Ismay, Bruce

SHIPOWNER (ENGLAND)
BORN 12 Dec 1862, Crosby, Lancashire - DIED 7 Oct 1937, Liverpool, Merseyside
BIRTH NAME Ismay, Joseph Bruce
CAUSE OF DEATH cerebral thrombosis
GRAVE LOCATION London: Putney Vale, Stag Lane (Plot AS)

Son of Thomas Ismay and Margaret Bruce, the daughter of ship-owner Luke Bruce. His father founded the White Star Line. He was educated at Harrow and in France. After his studies he started working for the White Star Line in the USA. In 1888 he married Julia Florence Schieffelin from New York. In 1891 he returned to England an he became a partner in his father's firm.

In 1899 his father died and he took over the business. In 1902 he sold it to the International Mercantile Marine Company, a company financed by J.P. Morgan. Ismay became the director of IMM. In 1912 the White Star Line's new ship the HMS Titanic made his disastrous first voyage and Ismay was on board when it hit an iceberg. He was rescued in a lifeboat and then taken aboard of the RMS Carpathia, a ship owned by his competitor the Cunard Line. Afterwards he was attacked in the press because of the disaster and his own survival.

During the rest of his life he mostly avoided public life and in the 1920s he retired from business. After he died in 1937 his widow Julia renounced her British citizenship. She became an American again in 1949 and died in 1963.

Images

The grave of Bruce Ismay at Putney Vale Cemetery, London.
Picture by Androom (12 May 2011)

 

The grave of Bruce Ismay at Putney Vale Cemetery, London.
Picture by Androom (12 May 2011)

 

Sources
• Culbertson, Judi & Tom Randall, Permanent Londoners, Robson Books, London, 1991
J. Bruce Ismay - Wikipedia


Ivens, Joris

Published: 28 May 2011
Last update: 03 Feb 2024