded the Titanic at Southampton as second class passengers. They died in the sinking.
- Fynney's body was recovered by the Minia and is buried in Mount Royal cemetery in Montreal, Section G-1701A.
Fynney, Joseph J.
- <Birth place and date?>
- <Obituaries in Liverpool papers?>
- <Will. probated?>
Gaskell, Alfred. Sixteen-year-old apprentice barrel maker, traveling companion of Fynney on Titanic.
Hustak, Alan. Titanic: The Canadian Story. Véhicule Press, 1999. ISBN 1 55065 113 7.
- "Fynney's neighbors recall that he was a man of exceptional good looks, but a bit of a Nancy boy.' Fynney worked with delinquent youngsters at his parish church St. James, Toxeth, and local gossip had it that his interest in some of his charges was more than spiritutal. Rumours circulated about his conduct with some of the young men who rang his doorbell at 13 Parkway at all hour of the night. He often travelled to Canada to visit his mother, and each time he made the trip it was in the company of a male teenager. On this occasion, his travelling companion was Alfred Gaskell, a swarthy seventeen-year old apprentice barrel maker with youthful looks and an attractive open face."[2]
- "Joseph Fynney was laid to rest in Montreal's Mount Royal Cemetery. Fynney left one-quarter of his estate, almost a thousand pounds, to Alfred Gaskell's family, as their compensation for the death of his under-aged travelling companion. Which is why, perhaps, carved into his modest tombstone are the words "his delight was in doing good.[3]
If Fynney, who died on the Titanic, willed money to Gaskell's family, this indicates that his relationship with Gaskell was ongoing and serious, for Fynney's will was, of course, prepared and signed before his death.
Liverpool, Great Britain. Residence of Joseph J. Fynney. <Obituaries in Liverpool papers?>
Merseyside Maritime Museum. Exhibit on Titanic and Liverpool passengers, including Fynney.
http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/events/maritime/exhibitions/
Mount Royal Cemetery, Montreal, Canada. <Church records regarding Fynney?>
Nova Scotia, Canada. R.M.S. Titanic Research Guide. Joseph J. Fynney.
- Documents describing Fynney's body found after Titanic sinking, and the claiming of his body and effect.
Scarth, Alan. Titanic and Liverpool (Liverpool University Press; Co-published with National Museums, March 30, 2010.
ISBN-10: 1846312221. ISBN-13: 978-1846312229
Scarth, Alan, curator. "Titanic and Liverpool: The Untold Story. 30 March 2012 - 21 April 2013. See also: "Titanic and Liverpool" (exhibition). Merseyside Maritime Museum.
- Mentions Fynney
St. James Church, Toxeth, Liverpool, Great Britain. St James' Church is an Anglican church located in St James Place, Toxteth, Liverpool, Merseyside, England.[4]
Wetton, Staffordshire, Great Britain. Birth place of Joseph J. Fynney.
