Thanks but no sanks! Grandfather said No to Titanic job and saved us all
A FAMILY spanning four generations say they would not be here but for a twist of fate involving their great-great-grandfather and the ill-fated ocean liner Titanic.
Fred Leach, a talented cellist, was invited to play on the ship’s maiden voyage by orchestra leader Wallace Hartley, who famously went down with the rest of the band when the Titanic sank in 1912.
But Fred, Wallace’s friend since childhood, turned down the job offer months before the ship set sail – a decision that saved his life.
Two years after the Titanic sank, Fred went had his first child, Olga Smart, who has just celebrated her 100th birthday with her two daughters, six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Fred joined the Navy in 1917 but continued to play, performing in bands until he was 82. He died in 1971, aged 85.
As he was recently married and was happy in his new job, he declined the offer
His granddaughter, Janice Rigby, 68, a retired civil servant, said: “I don’t believe any of us would be here today if my grandfather had taken that job.
“We are all very happy he turned the job down and we are all very respectful of Fred and his life. Now we have a really big family and we’re all really close – but we would never have existed if he’d chosen to go.
“We only heard about the story four years ago when it was coming up to the 100th anniversary of the Titanic.
“I couldn’t believe it when my mum told me.”
Fred, who had known Wallace since they were schoolboys in Colne, Lancs, moved to Edinburgh to play the cello.
He had met his wife-to-be, Lily, while they performed at the Colne Hippodrome, and proposed to her by letter. She accepted and they wed in 1911.
Olga, who lives in the Mayfair Residential Home in Morecambe, Lancs, said Fred was offered the job on the Titanic a few months later.
“My father received a letter from a friend telling him he had to put an orchestra together and would he like to join him as a cellist,” she said.
“My father wrote back and said that, as he was recently married and was happy in his new job, he declined the offer but thanked him.
“His friend was Wallace Hartley and the orchestra was on the Titanic. None of us would be here if my father had taken the job."
