Part of a gravestone at St Mary's church, Tissington. It records the death of Frank Richard Allsop aged 43, a saloon steward on the Titanic.
Mr Frank Richard Allsop, 43, came from Devon England. When he signed onto the Titanic he gave his address as Obelisk Rd, Southampton (elsewhere recorded as Woolston, Hampshire). His sister, Mrs H. McLaren was a stewardess on the ship.
Source.
Frank's death is recorded on his father's gravestone as his body was not recovered. 'Drownded' seems to be a dialect word, never particularly common although I've heard it a few times.
8 comments:
Titanic's radio operator Jack Phillips was born and is buried near my in-laws house in Surrey. The locals seem to have made quite a little industry from his name, with even a restaurant being named after him.
As for "drownded", it is a word I had completely forgotten, but I remember my grandparents using it. That was in Bedfordshire. It might have been a widely-used archaic form. It's nice to see it on a memorial like that, anyway.
Being drownded is soon to be an occupational hazard for me.
Thomas Hardy?
Also, I am reminded, the Peggotty family of Great Yarmouth as in Dickens "David Copperfield".
Drownded has a nice sound to it, a sort of marine odour, seaweed and salty - quite healthy really. We should have more of it.
BTW how do we know the poor chap was drownded 'on' the Titanic rather than some distance off, not that it matters.
Sam - I'e heard it used by people here in Derbyshire, but only older people with deep roots in the area. Even then it is probably no more than a light-hearted imitation of older generations.
James - I hope not.
Demetrius - yes, both Dickens and Hardy used it as a dialect word.
Roger - we don't know for sure that he was drownded at all if his body wasn't recovered. He may have drunk himself to death in preference to drowning.
Drownded is a lot easier for poets and songwriters, many more rhymes.
Woodsy - yes, in part that probably accounts for its persistence.
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