Lt. Thomas J OBrian
Medical worker | Medical Officers-315.12.1890
Biography
Thomas Joseph O’Brian was born on December 15th, 1890, in Belfast, Ireland to Catherine and Daniel O’Brian. He is the eldest of five who all are at varying ages. The two closest to Thomas’s age are Patrick and Anne, with Michael and Elijah a few years younger, and Saoirse as the youngest.
For most of his upbringing, he and his family would live in a modest three-story terraced home near Wolseley Street. Daniel would work as a mechanical engineer/ship carpenter at the Harland and Wolff shipyard. Catherine would, of course, stay at home and work on tidying up the home and preparing meals whenever possible. During her free time, however, she would spend it singing various operas around the house. This would be where she, Thomas, and Anne, would practice various songs as the two eldest had great singing voices. Sometimes, when the children came home from school, the three would sing together as a fun little recreational activity. Daniel would return home at the end of the day, and the cycle would continue the next day, and thereafter.
Then in 1896, when a then 6-year-old Thomas was taken to the shipyard, mainly to gawk at the giant vessels being built, he instantly decided that he wanted to be a ship designer. He found the process and relative creativity so engaging that he just wanted to be a part of it. So, from that day forward, the young boy was brought along to oversee the construction of various Harland and Wolff ships. There was always hesitancy to let a child roam the slipway or factories themselves. So, Thomas was primarily kept at the main office building where he would start drawing up his own little ship plans. To his surprise, some drawings were praised by other designers, who thought the designs were quite good and innovative for a boy his age. Albeit, most had humored his drawings, with the rest paying him no mind at all during those younger years.
And so, in 1903, when Thomas was 13 years old, he was given an apprenticeship position and began working on more refined, complex, and innovative drawings. Tragically, however, the familys prosperous beginnings would soon come to a screeching halt, when the following winter, when Thomas turned 14, his father would pass from a severe cold. Which of course was a devastating blow to the family emotionally and financially. By March of next year, he and his family would go looking for jobs around Northern Belfast.
Catherine, Patrick, Michael, and Elijah had decided to work at the Gilford Mill whilst, Anne and Saoirse were down in France, as Anne had been allowed to begin singing lessons at the famed Opera House in Paris and was asked by her mother to take Saoirse with her as the young girl wanted to sing as well. Anne obliged and the two went on their way. This was just before her father’s death, so Anne was not given the news till a day later when Thomas and Patrick had personally gone down there to tell her. After the funeral, Catherine fought with her two daughters to remain there until the family could ‘get back on their feet.’ Thomas was also urged by his mother to remain at the shipyard, as that was where most of their income was coming from.
By the time he turned 15, he began working in the main office building, before being hired as a full-time designer at the age of 17. His innovative designs helped him rank higher than other apprentices at the time, along with his respectful attitude and poised personality. While a bit more reclusive, he was known to open up once a conversation would come along. And sing a little tune if he was asked to.
The biggest change for the family would come in February of 1911. After almost three grueling years at the Gilford Mill, Catherine and the rest of Thomas’s siblings had had enough of the awful working conditions and horrible pay and wanted to leave Belfast. Patrick, Catherine, and Thomas had several nights where they discussed how they would go about with this plan. First, they had to figure out where they would be heading to, and who was all going. They concluded that Catherine, Michael, Elijah, and if willing, Saoirse would head to America and find a place in Massachusetts as they had relatives who had moved there a few years back. Thomas would remain in Belfast to continue his career, with Patrick deciding to pursue a new desire for knowledge and would head to King’s College in Cambridge. The two were to keep in contact with Anne and to write to each other whenever they could. Next, the family had to decide what ship to board, and it was Patrick’s idea that the family could wait and board the newly constructed Olympic for her maiden voyage later that summer.
So, in June 1911, Catherine would somberly say goodbye to her three eldest children and the ship would exit the harbor around midday. Thomas would receive his postcard a couple of weeks later when his mother informed them that they had found a place in Gales Ferry, Massachusetts, and were hoping to hear from him soon. Even though they wrote to each other often, the family would remain separated until December of that year. For Thomas’ upcoming 22nd birthday, he, Patrick, and Anne all boarded White Star’s Olympic on November 20th when she recommenced her fifth voyage, as two months prior she was scrapped and damaged by the HMS Hawke and had to undergo repairs for these last two months.
They would arrive in New York five days later, on November 25th. The three then booked a train and headed for Gales Ferry where they would surprise Catherine and the rest of their siblings. During this family excursion, Thomas would inform them that he would be attending the voyage of the White Star Liner: Titanic. Once he returned home to Belfast, the young man quickly got to work again. Eventually purchasing 2nd class tickets by that March.
By that April, the young Irishman could not have expected himself to be a witness/survivor to one of the greatest tragedies in maritime history. Surviving upon one of Titanic’s swamped off collapsibles, he and the other 700 complement left would board Cunard’s Carpathia. Eventually arriving in New York by the 18th, shell-shocked, injured, and unaware of his next life.
A few years would pass, and still riddled with dread, Thomas would find himself in another shipwreck. This time upon the St. Lawrence River when the Empress of Ireland sank after a collision with a freighter. He was escorting a family friend of his, and she and her newborn child would pass in the sinking. He, amongst a group of passengers in the water, had overturned an upturned boat and huddled in there before nearby ships from the coasts had arrived on the scene.
Unfortunately, war would befall the world later that same year. And with need for men, Thomas quickly enlisted into the Royal Army Medical Corp. Along with Anna Maria, and Catherine enlisting in the Volunteer Aid Dept for nurses. The rest of the family would hunker down in Gales Ferry, keeping the house and themselves away from the carnage. Thomas, surprisingly, gained a quick reputation amongst his fellow men. Sharp, skilled, and calm in the direst of situations. In May of the next year, the young Irishman was now near the top ranks of his specific division, gaining the title of Lieutenant Medical Officer.
Mostly stationed on HMT Olympic, Thomas would be moved to H.M.H.S. Britannic in November of 1915 to aid in the Gallipoli Campaign. War and tragedy from shipwrecks left the once curious, and precocious man to a quieter, and duty-filled machine. He had a duty to his conutry, to the men on the front lines, to his family, and to himself.
For most of his upbringing, he and his family would live in a modest three-story terraced home near Wolseley Street. Daniel would work as a mechanical engineer/ship carpenter at the Harland and Wolff shipyard. Catherine would, of course, stay at home and work on tidying up the home and preparing meals whenever possible. During her free time, however, she would spend it singing various operas around the house. This would be where she, Thomas, and Anne, would practice various songs as the two eldest had great singing voices. Sometimes, when the children came home from school, the three would sing together as a fun little recreational activity. Daniel would return home at the end of the day, and the cycle would continue the next day, and thereafter.
Then in 1896, when a then 6-year-old Thomas was taken to the shipyard, mainly to gawk at the giant vessels being built, he instantly decided that he wanted to be a ship designer. He found the process and relative creativity so engaging that he just wanted to be a part of it. So, from that day forward, the young boy was brought along to oversee the construction of various Harland and Wolff ships. There was always hesitancy to let a child roam the slipway or factories themselves. So, Thomas was primarily kept at the main office building where he would start drawing up his own little ship plans. To his surprise, some drawings were praised by other designers, who thought the designs were quite good and innovative for a boy his age. Albeit, most had humored his drawings, with the rest paying him no mind at all during those younger years.
And so, in 1903, when Thomas was 13 years old, he was given an apprenticeship position and began working on more refined, complex, and innovative drawings. Tragically, however, the familys prosperous beginnings would soon come to a screeching halt, when the following winter, when Thomas turned 14, his father would pass from a severe cold. Which of course was a devastating blow to the family emotionally and financially. By March of next year, he and his family would go looking for jobs around Northern Belfast.
Catherine, Patrick, Michael, and Elijah had decided to work at the Gilford Mill whilst, Anne and Saoirse were down in France, as Anne had been allowed to begin singing lessons at the famed Opera House in Paris and was asked by her mother to take Saoirse with her as the young girl wanted to sing as well. Anne obliged and the two went on their way. This was just before her father’s death, so Anne was not given the news till a day later when Thomas and Patrick had personally gone down there to tell her. After the funeral, Catherine fought with her two daughters to remain there until the family could ‘get back on their feet.’ Thomas was also urged by his mother to remain at the shipyard, as that was where most of their income was coming from.
By the time he turned 15, he began working in the main office building, before being hired as a full-time designer at the age of 17. His innovative designs helped him rank higher than other apprentices at the time, along with his respectful attitude and poised personality. While a bit more reclusive, he was known to open up once a conversation would come along. And sing a little tune if he was asked to.
The biggest change for the family would come in February of 1911. After almost three grueling years at the Gilford Mill, Catherine and the rest of Thomas’s siblings had had enough of the awful working conditions and horrible pay and wanted to leave Belfast. Patrick, Catherine, and Thomas had several nights where they discussed how they would go about with this plan. First, they had to figure out where they would be heading to, and who was all going. They concluded that Catherine, Michael, Elijah, and if willing, Saoirse would head to America and find a place in Massachusetts as they had relatives who had moved there a few years back. Thomas would remain in Belfast to continue his career, with Patrick deciding to pursue a new desire for knowledge and would head to King’s College in Cambridge. The two were to keep in contact with Anne and to write to each other whenever they could. Next, the family had to decide what ship to board, and it was Patrick’s idea that the family could wait and board the newly constructed Olympic for her maiden voyage later that summer.
So, in June 1911, Catherine would somberly say goodbye to her three eldest children and the ship would exit the harbor around midday. Thomas would receive his postcard a couple of weeks later when his mother informed them that they had found a place in Gales Ferry, Massachusetts, and were hoping to hear from him soon. Even though they wrote to each other often, the family would remain separated until December of that year. For Thomas’ upcoming 22nd birthday, he, Patrick, and Anne all boarded White Star’s Olympic on November 20th when she recommenced her fifth voyage, as two months prior she was scrapped and damaged by the HMS Hawke and had to undergo repairs for these last two months.
They would arrive in New York five days later, on November 25th. The three then booked a train and headed for Gales Ferry where they would surprise Catherine and the rest of their siblings. During this family excursion, Thomas would inform them that he would be attending the voyage of the White Star Liner: Titanic. Once he returned home to Belfast, the young man quickly got to work again. Eventually purchasing 2nd class tickets by that March.
By that April, the young Irishman could not have expected himself to be a witness/survivor to one of the greatest tragedies in maritime history. Surviving upon one of Titanic’s swamped off collapsibles, he and the other 700 complement left would board Cunard’s Carpathia. Eventually arriving in New York by the 18th, shell-shocked, injured, and unaware of his next life.
A few years would pass, and still riddled with dread, Thomas would find himself in another shipwreck. This time upon the St. Lawrence River when the Empress of Ireland sank after a collision with a freighter. He was escorting a family friend of his, and she and her newborn child would pass in the sinking. He, amongst a group of passengers in the water, had overturned an upturned boat and huddled in there before nearby ships from the coasts had arrived on the scene.
Unfortunately, war would befall the world later that same year. And with need for men, Thomas quickly enlisted into the Royal Army Medical Corp. Along with Anna Maria, and Catherine enlisting in the Volunteer Aid Dept for nurses. The rest of the family would hunker down in Gales Ferry, keeping the house and themselves away from the carnage. Thomas, surprisingly, gained a quick reputation amongst his fellow men. Sharp, skilled, and calm in the direst of situations. In May of the next year, the young Irishman was now near the top ranks of his specific division, gaining the title of Lieutenant Medical Officer.
Mostly stationed on HMT Olympic, Thomas would be moved to H.M.H.S. Britannic in November of 1915 to aid in the Gallipoli Campaign. War and tragedy from shipwrecks left the once curious, and precocious man to a quieter, and duty-filled machine. He had a duty to his conutry, to the men on the front lines, to his family, and to himself.