The tragic story of RMS Titanic and the mournful deaths of the 1,500 passengers is a story well known to all. As sorrowful as it was, many heroes emerged during that ill-fated night, demonstating true bravery and humanism to the world. Among those is the English priest, Father Thomas Byles, who lost his life in the event, but, for his actions that night, his memory lives on.
Father Thomas Byles was born in Leeds on 26 February 1870. He was the eldest of seven children of the Reverend Alfred Holden Byles, a renown Congregationalist minister. Raised in a Protestant family, his birth name was Roussel Davids Byles. Father Byles began his education at Leamington College and Rossall School, Fleetwood, Lancashire, and in 1889, he started his mathematics, modern history, and theology studies at Balliol College, Oxford. Here, he followed the steps of his brother William and converted to Catholicism. Roussel was baptized on 23 May 1894, at St. Aloysius Church in Oxford, becoming Thomas Byles.
After his graduation, Father Thomas left Oxford and joined his brother William in Germany, where he continued his studies. After his return to England, Father Byles worked as a professor at St. Edmund’s College, Ware, Hertfordshire. Teaching was no challenge for the well-educated man, so in 1899, he left for Rome where he studied for his priesthood. Father Thomas was ordained on 15 June, 1902 and worked as a priest in Rome for several months. In 1903, he moved back to England and worked on converting Protestants to Catholicism, before getting assigned to St. Helen’s Church in Ongar, Essex, in 1905.
In the meantime, the brother of Father Thomas, William, had moved to New York where he found the love of his life and decided to get married. William wanted his brother to officiate his marriage, so he invited Thomas to the United States. The priest accepted the invitation and traveled to Southampton where he boarded the magnificent ship, the RMS Titanic.
Father Thomas had a second class ticket. He brought a portable altar stone and his priest uniform with him. The priest made arrangments with Captain Edward Smith to use a space where he could say Mass for the passengers of the Titanic. During the sail, the priest heard passenger’s confessions, and on the morning of April 14, 1912, he said Mass for the second and third class passengers in their lounges. At 11:40 PM on the same date, the Titanic collided with an iceberg.
The priest was on the upper deck when the accident occurred. Fully dressed in his priest robe, he descended to the third class level and led the passengers to the lifeboats. He helped women and children climb the barges. While the ship was sinking, Father Thomas heard confessions and spoke calming words to the people in panic. As a real spiritual leader would he sang with the passengers who couldn’t find a place on the lifeboats.
After the last lifeboat had left, he went to the deck where his altar was and started the recitation of the Rosary. A large group of people were kneeling around him, praying for salvation. Byles gave those left behind their absolution and remained by their side until the end. After 2 hours and 40 minutes, the prolonged demise came to completion, and at 2:20 AM on 15 April 1912, the brave priest, along with the other 1,500 doomed souls, perished in the waters of the North Atlantic Ocean.
Many of the survivors gave their testimonials on the bravery of Father Thomas. The wedding of his brother went on without him, but the bride and the groom still paid their respects to the priest. Right after their wedding ceremony, they changed into mourning clothes and attended a Requiem Mass for Thomas Byles. Later, William and his wife traveled to Rome and met Pope Pius X, who proclaimed Father Thomas a “martyr for the Church”.
The Byles family built a door for St. Helen’s Church in Ongar as a memorial to Father Thomas. An inscription was also made in dedication to the priest, in the corner of a stained-glass window in the church, with his photo hanging on the wall next to the window. The figure of Father Thomas also appeared in the Titanic blockbuster, directed by James Cameron. Although his name is not mentioned in the movie, the priest appearing in the scenes was inspired by Thomas Byles.