05/02/2023
In James Cameron’s Titanic, the scene of a child and his father playing with a spinning top on the promenade deck is directly copied from this famous photograph.
Taken aboard the Titanic by Jesuit novice Francis Browne it shows six-year-old Robert Douglas Spedden watched by his father Frederic and is one of the most famous of the collection.
In April, 1912, the Frederic and Margaretta "Daisy" Spedden booked passage on the Titanic with their only child, Douglas. Also travelling were Daisy's maid, Helen Alice Wilson, and Douglas's former nursemaid Margaret Burns called "Muddie Boons" by the boy as he had difficulty pronouncing her name.
Frederic and his wife were awakened by the collision with the iceberg; they noticed that the ship was listing, so went to rouse the servants. Daisy woke Douglas telling the boy they were taking a "trip to see the stars." The Spedden party made their way to the starboard side of the boat deck where the women and children boarded lifeboat 3. After all the women and children had been loaded, Frederic, along with about 20 other men, were also permitted to enter the boat.
Douglas fell asleep and slept through the night. Waking at dawn and seeing icebergs he said "Oh, Muddie, look at the beautiful North Pole with no Santa Claus on it."
The entire party survived and were rescued by Carpathia where the Spedden family was remembered for numerous acts of kindness. Margaret Burns made use of her nursing skills tending to the injured and shocked passengers throughout the journey to New York.
One year after the disaster Daisy wrote and illustrated a storybook for her son called "My Story", which told the story of the trip, sinking, and rescue from the point of view of Douglas' teddy bear. The tale was inspired by the stuffed bear her son never left behind during the sinking and their subsequent rescue.
Daisy was also writing a series of diaries starring the little bear for Douglas, when he was older, to read and reminisce about all those moments he spent together with his parents.
She gave the storybook to Douglas as a gift on Christmas Day 1913. Two years later, one summer afternoon in 1915, Douglas was playing outside at the family summer retreat in Grindstone Neck, Winter Harbor, Maine.
Douglas chased into the street after his ball and was struck by a car and killed. He died two days later from the concussion he sustained. He was 9 years old. It was one of the first recorded automobile accidents in the state.
Both Frederic and Daisy mourned stoically, because they always had faith in Christian providence.
After her son's death Daisy stopped writing her diaries. They lived out the rest of their lives with close friends and family and continued to travel the world.
Frederick died on February 3, 1947 at the age of 80 due to a heart attack while poolside at the Bath Club in Palm Beach, Florida. Daisy passed away on February 11, 1950 at the age of 77.
