Manitoba Museum launches Titanic exhibit

There were 13 Manitobans on the RMS Titanic. Nine of these passengers – all men – died. Four of them – all women – survived.

The Manitoba Museum will be hosting a special exhibit in their Parklands Pier that focuses on the Manitobans who sailed on Titanic.

Titanic: The Manitoba Connection will include artifacts from the Museum’s collection to tell the story of who these passengers were, and how they came to be onboard the ship. A case with some of these items from The Manitoba Museum will also be on display in the MTS Exhibition Centre.

“Most Manitobans would be surprised to learn that the province had any connection at all to the Titanic. But 130 of the ship’s passengers were bound for Canada,” says Sharon Reilly, Social History Curator for The Manitoba Museum. “Nine Manitobans died in the tragedy, while some of their family members survived.”

Brothers Leonard, Lewis and Stanley Hickman were on their way to Manitoba from Fritham, England to work as farm labourers. Leonard had emigrated to Neepawa, Manitoba in 1908. Leonard persuaded the entire Hickman family to join him there, but only three of the eleven were able to secure passage. All perished in the disaster.

Leonard was a member of the Independent Order of Foresters mutual aid society in Neepawa and the lodge paid to have his body shipped from Halifax for burial. However, Lewis Hickman was wearing Leonard’s coat when the Titanic sank, and his body was shipped to Manitoba by mistake and buried at Neepawa’s Riverside Cemetery. Among the effects found in Leonard’s coat pockets were his Forester’s Membership card, a set of keys, razors, a pair of scissors, a silver watch and chain, an amber cigarette holder, and a cigarette case.

Titanic: The Manitoba Connection will also feature two woodworker’s planes used by John Watson Thomson, a ship’s carpenter from Glasgow, Scotland, who worked on the construction of the Titanic in 1911 – 1912. Mr. Thomson declined an offer to sail on the Titanic in 1912, and boarded a sister-ship when he moved to Winnipeg the following year instead. His carpentry tools were donated to The Manitoba Museum by his niece in 1998.

The Manitoba Museum would like to hear from other Manitobans whose families had a connection to the Titanic. They are invited to send information to titanic@manitobamuseum.ca. There is a chance that the stories and artifacts received will be a part of the Titanic: The Manitoba Connection exhibit, which will run from February 12 until September 5.