Thomas Byles
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Father Thomas Byles (Thomas Roussel Davids Byles, 26 February 1870 - 15 April 1912) was a Catholic priest who famously remained on board the RMS Titanic as she was sinking after colliding with an iceberg, hearing confessions and giving absolution.
He was born Roussel Davids Byles, the eldest of seven children of the Reverend Dr. Alfred Holden Byles, a congregationalist minister, and his wife Louisa Davids. He attended Leamington College and Rossall School, Fleetwood, Lancashire, between 1885 and 1889, then went to Balliol College, Oxford in 1889 to study theology, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1894. While at Oxford, Byles converted to the Roman Catholic faith, taking the name Thomas. In 1899, he went to the Beda College in Rome to study for the priesthood, and was ordained in 1902. He was assigned to St. Helen's Parish in Ongar, Essex in 1905.
An invitation to officiate at the wedding of his younger brother William prompted Father Byles to make the trip to New York. Originally scheduled to travel on another White Star liner, he was transferred at the last minute to the Titanic in Second Class. He said Mass on the morning of the sinking, Low Sunday, 14 April 1912, for both Second- and Third-Class passengers in their respective lounges. The sermon was on the need for a spiritual lifebelt in the shape of prayer and the sacraments when in danger of spiritual shipwreck in times of temptation. [1] [2]
Father Byles was walking on the upper deck reciting his breviary when the Titanic struck the iceberg. As the ship was sinking, he assisted many Third-Class passengers up to the Boat Deck to the lifeboats. He reputedly twice refused a place on a lifeboat. Toward the very end, he prayed the rosary and other prayers, heard confessions and gave absolution to over a hundred passengers who remained trapped on the stern of the ship after all of the lifeboats had been lauched. His body, if recovered, was never identified. His brothers installed a door in memory of him at St. Helen's Catholic Church in Chipping Ongar, Essex.
He has twice been portrayed in films about the disaster. In the 1979 television movie SOS Titanic, he was portrayed by Matthew Guinness. In the 1997 film, Titanic, he was portrayed by James Lancaster.
