| House Mix-Up Stops Tribute to the Father
of the Titanic By Frank Murphy
A tribute scheduled to be paid to the man regarded as the father of the
Titanic has had to be postponed. Thomas Andrews, the man who designed the
ill-fated liner, was due to be honoured in Belfast by means of a blue plaque
being unveiled outside a house in which it was believed he had lived. But
organisers got the wrong house.
The tribute, organised by the Ulster History Circle, was planned to be
unveiled outside a house in Windsor Avenue, off the Lisburn Road, where
it was understood Andrews had lived for just under four years before his
untimely death upon the great vessel he was so instrumental in creating.
However, information, which recently came to light, suggests that the
property Dunallen, the house Andrews purchased in June 1908 following his
marriage to Helen Reilly Barbour, is most probably further along the suburban
street. The number originally assigned to the Andrews house during his lifetime
was number 12, but houses constructed in the 1920s closer to the Lisburn
Road led to the house numbers being changed.
The present number 12, an award-winning guest house, had formally been
number two, the occupants of which were misinformed several years ago of
their close links with Belfast’s most famous engineer. The plaque was due
to be unveiled as a joint effort between John Andrews, Thomas’ great nephew
and Councillor Jim Rodgers, the Lord Mayor of Belfast.
The Ulster Titanic Society (the largest in the world of its kind) and
Belfast City Council now plan to pay tribute to the creator of the maritime
masterpiece at a later date, either during commemorations to mark the 90th
anniversary of the fateful maiden voyage of the Titanic, or possibly on
February 7 — the anniversary of Andrews’ birthday in 1873.
The Titanic: Made in Belfast festival is scheduled to run from March
30 until April 7 and features lectures, exhibitions, tours of both the city
and shipyard, showings of the films A Night To Remember and Titanic, and
re-enactments of both the Titanic’s launch and the public enquiry into her
tragic demise.
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