Liverpool parish to host exhibition of rare Titanic photos

Passengers on Titanic

St Francis Xavier's Church in Liverpool is preparing to host an exhibition of rare and historic photos to mark the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic. The pictures, taken by an Irish Jesuit, are a unique record of the events of 1912 and will be a highlight of the parish's Flowers for the Titanic flower festival.

The photos of the doomed vessel - both onboard and alongside - were taken by Jesuit seminarian Francis Browne, who had been bought a ticket for the maiden voyage from Southampton to Cork by his uncle.

A millionare couple on the Titanic offered to pay for his voyage to New York, but his Superior told him to come back from Cork - a decision which probably saved his life. Fr Browne's photos were the last visual record of the ship before it set sail across the Atlantic. After the ship sank, he sold several of the images to newspapers, but then they were forgotton. In 1986, some time after Fr Brown's death, a box with the negatives was discovered. A selection of these images have been loaned to St Francis Xavier's as part of its centenary flower festival.

Flowers for the Titanic will open on Friday, 20 April with a concert by the West Everton 'Mini-Strings' Octet, which is a partnership between Faith School and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Over the weekend, there will be two talks (both at 2.30pm): on the Saturday (21 April), the Archivist from Stonyhurst College, David Knight, will ask Why did the Titanic sink? - then on Sunday afternoon, Marshall Morris from the British and Irish Titanic Societies will give a history of the Titanic's short life.

For more details see:  www.sfxchurchliverpool.com/latestnews.php
For more information on Fr Browne, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Browne