Wallace Henry Hartley - Keighley Road Cemtery - Colne, UK - Grave of a Famous Person on Waymarking.com

The headstone is a total of ten feet high with a plinth above a carved hymn book and violin, which is surmounted by a broken column. The front of the plinth of the head stone has the following inscription.

IN
LOVING MEMORY
OF
WALLACE HENRY,
THE BELOVED SON OF
ALBION AND ELIZABETH
HARTLEY
FORMERLY OF COLNE
WHO LOST HIS LIFE IN THE
S.S. TITANIC DISASTER
ON APRIL 15TH 1912
AGED 33 YEARS
AND WAS INTERRED
ON MAY 18TH 1912.

Description: Wallace Hartley is famous for being the band leader on the Titanic on the day the ship sank in 1912. When the Titanic started to sink, Hartley and the band continued to play on, it's believed to help keep the passengers calm. There were reports after the sinking that the band played until the very end and certainly none survived. Wallace Hartley was born and raised in Colne, Lancashire and attended Bethel Independent Methodist Chapel, where his father was choirmaster. Wallace is credited with introducing the hymn "Nearer, My God, to Thee" to the congregation and some people claimed that was the last tune the band on the Titanic played. The radio operator claimed though that it was a tune called Autumn. Whatever the truth about the hymn, a couple of lines from it are also carved on the base of the head stone in the form of an open hymn book with the opening words and notes. Below this hymn book is a relief carving of a violin. Hartley had played this instrument on other ships in the Cunard Line before becoming a band leader. The body of Hartley was found with his violin case strapped to his body and the ship Arabic returned his body to England. When he was buried in Colne on 18th May 1912, one thousand people attended the funeral and it is estimated that 30 thousand to 40 thousand people had lined the route of the funeral procession. Because of Hartley's association with the Titanic someone has placed a small plastic model of the Titanic on the shaft of the violin. These and further details were found on his Wikipedia page. link Date of birth: 06/02/1878 Date of death: 04/15/1912 Area of notoriety: Historical Figure Marker Type: Headstone Setting: Outdoor Visiting Hours/Restrictions: 1st April to 30th September 8:00am to 8:00pm 1st October to 31st March 8:00am to 5:00pm Fee required?: No Web site: [Web Link]

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