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Reverend Robert James BatemanThe Reverend Robert James Bateman, a member of the Bateman family from the Kingswood area of Bristol, England, went down with the SS Titanic. He is mentioned in the book and film A Night to Remember where he led some passengers in prayers and conducted the band in playing Nearer My God To Thee (his favourite hymn) as the ship went down. The Oscar award winning film "Titanic" directed by James Cameron has a similar scene, although the characters are not identified. He was washed overboard and drowned. The following press item appeared (undated): JACKSONVILLE - Dr. Robert James Bateman became a footnote to history when the Titanic sank in the North Atlantic after striking an iceberg. But Bateman's death on April 15, 1912, is only a postscript in the life of an Englishman who made a lasting impression on his adopted home of Jacksonville and in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Baltimore, Maryland, where he served as a minister, evangelist, and a champion of the disadvantaged. Bateman was already a successful minister and evangelist when he made a trip in the spring of 1912 to his native Staple Hill (Bristol), England. He visited his mother's grave, studied a successful orphanage in Bristol, and escorted his wife's sister, Ada E. Balls, on a visit to Jacksonville. They boarded the Titanic in Southampton, England. Just hours before the accident, Bateman conducted a church service for the second-class passengers, ending with his favorite song, "Nearer my God to Thee," according to accounts by Mrs. Balls. It was the same song survivors recall a band playing on the sinking vessel, which was about the size of today's aircraft carriers. "Brother forced me into the last boat, saying he would follow me later. I believe I was the last person to leave the ship. Brother threw his overcoat over my shoulders as the boat was being lowered away and as we neared the water, he took his black necktie and threw it to me with the words, 'Goodbye, God bless you!," she said. At a memorial service held on April 21, 1912, Bateman was remembered for his work at the Central City Mission in Jacksonville. Bateman was ordained in the ministry when he was 21 and served as a pastor in Wales, Ireland, England and the United States, according to an article written by Jacksonville historian Edward A. Mueller and published in the "Titanic Commutator," in 1987 by The Titanic Historical Society. For a while, Bateman worked with his father as a stone mason in the United States before returning to the ministry in Baltimore, where he served as superintendent of the Florence Crittendon Mission. He moved to Knoxville, Tenn., in the late 1890s, where he founded the non-denominational Peoples Tabernacle. He also was known for his work as an evangelist. After moving to Jacksonville, Bateman started the Central City Mission. Twelve days after the disaster, Bateman's body was plucked from the icy Atlantic, the 174th recovered. He was identified by his gold watch and chain, a Masonic charm pin, fountain pen, pipe lighter, and gold cuff links. Bateman was given a hero's funeral with 11 ministers, according to an account in The Florida Times-Union. He was buried in Evergreen Cemetery in an unmarked grave. A nearby cenotaph reads, "Dr. R.J. Bateman. Born Oct. 14, 1860. Died Apr. 15, 1912. He lost his life in the wreck of the S.S. Titanic." Links - http://www.geocities.com/gracefiles/bateman.html - Bateman families of Kingswood, Bristol
- http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org - Encyclopedia Titanica
Bateman, Robert James Bateman, Robert James
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