On the night of, April 14, 1912, a great ocean liner, RMS Titanic, perished, bringing 1,500 people with it. Among those people were the band, who held on till’ the end, and played ‘Nearer, My God, To Thee’, while the Titanic sank. Wallace Hartley, was born on June 2, 1878, born and raised in Colne, Lancashire, England. Before playing on the Titanic, Hartley played on the RMS Lucania, RMS Lusitania, and RMS Mauretania. His violin was given to him, in 1910, by his fiancee, Maria Robinson, who died in 1939, at age 59, from stomach cancer. She put a silver plate, at the tailpiece of the violin, indicating their engagement, and had their names engraved accordingly. It was a wonderful evening on the night of, April 10, 1912, sounds …show more content…
Wallace Hartley’s body was found by a ship called the, CS Mackay-Bennett, he was found 224 ft below the ocean’s surface, with the violin case strapped to his chest. The violin was passed on to, his fiancee, Maria Robinson. Maria kept the violin it its case with jewelry, to serve as a shrine for her late fiancee. She kept the violin in her attic, until she died in 1939, at age 59, of stomach cancer. Her sister, Margaret, found the violin while taking care of Maria’s house and passed it on to the salvation army, who gave it to a violin teacher, and later gave it to an amutur musicion, who was part of Women's’ Auxiliary Air Force. It was kept there until its discovery in 2006. Then it was taken to Government's Forensic Science Service, which it was confirmed that the plate on the tailpiece indicated that the violin initially was, Wallace Hartley’s. The violin only had two strings and two long cracks on the side of body and water stains, which was also evidence of ownership to Mr. Hartley. They also identified his initials on the case. Wallace Hartley became a hero to the small town of Colne, lancashire, England for playing till’ the end. Wallace Hartley was buried in his hometown of Colne, England. They made Hartley a statue, and written on the structure was “ Wallace Hartley, bandmaster of the R.M.S Titanic, who perished in the foundering of that vessel, April 15, 1912, Erected by