The Unknown Child facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
The Unknown Child
|
|
|---|---|
Sidney Goodwin, around 1911
|
|
| Born |
Sidney Leslie Goodwin
9 September 1910 |
| Died | 15 April 1912 (1 year, 225 days) Atlantic Ocean
|
| Resting place | Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Known for | Being the youngest recovered victim of the Titanic |
The Unknown Child was the name given to the body of Sidney Leslie Goodwin. He was a 19-month-old British toddler. His body was found by the ship Mackay-Bennett after the RMS Titanic sank. For many years, Sidney's gravestone in Fairview Cemetery said "Erected to the memory of an unknown child". This was because no one knew who he was.
In 2002, DNA tests first suggested the child was Eino Viljami Panula. He was another third-class passenger. However, more tests in 2007 proved the child was Sidney Leslie Goodwin. Sidney became a symbol for all the children lost when the Titanic sank.
Contents
Finding the Unknown Child
On April 21, 1912, a recovery ship called the CS Mackay-Bennett found the body of a fair-haired toddler. This was the fourth body pulled from the ocean.
A Special Burial
The sailors on the Mackay-Bennett were very sad to find the boy's body. They decided to pay for his funeral themselves. They bought a small white coffin and a proper headstone. They used reward money they received for finding the body of John Jacob Astor IV. On May 4, 1912, the boy was buried. The sailors placed a copper pendant in his coffin that said "Our Babe".
Who Was the Unknown Child?
Before 2002, Sidney was known only as "The Unknown Child". People thought he was about two years old. They believed he might be Gösta Pålsson, a Swedish boy, or Eugene Rice, an Irish boy. Both were fair-haired toddlers who died on the Titanic.
Early Guesses and DNA Tests
In 2002, a TV show called Secrets of the Dead tried to identify the child. They used DNA from three teeth and a small bone. The show incorrectly said the body was Eino Viljami Panula. He was a 13-month-old Finnish baby. The DNA was traced to a Finnish woman related to Eino's family.
The Real Identity: Sidney Goodwin
In 2007, Canadian scientists at Lakehead University did more DNA tests. They tested a special type of DNA called HVS1. This DNA did not match the Panula family. Scientists then used DNA from the child's remains. They also got DNA from a living relative of Sidney. This helped them confirm the body was Sidney Leslie Goodwin. The news was announced on July 30, 2007.
Sidney is buried in Fairview Cemetery, Halifax, Nova Scotia. A new marker was added to his grave. It now shows his name, birth and death dates, and his body number.
Sidney Goodwin's Story
Sidney Leslie Goodwin was born on September 9, 1910, in England. He died on April 15, 1912, when the RMS Titanic sank. In 2008, DNA tests confirmed his identity. Sidney was the only member of his family whose body was found and identified.
The Goodwin Family's Journey
Sidney was the youngest of six children. His parents were Frederick Joseph and Augusta Goodwin. His older siblings were Lillian, Charles, William, Jessie, and Harold.
Frederick's brother, Thomas, lived in Niagara Falls, New York. He told Frederick about a new power station opening there. Frederick, who worked in printing, decided to move his family to America. They planned to travel on a ship called the S.S. New York. But a coal strike delayed that ship. So, they were moved to the RMS Titanic instead. They boarded the Titanic in Southampton as third-class passengers.
Life on the Titanic
We don't know much about what the Goodwins did on the ship. The family might have been separated. Frederick and his older sons may have been in one part of the ship. Augusta, Sidney, and the girls may have been in another. Harold, one of Sidney's brothers, met and spent time with Frank Goldsmith, who survived the sinking.
The Goodwins learned about the iceberg collision too late. All the lifeboats had already left. The entire family died in the sinking. Sidney was the only one whose body was found and identified.
A pair of shoes, believed to be Sidney's, are now in a museum. They were given to Halifax's Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. They came from the family of a police officer who guarded Titanic victims' belongings.
Historian Walter Lord wrote about the Goodwin family in his book The Night Lives On. He used their story to show that many third-class passengers died for reasons other than not understanding English. In 2020, a TV show called "The Curious Death of a Titanic Child" was about Sidney's identification.
The Panula Family's Story
The child was mistakenly identified as Eino Viljami Panula for some years. Eino was a young Finnish boy. He also died when the RMS Titanic sank. From 2002 to 2007, people thought he was "The Unknown Child".
Eino was traveling with his mother, Maria Emilia Panula. He also had four older brothers: Ernesti Arvid, Jaakko Arnold, Juha Niilo, and Urho Abraham. The family was going to Coal Center, Pennsylvania, to join their father, Juha. All six family members died in the disaster. Eino Panula's body was never found.
See also
In Spanish: Sidney Leslie Goodwin para niños
