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RALPH B. WHITE
MEMORIAL
2008
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FEED BACK
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(Thunder
Bay, Ontario, Canada, May 3, 2002)
The 90th
commemoration of the loss of the Titanic has just passed. The vessel sank
on its maiden voyage with the demise of 1,497 passengers and crew, only 712
survived. Four Canadian vessels recovered 328 bodies. One hundred and nineteen
of the victims were buried at sea, 59 were returned to families and 150 remain
buried in the three cemeteries in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Of these about
43 remain as unidentified including the grave of “An unknown Child.” This
infant male child was estimated to be two years old at the time of the disaster
and was buried by the men of the cable ship Mackay-Bennett
in a
special ceremony on May 4, 1912. The coroner’s records of the day now housed
at the Public Archives of Nova Scotia suggested that the Body No. 4 might be of
Gösta Leonard Pålsson from
Sweden who was just over two years old on April 15, 1912, when the Titanic
sank.
Through
May 17th and 18th of 2001, unidentified Titanic burials
Nos. 4, 240 and 281, located in Fairview Lawn Cemetery (Halifax, Nova Scotia),
were excavated by a team from Lakehead University (Thunder Bay, Ontario) and
Laurentian University (Sudbury, Ontario), and Geomarine Associates Ltd.
(Halifax, Nova Scotia). This work was undertaken at the request of three
families in hopes that DNA analysis could identify the remains of these
individuals as family members who were in the RMS Titanic disaster of
1912.
Owing
to the nature of the soil, and the drainage characteristics of the cemetery, the
remains of burials 240 & 281 had completely decomposed, including all hard
tissues such as bone and teeth, rendering DNA analysis impossible. Fortunately a
small fragment (6cm) of poorly preserved bone was recovered, as well as three
teeth, from burial No. 4, the “unknown child.” These four artifacts were the
only human remains present in the burial.
Identification
focuses on non-nuclear DNA known as mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which we all
inherit exclusively from our mother. Within this molecule is written and
archived a biochemical “name,” written in the simple four letter code (G, A,
T, C) of the generic alphabet. This name is stable and persists in maternal
family lines for many generations.
In
order to attempt an identification of the “unknown child” as Gösta Leonard
Pålsson, whom the “unknown child” is most often associated with, a maternal
cousin was located for comparison to the biochemical name of burial No. 4.
Mitochondrial DNA analysis was performed at Lakehead University’s Paleo-DNA
lab and at the Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases,
at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel. In addition, analysis of the
teeth by two separate dental experts, confirms that the remains are those of a
child less than one-year-old, likely around six months.
Thus the “unknown child” can not be the Swedish
child, Gösta Leonard Pålsson, can not be the Irish child, Eugene Francis Rice,
and can not be the English child, Sidney Leslie Goodwin, all of whom were close
to two years of age and third-class passengers. With the age of the “unknown
child” now known to be less than one year, the search has now focused on a five-month-old Swedish child and a seven-month-old English child with a thirteen-month-old Finnish child. All three were also children of third-class passengers.
Lakehead University's Paleo-DNA Laboratory is one of the few facilities in the world capable of extracting and amplifying degraded DNA from old samples. The Titanic remains were in such poor condition, it is unlikely that any other Laboratory in the world could have had success in obtaining the DNA. Projects like this one highlight the Paleo-DNA Laboratories expertise in DNA analysis that is also used in performing forensic services. For more information about the multiplicity of research projects and forensic services being conducted at the Paleo-DNA Laboratory see
www.ancientdna.com
Dynamic and modern, Lakehead University has a worldwide reputation for innovative programs.
More than 30,000 alumni working around the globe are a testament to these programs offered at diploma, undergraduate and graduate levels. Lakehead has a wide range of excellent facilities,
Fosters a small-school collegial spirit and gives students easy access to faculty and services. In 2001, Lakehead University was ranked by Maclean's magazine as the number one university in Canada for Value-Added, a performance indicator that measures which university goes the distance with their students. For more information about Lakehead University see
www.lakeheadu.ca
The Titanic paleo-DNA project and the families and experts involved in it are the subject of an hour-long documentary to air on PBS in the fall of 2002 as an installment of their highly acclaimed strand, "Secrets of the Dead". "Titanic's Ghosts" is an Engel Brothers Media production for Thirteen/WNET New York, in association with Channel Four in the UK. For more information on Engel Brothers Media, or on the "Titanic Ghosts", call
Meredith Fisher at 212-413-9200 or go to Engel Brothers Web site:
www.ebmedia.com
For further information or to schedule an interview with the researchers, contact:
Alan Ruffman, Geomarine Associates Ltd. 902-422-6482
Frances Harding, Office of Communications, Lakehead University, 807-343-8193 or
807-626-6499
