Thomas McCaffry

February 5th, 1866 - April 15th, 1912

He is a Aquarius.

Thomas Frances McCaffry was born, not in Ireland as usually stated, but at Three Rivers, Quebec. He was of Irish-Scots descent and the son of James McCaffry and Mary Ann Campbell, and he was raised in Montreal with his 2 sisters: Annie and Mary Eva. He began a career as a junior at the Union Bank of Canada in Three Rivers before becoming a clerk in Montreal in 1885. He rose through the ranks until he was sent west to manage the Union Bank in Neepawa, Manitoba. In 1897 he moved to Winnipeg to manage another branch; there he befriended Thomson Beattie. They would travel in 1908, and to North Africa in 1910 as well as ultimately, on the Titanic.

In 1900, Thomas resigned his job to go to Vancouver where he managed the gold assay office opened by the Dominion Government. In 1907, he left to become manager of the newly opened Vancouver branch of the Union Bank.

Aboard Titanic/April 14th-15th, 1912:
In early 1912, he and Thomson left with John Hugo Ross on the eastward crossing of the Franconia, and they spent the next few months touring the Middle East and Europe. The party arrived in Cairo about February 10th where they visited a hospitalized friend before taking a side trip up to the Nile to Luxor and Aswan. They left Cairo on February 23rd and headed for Naples. Thomas and his friends booked first class passage on the Titanic, which they boarded when the ship launched at Cherbourg on the evening of April 10th, 1912. Thomas and Thomson shared Cabin C-6. C-6 was a forward cabin whose window looked out directly upon the base of an electric crane.

Both Thomas and Thomson were almost certainly on the roof beside the last available raft, Collapsable, when the Titanic began its slide. Thomson made it into the boat; Thomas didn't. His body was later recovered by the MacKay Bennett. The body was delivered to E.E Code on May 2nd, 1912 and went to Montreal. He was buried in Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery. His large granite tombstone was laid for by the bank. 

Sources:
www.encyclopedia-titanica.org

Rest In Peace Thomas McCaffry.

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