My second book about the RMS Titanic and her passengers and crew along with some movie talk. Same rules apply, no drama, trolls, and disrespecting the people on this ship
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
February 25th, 1893 - April 15th, 1912
He is a Pisces.
Leonard Hodgkinson was born in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England to John Hodgkinson (1833 - 1898), a potter's presser, and Caroline Steele (1834 - 1914), both Stoke natives who had married on February 21st, 1853. He had 6 known siblings: Martha (born 1854), Rose (born 1855), John (born 1859), Agnes (born 1864), Lawrence (born 1873), and Mary (born 1876). He first appears on the 1871 census living at North Street and on the 1881 census at Knowl Street, both in Stoke. By the time of the latter census he is described as an engine fitter's a apprentice and 15 years old. After schooling at St. Thomas's School, Stoke, Leonard became an apprentice engine fitter with the firm of Hartley, Armour, and Fanning in Stoke. Leonard first went to sea with the Beaver Line and then Rankin, Gilmor & Co. He appears on various voyages across 1890 and 1891 aboard Lake Superior and Lake Ontario as 5th and 4th Engineer respectively. He achieved his First Class Engineer's Certificate and served as Chief on the Saint Jerome.
By 1901, during an temporary break from seafaring, he was his running his own business as a mechanical engineer and living at Oakfield Road, Walton on the Hill, Liverpool. He was back at sea with the White Star Line in 1905 as Assistant Engineer on the RMS Celtic. According to family lore, Leonard aimed to serve on as many different liners of the White Star Line as possible before retirement, so was keen to transfer to Titanic prior to which he served aboard the RMS Olympic. He married in Liverpool on February 14th, 1891 to Sarah Clarke (born 1857), a native of Birmingham, and for a while they may have lived with his sister and brother in law at Helena Street, Walton on the Hill, Liverpool. They had 3 kids, all born in Liverpool: Marion (1893 - 1979; later Mrs. Arthur Pinnington), Caroline (1895 - 1924; later Mrs. Albert Portch), and Leonard Stanley (1898 - 1947). The family shows up on the 1901 census living at Oakfield Road, Walton, Liverpool and on the 1911 census at Thurnham Street, Anfield. Leonard is absent from the latter census and likely at sea.
Aboard Titanic/April 14th-15th, 1912: On April 2nd, 1912, Leonard signed on to the Titanic in Belfast for the delivery trip to Southampton. When he signed on again (April 6th, 1912), as Senior 4th Engineer for the maiden voyage, he gave his address as Arthur Road, Shirley, Southampton and although his permanent residence was Thurnham Street, Liverpool. Leonard was the most senior of the 5 Fourth Engineers (one of whom was a specialist for the refrigeration equipment). The qualified on Titanic ensured that routine adjustments and regular maintenance of the machinery were properly carried, dealt with any unexpected problems that might arise, and responded to orders telegraphed from the bridge.
They also supervised the firemen, trimmers, and greasers who worked in the boiler and engine rooms. Leonard along with all of the engineers died in the sinking and his body was never identified.
After The Sinking/Later Life/Death: His estate, valued at £116, 10s, 10d, was administered to Sarah on July 8th, 1912. Leonard is remembered on the Southampton Engineers Memorial, East Park; the Liverpool Titanic and Engineer Members memorial; the Glasgow Institute of Marine Engineers memorial; the Institute of Marine Engineers memorial, London and there is a brass memorial plaque in the church of St. Faithful Crosby, Liverpool, to the memory of the Chief Engineer and his Engine Room staff.
Sarah didn't live long past Leonard; she later moved to Auburn Road, Liverpool and died on February 25th, 1914. His last surviving child was his eldest daughter Marion who died in Cheshire in 1979.
