As Time Stood Still, A Titanic Tragedy

By Staff

Wednesday, February 25, 2009, 16:56

The time stood still for the newly wed couple as they embraced the freezing cold waters of the Atlantic when Titanic struck the iceberg.

The traditional timepiece that belonged to the couple will be displayed for the first time at an exhibition held at the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth, Cornwall, UK.

The newly weds John Chapman, 37, and his bride Lizzie, 29, lost their lives on April 15 1912 as Titanic sank. Lizzi was offered a lifeboat, but refused to go as her husband was meant to stay on board. At that time she turned to her friend Emily Richards to say the final goodbye.

"Goodbye Mrs Richards, if John can't go, I won't go either," the Mirror quoted her as having said. Lizzi's body was never found. The couple were on their way to Wisconsin to start their new life. This real life love story was later adapted on the newly wed couples' characters for the 1958 Titanic movie, 'A night to remember'.

The timepiece belonging to John is now a treasured family heirloom, "The watch was sent back with other personal effects once the body was found and has been passed down the family," said his great nephew William Sargent.

He added: "My father, John Chapman, was named after his uncle who died on the Titanic. My dad never liked the sea and always said it was hungry. I suppose if you knew your aunt and uncle had perished so famously you would think like that."

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