{"id":21221,"date":"2017-04-13T12:26:10","date_gmt":"2017-04-13T16:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=21221"},"modified":"2026-03-10T13:58:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T17:58:45","slug":"honeymooning-on-the-titanic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/honeymooning-on-the-titanic.html","title":{"rendered":"Honeymooning on the Titanic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega searches old newspapers to learn more about some of the couples who were on their honeymoon when the Titanic sank on 15 April 1912. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.<\/span>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

This Saturday marks the 105th<\/sup> anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic on 15 April 1912, that supposedly \u201cunsinkable\u201d luxury liner that went down after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean, resulting in the deaths of more than 1,500 people. The public\u2019s interest in this tragedy remains strong to this day.<\/p>\n

In hindsight, a honeymoon on the Titanic<\/em> doesn\u2019t sound like the most romantic trip \u2013 but imagine what it would have seemed to those reading about the luxurious ship in 1912 before its fateful maiden voyage. Traveling on the Titanic<\/em> for those with money meant the very best accommodations to be had for ocean travel. Even for those who couldn\u2019t afford first class, the trip across the Atlantic on the White Star Line\u2019s latest ship would have been the best way to travel.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: RMS Titanic departing Southampton on 10 April 1912. Credit: F.G.O. Stuart; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The new unsinkable ship, with all of its new features, promised to transport passengers quickly and safely to their destination. This new luxury liner must have seemed like a great addition to the perfect honeymoon.<\/p>\n

The passengers on the Titanic<\/em> had their own personal reasons for picking that ship for their voyage. Some were traveling home to America, others planned visits or vacations. For at least 13 couples, the voyage was meant to be part of their honeymoon.<\/p>\n

The most famous honeymoon couple on the Titanic<\/em> was most likely the Astors: John Jacob and Madeleine Astor. One of the reasons their story is retold so often is because of John Jacob\u2019s fortune and the fact that his very young bride (he was 47 years old and she was 18) was also pregnant. John Jacob Astor would not survive the Titanic\u2019s<\/em> sinking, but his young bride would.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: John Jacob Astor IV in 1909. He was the wealthiest person aboard the Titanic. Credit: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Aside from the Astors, what about other honeymooners aboard the Titanic<\/em>? There were newly-married couples aboard in all three classes. Each couple\u2019s story is an important part of the Titanic<\/em> narrative. Let\u2019s explore two of these stories as reported in GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Daniel Marvin & Mary Farquharson Marvin<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Marvin were first married in secret. Knowing their parents would disapprove because of their young age, their first wedding ceremony was solemnized at New York City Hall. The 18-years-olds couldn\u2019t keep their secret any longer when her parents realized their daughter was suffering from morning sickness. The young couple were then married a second time at her parents\u2019 home.* Afterward they traveled to England for their honeymoon, returning to New York via the Titanic<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Daniel\u2019s father owned a movie company and Daniel had hoped to become a movie director. He documented his and Mary\u2019s time on the Titanic<\/em> with his movie camera. If he and the film had survived, the images would have proven priceless to historians today.**<\/p>\n

Tragically, Daniel did not survive. Newspaper reports of the time documented Daniel and Mary\u2019s last moments together. In this article, published just four days after the Titanic<\/em> sank, the reporter writes:<\/p>\n

Mrs. D. W. Marvin, of this city, who was on a honeymoon trip with her husband, was almost prostrated when she learned that her husband had not been picked up by some other boat.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy God, don\u2019t ask me too much,\u201d she said. \u201cTell me, have you any news from Dan? He grabbed me in his arms and knocked down men to get me into the boat. As I was put in the boat he cried: \u2018It\u2019s all right, little girl; you go ahead, I will stay a while. I\u2019ll put on a life preserver and jump off and follow your boat.\u2019 As our boat shoved off he threw a kiss at me, and that is the last I saw of him.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"An<\/a>
Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana), 19 April 1912, page 13<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In another interview with Mary Marvin that was published on April 27, she provides information that might have been confusing to later investigations [there were no fishing boats present] \u2013 but may simply be the words of a hopeful young woman in love. She says:<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were fishing boats about the boat, and I think others must have been saved. Dan and I saw them before we went to our room. The men whom I saw were brave for they pushed aside others when cowards made for the boats before the women.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"An<\/a>
Cleburne Morning Review (Cleburne, Texas), 27 April 1912, page 7<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Daniel\u2019s body was never recovered. Mary would give birth to their child, a daughter, in October 1912.<\/p>\n

Edward & Ethel Clarke Beane<\/strong><\/p>\n

Raised in England, Edward Beane was no stranger to ocean travel. He had traveled the Atlantic several times and was making a living in America. Once he had enough money, he traveled back to England to marry his sweetheart Ethel and bring her to a new home in the United States. When the time came, the couple said good-bye to their families and sailed to their new home on the Titanic<\/em>.***<\/p>\n

In this frontpage newspaper story published the day after the disaster, there appears a complete list of Titanic<\/em> passengers (Edward\u2019s last name is listed as Beans and Ethel\u2019s as Beane) as well as survivors\u2019 names known prior to the RMS Carpathia<\/em> docking in New York (the Beanes are not listed, although they did survive).<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Evening Tribune (San Diego, California), 16 April 1912, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the same newspaper article that detailed Mary Marvin\u2019s last minutes with her young husband, there is a quote from Mr. Beane about his accounting of the Titanic\u2019s<\/em> last moments:<\/p>\n

\u201c…fifteen minutes after the Titanic hit there was an explosion in the engine-room, which was followed in a few minutes by a second explosion. The stern of the boat floated for nearly an hour after the bow was submerged.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"An<\/a>
Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana), 19 April 1912, page 13<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The one thing that is known for sure about the Beane\u2019s survival is that Ethel boarded a lifeboat. However, the story of how Edward survived is somewhat of a mystery. The Beanes told two different stories that included Edward\u2019s jumping in the ocean and swimming to a lifeboat. The story of his swimming to a lifeboat has some inconsistencies \u2013 it\u2019s possible that he boarded the lifeboat with Ethel. Men who survived were the focus of public anger, and so it\u2019s possible that those men who did survive didn\u2019t want to admit to getting off the boat via the safety of a lifeboat while women and children perished. The Beanes gave a final interview about the Titanic<\/em> to a Rochester newspaper in 1931 and declined to speak about the tragedy after that.<\/p>\n

The Honeymoon Couples<\/strong><\/p>\n

Obviously, some of those honeymoon couples never made it to their first wedding anniversary, and for those that survived, it was a tragedy they would never forget. In some cases that incident would haunt them for life, especially in the cases of male survivors who had to answer questions about why they survived when it was supposed to be \u201cwomen and children first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Are you interested in who the other honeymooning couples were on the Titanic<\/em>?**** They included:<\/p>\n

1st Class Passengers<\/u><\/p>\n