? Robert Douglas Spedden, was born on the 19th November 1905.
Six year old Robert was aboard the Titanic travelling with his family, back to their home in Tuxedo Park, New York.
? Also on board the ship for the first leg of the trip, from Southampton, to Cobh Ireland, was Priest Francis Browne.
By chance, Browne captured a photograph of Robert, playing with a spinning top on the deck of the Titanic.
? On the evening of the sinking, April 14th 1912, Robert was put to bed in his first class compartment.
During the sinking, he woke briefly, when his nurse Elisabeth Burns told him she was taking him “on a trip to see the stars”.
He is reported to have slept through the rest of the sinking, waking up in a lifeboat the next morning.
? Three years later in 1915, Robert was killed when he was hit by an automobile ~ he was just nine years old.
Robert’s mother, Daisy, wrote the book ‘Polar the Titanic Bear’ for him.
The book documents the family’s travels, and includes a section on the family’s survival of the Titanic’s sinking.
? Robert was included briefly in James Cameron’s movie, ‘Titanic’, played by actor Thomas Fiss, playing on deck, with his spinning top.
