John Wesley Woodward (11 September 1879 – 15 April 1912) was an English musician. Born in West Bromwich on 11 September 1879, he was the youngest of ten children born to parents Joseph and Martha Woodward. Known to all as Wesley, he became a professional musician, playing in Oxford, and

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

. In Eastbourne, he played the

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

both at the Grand Hotel and in the local orchestra. While in Eastbourne he joined the White Star Line musicians, playing on transatlantic ships. On 10 April 1912, he boarded the at

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

for her maiden Transatlantic voyage. Five days later, on 15 April 1912, the ship hit an iceberg and he and the other musicians famously continued to play as the Titanic sank. Their final tune was, according to some survivor accounts, "

Nearer, My God, To Thee "Nearer, My God, to Thee" is a 19th-century Christian hymn by Sarah Flower Adams, which retells the story of Jacob's dream. Genesis 28:11–12 can be translated as follows: "So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because t ...

". All members of the band, including his friend Jock Hume, drowned, and the body of Wesley Woodward was never recovered. A memorial plaque was erected to Woodward on the promenade in Eastbourne depicting the Titanic as it sank.PBS America: Titanic and Me

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodward, John Wesley 1879 births 1912 deaths People from West Bromwich English cellists Deaths on the RMS Titanic 20th-century English male musicians 20th-century cellists 19th-century English people

See also

References