Undated photograph of David Blair.
After adventures in the South Seas and living in Panama, Blair finally returned to England and instead of settling back in his home village of Broughty Ferry, Scotland, Navy documents show that his address was changed to 103 Whitechurch Gardens, Edgware, Middlesex, from 1949.
His heatth was deteriorating. In an entry from 3.11.1948 it sadly states: "Not fit for service, owing to declining age and medically unfit."
On the 10th of May 1950 his wife of 45 years, Madeleine, died at the age of 84 . Despite this, he was healthy enough, aged 75, to consider remarriage. According to ancestry records he married Vera Mabel Crump (c.1907 - 1960) in 1950 in Harrow District, Middlesex. Born circa 1907 she was 33 years younger than him and only three years older than his daughter.
The same year, a 20.5.1950 entry lists "no occupation at present" however by the following year there was an improvement - 22.6.1951 "States lectures on Travels& Shipping generally."
Finally, David Blair died on 10 January 1955 in Edgware General Hospital, Hendon, Greater London, Middlesex. He was 80 years old. According to findagrave.com he had a "Non-Cemetery Burial."
His friend Lightoller had died a few years earlier, in 1952 aged 78, while the other two Titanic officers alive, Herbert Pitman and Joseph Boxhall, survived until 1961 and 1967 respectively, Pitman aged 84 and Boxhall aged 83.
Blair's estate was probated on 30 March 1955. The Probate Entry reads:
BLAIR, David of 103 Whitechurch-gardens, Edgware, Middlesex, died 10 January 1955 at Edgware General Hospital, Hendon, Middlesex, Probate London 30 March to Vera Mabel Blair, widow. Effects £1167 8s. 7d (Ancestry.com, England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966, 1973-1995.)
Vera died circa 1960.
Blair's daughter, Elizabeth Nancy Blair, born in 1910 to his first marriage with Madeleine, died in 1995 aged 85, in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland. In 1958 she corresponded with Walter Lord, author of the book A Night to Remember, the following letter:
11/10/58
My father, the late Commander David Blair, was with the White Star Line for many years and was to have sailed in the Titanic ... I have a picture postcard of the ship which he sent to his sister-in-law + on it he said "I feel very [underlined] disappointed I am not to make the first voyage ........ I hope eventually to get back to this ship." In the rush to pack his belongings + get off before she sailed he came away with a key in his pocket + there was no opportunity to return it. This is now in my possession + I treasure it as a unique memento [sic]. On one side of the brass label to it is engraved "R.M.S. Titanic" + on the other "Crows Nest Telephone Key."
We were living in Southampton at the time +, although I was too young then to remember anything about it, I have heard my mother say that she had tea on board the day before the sailing + there was still work people racing to finish the laying of carpets etc. in time. My aunt has told me that my father showed her all over the ship + it took them three hours to go round, she was so large.
Commander Lightoller (or "Lights", as we always called him) was a great freind [sic] of my fathers, in fact they were shipmates for many years. Latterly they both lived near London + saw each other frequently.
My aunt is a friend of Miss Moody, sister of the young Moody who was drowned. He was a frequent visitor at our house in Southampton."
(Source: http://www.paullee.com/titanic/eblair.html)
Blair was also survived by his son, Donald (a school teacher and author of Lake District hiking books). Apparently Don Blair felt considerable guilt during his entire life for the actions regarding his father being "bumped off the ship" and the issue with the keys to the binoculars. Don Blair has since also passed on, leaving a widow (Gladys) and three step sons (Neil, Nigel, and Iain Douglas). (wikipedia)
Don Blair's books on the Lake District.
On Saturday, the 22nd of September 2007, Blair's key to the crows nest sold for £90,000. His daughter Elizabeth had given the key to the International Sailors Society and when sold, the money raised was reportedly to be used to set up bursaries and scholarships in the name of Mr Blair." The key was purchased by Shen Dongjun, the CEO of jewellery retailer TESIRO's Chinese division for £90,000, and went on display in Nanjing. "Shen entrusted Kunal Mehta, the son of Kaushik Mehta, Board Chairman of TESIRO, to take part in the auction held by Christies in London on Saturday afternoon." (Source: china.com)
Shen Dongjun, the CEO of jewelry retailer TESIRO’s Chinese division,
the new owner of Blair's key (Image: China.com)
According to a September 19 2017 Courier article, those wishes are indeed being carried out:
Blair kept the key, passing it on to his daughter Nancy, who in turn donated it to international maritime charity Sailors’ Society in the 1980s.
The society sold it to a Chinese businessman in 2007 — the proceeds from the sale of the key are still helping to fund its education programme.
Sailors’ Society CEO Stuart Rivers said: “We’re very glad that more than a century on we are able to make so much good come out of such a tragic event.
“The money we raised from the sale has been changing the lives of students around the world by giving them the opportunity of an education.”
Sailors’ Society aims to transform the lives of seafarers and their families at home, in port and at sea through the delivery of chaplaincy, education and the relief of poverty and distress.
The charity’s education programme offers grants and bursaries to help aspiring seafarers achieve careers at sea, and to those from seafaring families who are unable to afford an education.
Current grant recipients include 19-year-old Filipino Mayce Gel, whose father Ronel was on board a vessel that was hijacked by pirates.
He was left traumatised and unable to return to sea, so he could not afford to send Mayce to school until Sailors’ Society intervened with a grant that is now enabling her to go to university.
Mayce said: “It’s like it built my dreams again, because I really wanted to finish school.”
(Source: www.thecourier.co.uk)
Another article by the Family Tree magazine adds further details including a connection with Sixth Officer James Moody:
International maritime charity Sailors’ Society received the key as a donation in the 1980s and sold it to a Chinese businessman in 2007 – the proceeds from the sale of the key are still helping to fund its education programme.
Sailors’ Society CEO Stuart Rivers said: “We’re very glad that more than a century on we are able to make so much good come out of something from such a tragic event.
“The money we raised from the sale has been changing the lives of students around the world by giving them the opportunity of an education.”
The story of the Titanic key
The key never made the Titanic's fateful maiden voyage from Southampton to New York in April 1912, because it was inside the pocket of second officer David Blair. Blair was due to sail with the ship, but was replaced last minute, crucially forgetting to hand over the key when he disembarked.
One of the Titanic’s lookouts, Fred Fleet, later told an enquiry that the binoculars could have saved the ship and the lives of the 1,522 lost. Blair kept the key, passing it onto his daughter Nancy, who in turn donated it to Sailors’ Society in the 1980s.
The charity’s education programme offers grants and bursaries to help aspiring seafarers achieve careers at sea, and to those from seafaring families who are unable to afford an education. Since 2011, more than 100 people have benefited from scholarships and nautical grants awarded by Sailors’ Society.
Grant recipients
Current grant recipients include 19-year-old Filipino Mayce Gel, whose father Ronel was on board a vessel that was hijacked by pirates. He was left traumatised and unable to return to sea, so he could not afford to send Mayce to school until Sailors’ Society intervened with a grant that is now enabling her to go to university.
Mayce said: “It’s like it built my dreams again, because I really wanted to finish school.”
British seafarer Charley Jess is also benefitting from a scholarship at Warsash Maritime Academy. Currently at sea, Charley’s training includes tanker firefighting, safety training and tuition – all of which has been funded by Sailors’ Society.
Education has been a priority for Sailors’ Society throughout its 200-year history. In fact, one of the crew who died on the night Titanic sank, Scarborough-born James Paul Moody, was a former pupil of the King Edward VII Nautical School for ‘hardy and heroic sons of the sea’ – a school founded by the charity.
Antiques valuer Adrian Stevenson is pictured with retired teacher Murray Shaw, who owned David Blair's medals (Image: HANSONS AUCTIONEERS)
A retired Derby headteacher Murray Shaw, 78, was "so fascinated by the story he acquired a set of nine medals presented to Blair by a dealer seven years ago" in 2011. A Mirror article states:
"The medals, which include an OBE for war service and a sea gallantry medal, are now coming up for sale at Derbyshire's Hansons Auctioneers on March 19 - with an estimate of £15,000 to £18,000.
Mr Shaw said: "David Blair was standing by for three months in Belfast when the Titanic was being built and was signed on for the whole of the New York voyage.
"He would have been responsible for all the navigation equipment but was taken off the ship in Southampton, surplus to requirements. As a former Navy man myself, I can understand why he would have been upset…..
Mr Shaw, who turned his medals hobby into a business, said: "If the key was worth £90,000, I feel this rare set of medals belonging to Titanic crew member David Blair, the man who forgot the key, should be worth just as much."
Adrian Stevenson, militaria expert at Hansons, said: "It is a fascinating story…
The loss of the Titanic is a story that has fascinated the world for more than a century. The opportunity to own David Blair’s medals will, I am sure, spark worldwide interest."
The medals up for auction include: Order of the British Empire 1st type civil award; Sea Gallantry medal 1914-15 Star; British War medal; Victory medal; Royal Naval Reserve Decoration; French Cross of Chevalier of the Legion of Honour; Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society medal in silver and the Royal Humane Society medal in bronze.
The set comes with David Blair’s British Mercantile Marine Identity and Service Certificate, a folder of original documentation and a book, Titanic Destination Disaster: The Legend and the Reality. (The Mirror, 14 MAR 2018)
Murray Shaw's collection of David Blair's medals, which were later auctioned. (HANSONS AUCTIONEERS)
Murray Shaw's collection included a "British Mercantile Marine Identity and Service Certificate" (HANSONS AUCTIONEERS)
Blair's medals: The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, Officer’s (O.B.E.) breast badge, in silver-gilt, bearing reverse hallmarks for London dated 1918, with box of issue and award document; Sea Gallantry Medal, G.V.R., silver (Lieutenant David Blair. R.N.R. “Majestic”, 6th May 1913.), with original award letter; 1914-15 Star (Lieut. D. Blair, R.N.R.); British War and Victory Medals, 1914-1919 (Commr. D. Blair. R.N.R.); Royal Naval Reserve Decoration, G.V.R., bearing reverse hallmarks for London dated 1918; France, Legion d’Honneur, Knight’s breast badge in silver, gold and enamels; Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society Medal, in silver (To Lieut. David Blair. R.N.R. S.S. “Majestic” For Gallant Service 6th May 1913); Royal Humane Society Medal, in bronze (David Blair. 6th May 1913.). (Credit: Invaluable, 2019)
(Click image to enlarge)
See also...
