The Aristocrat, the Able Seaman and the tragedy of RMS Titanic
A 45-minute illustrated talk
When Titanic left Southampton in 1912, neither the Aristocrat, the Countess of Rothes, nor the Able Seaman, Thomas Jones, imagined meeting, let alone navigating a tiny lifeboat together at night, among towering icebergs. But Jones put Noël Rothes at the tiller of his boat when he realised her calm capability, and for seven long hours they did all they could to shepherd at least twenty-five others to safety. Their ordeal forged an unlikely affinity that lasted until Noël died in 1956.
Angela Young, Noël’s great-granddaughter, tells the stories of these two courageous Titanic survivors and considers why so very few people survived the tragedy.
Thomas Jones was the son of a Welsh fisherman; Noël Rothes was the daughter of a wealthy English businessman. He wasn’t married at the time; she’d become an aristocrat through marriage and had two sons. Thomas Jones began working for the White Star Line (Titanic’s owners) in his twenties; Noël Rothes began running Leslie House in her twenties, the family seat in Fife that her husband, the 19th Earl of Rothes, inherited. But on the night of 14-15 April, 1912, the Aristocrat & the Able Seaman worked tirelessly, side-by-side, for the sake of all those on board Lifeboat Number 8.
The sources for this talk are Noël Rothes’ Titanic papers and Thomas Jones’ correspondence, their newspaper interviews and other written accounts including the evidence and statements they each gave to the official Inquiries into the disaster. The 10-minute clip below gives a sense of the talk and if you’d like to book the full 45-minute illustrated talk for your school, WI meeting, history or literary society, association, club or gathering please complete the Enquiry Form at the end of this page.
This clip is from a 45-minute film of the talk, made by Jim Burge @ Burgeoning Media. It was made a few years ago and is a little out of date. A new clip will replace it soon, but this one will still give you a sense of the talk.
‘What a wonderful talk. It was as though we were hearing the history of RMS Titanic for the first time: you brought it to life in such an intensely personal way ... . You have uncovered a deeply moving story.’
Maria & Julian Sturdy-Morton, A Bit of TLC
‘I very much enjoyed hearing this unusual twist on such a well-known story ... . What happened in the lifeboats and the impact it had on the participants, some for the rest of their lives, was particularly interesting. You had the audience gripped to the end.’
Lynda Coleman, Chairman, Wimbledon National Trust Association
‘Angela spoke eloquently and with such emotion that we could picture the events as they unfolded. She showed detailed historical knowledge ... in addition to personal information. Some of our members said it was the best talk they’d heard at our WI.’
Maggie Thompson, West Byfleet WI
‘It was masterful.’ Audience member, Woking Probus Club
Here’s a link to an archive page at the British Museum’s History of the World in 100 Objects which shows a photograph of the roundel Able Seaman Thomas Jones made for my great-grandmother after the disaster, a typed copy of the letter he sent with it and a note about the fobwatch she gave him.
And here’s a link to an article on Titanic Belfast’s website, about a visit I made there to talk about the Aristocrat & the Able Seaman with the staff, and to see the photographs they have of Noël Rothes and the tragically long lists of those who died, as well as the shorter ones of those who survived.
And here’s a link to an article about a BBC Documentary made in 2012, the hundredth anniversary of Titanic’s sinking, where I met Nell Jones, Thomas Jones – the Able Seaman’s – youngest daughter. She was in her nineties at the time. Nell remembered the letters her father exchanged with my great-grandmother ... . Nell Jones died in 2020.