The Final Notes of Jock Hume: Duty, Loss, and Quiet Courage

The Final Notes of Jock Hume: Duty, Loss, and Quiet Courage

I have been learning about some of the people who were on board the Titanic. Recently I have been finding out a little about the musicians, and this time I wanted to share the story of Jock Hume.

He was born on the 9th of August 1890 in Dumfries, Scotland. By his early twenties he had already built a good reputation, performing on several ships. In the winter of 1910–1911, he spent time in Jamaica playing in a hotel orchestra. During these months, he started a relationship with Ethel McDonald and then became a father.

By April 1912, he was engaged to Mary Costin, who was expecting his second child. He got the opportunity to join the Titanic’s orchestra. He boarded at Southampton on the 10th of April.

Just days later, everything changed for him and everyone else on board. As the ship sank on the 15th of April, he and the other musicians continued to play. He must have had fear and anxiety but a determination to bring comfort to others.

He was only 21 years old when he died, leaving behind two children who would never know him.

After the disaster, his uniform became part of a painful and sad controversy, when the agency that employed the musicians sent his father a bill with a request for payment.

Do you think his decision to keep playing was driven by duty, or by a need to give comfort to others?

Image info:

Titanic’s musicians published by the Amalgated Musicians Union after the sinking.