Thomas Francis McCaffry
Thomas Francis McCaffry (February 5, 1866 - April 15, 1912) was a Titanic victim. It has been suggested that, with travel partners Thomson Beattie and John Hugo Ross, he was one of the gay passengers aboard the Titanic.
Early life[edit]
Thomas Francis McCaffry was born on February 5, 1866, in Trois-Rivières, Quebec. He was of Irish-Scots descent, the son of James McCaffry and Mary Ann Campbell. He grew up in Montreal and had two sisters, Annie and Mary Eva.[1]
Career[edit]
His first employer was the Union Bank of Canada in Trois-Rivières, and later, in 1885, he became a clerk in Montreal. He was promoted and sent to manage the Union Bank in Neepawa, Manitoba. In 1897 he moved to Winnipeg to manage yet another branch. It was in Winnipeg that he met Thomson Beattie (November 25, 1875 - April 15, 1912), who would die with McCaffry aboard the Titanic. They traveled together to the Aegean in 1908, and to North Africa in 1910. The 1912 visit to the Middle East and Europe, with the return aboard the Titanic, was to be their last.[1]
In 1900 McCaffrey moved to Vancouver to manage the gold assay office opened by the Dominion Government. In 1907 he became the manager of the Vancouver branch of the Union Bank.[1][2]
Personal life[edit]
In 1912, McCaffrey, Beattie and John Hugo Ross (son of Arthur Wellington Ross), another Titanic victim, left aboard the RMS Franconia for a four month-long tour to Middle East and Europe.[2] In February they were in Cairo and visited Luxor and Aswan. After Cairo they landed in Naples and Venice. They boarded the Titanic as first class passengers in Cherbourg. McCaffry and Beattie shared cabin C-6. Beattie managed to leave on the last available raft, Collapsible A, but McCaffrey didn't board. His body was later recovered by the CS Mackay-Bennett.[1]
It has been suggested that McCaffrey and Beattie were a couple and Ross was gay as well. According to Alan Hustak: "Beattie and McCaffry resembled each other, dressed alike, and were often mistaken for brothers. The Winnipeg Free Press remarked on how similar they were, and observed the two of them 'were almost inseparable.'"[3]
He was buried at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery in Montreal, his tombstone paid for by the Union Bank of Canada.[1]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "1st Class Passengers » Mr Thomas Francis McCaffry". Retrieved 29 September 2017.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Local Manager Titanic Passenger - 15 Apr 1912, Mon • Page 1". Vancouver Daily World: 1. 1912. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
- ↑ Hustak, Alan (1998). Titanic: The Canadian Story. Véhicule Press. p. 24. Retrieved 29 September 2017. Search this book on
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