In the front NE section of St Giles Hill Graveyard, you can see an impressive headstone in the form of a stone cross and anchor, remembering two seamen who sailed on the Titanic.
Location of the Titanic memorial
We knew about this memorial but did not know its exact location until it was discovered by a member of Perlins Community Project who was working with us to clear the graveyard. The inscriptions on the memorial are not easy to see. The light has to be good and the sun has to be shining at an optimum angle (10:00 to 10:30 in the morning especially in April).
The memorial, in the form of an anchor, is shown below.
The Montague Mathias & William Lucas memorial
Impressive Lucas monument of an anchor and cross with stone surround.
The burial plot belongs to the Lucas family
The Titanic seamen were Mr. William Arthur Lucas and his brother-in-law Mr. Montague Vincent Mathias. Montague Mathias perished at the age of 28 yrs. when the Titanic sank. His body was never identified. Montague Mathias had been married to Gertrude Ann Lucas, the sister of William Lucas in 1907. In 1911 they were living at 46 Osborne Road, St Denys, Southampton with a 3-year-old son also named Montague.
Photo of William Lucas.
They both signed on to the Titanic from other White Star liners on 6 April 1912.
The White Star Liner Olympic.
William Lucas survived the sinking and testified at the tribunal that investigated the disaster. He was born in Winchester on 21 April 1886, the son of Nicholas and Louisa Lucas. He transferred to the Titanic as an Able Bodied Seaman at a monthly wage of £5. At the time he was living at Corporation Flats, Southampton.
William Lucas told his story of the Titanic sinking at the tribunal, and how he was lowered with the half full Titanic lifeboat Collapsible D. He told first class passenger Miss Edith Corse Evans, who was still on the Titanic, ‘There’s another boat going to be put down for you’. Unfortunately, there was no boat and Edith was left behind to perish.
In WW1 Lucas is listed on his Merchant Navy CR10 identity card as a Boson. In WW1 he served on the destroyer HMS Derwent carrying out anti-submarine and counter-mining patrols and convoy duties. This ship was sunk off the French coast in 1917 with the loss of 56 lives.
William Lucas died, at the age of 35 yrs., on 22nd September 1921 at the Royal Free Hospital, Grays Inn Road, London apparently having shot himself on the Leeds to London corridor express. His body was discovered by an engine-driver on arrival at kings Cross. The coroner recorded a verdict of suicide while insane. He left a suicide note, but it is not known if his survival on the Titanic or his WW1 duties played a part.
His estate, valued at £142 12s 1d, was left to his sister Gertrude the widow of Montague Mathias. His home at the time was 12 St Catherine’s Road, Winchester. This and other Titanic stories can be found at https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/
Gertrude commissioned the unusual memorial to her brother William Lucas and her husband Montague Mathias. Her mother Louisa Lucas who died in 1902 also lies in the grave.
The inscription to Montague is on the north side of the monument facing the Alresford Road.
Montague Mathias memorial inscription.
The inscription to William Lucus can be found on the SE facing side of the monument.
The Lucas family had other sadness. A text block on the gravestone lists Reginald Lucas as having been killed in France on November 21st, 1917. We don’t have any information around the circumstances, but possibly he was involved in the Battle of Cambrai that started on November 20th of that year. This was the first battle to use the new tank weapon in a large-scale attack.
Inscription to the Lucus family’s mother Louisa Lucus who dies in 1902.