May 1 (From York Press)

May 1

7:00am Tuesday 1st May 2012 in Way we were

100 years ago

A final revision of the list of the vessel, Mackay Bennett, showed that 306 bodies had been recovered following the Titanic disaster, 190 of which had been brought to Halifax, sixty-five remained unidentified.

Burial at sea had taken place of 56 identified and 60 unidentified bodies. According to an inventory made by the Government officials, the value of the personal effects, money, and jewellery found on the bodies amounted to 50,000 dollars.

Many of the bodies had little clothing when found.

They were evidently those of persons who before death had thrown off their clothes the better to swim, or who had met their deaths in the collision while in the act of disrobing for the night.

Several women were in night attire. One group of 30 bodies, including several women, was found alongside an upturned lifeboat. A woman's red skirt attached to the boat had apparently been used as a distress signal.

50 years ago

On his first day at public school at Gordonstoun the Prince of Wales, aged 13, was shown round by his father – Gordonstoun’s most famous “old boy.”

Father and son, exchanging frequent jokes, spent about half-an-hour touring the ancient mansion house which provided the main block of the school.

The Duke took Prince Charles on a swift tour which took them past the dungeon in which the 17th century owners kept prisoners.

From the main school building they went through the school grounds where they saw the single-storey wooden hut in which Prince Charles would share a dormitory with about a dozen other boys, and from which each morning at 7am he would set out on a brisk run round the school gardens, followed by a wash and cold shower.

Lunch - a small private affair - was served in the Headmaster's flat, in the oldest part of the ancient mansion house.

25 years ago

More than one household in four in York was occupied by a single person.

Of those 9817, around 5000 would be women.

To many people, being single spelt loneliness, social isolation and failure, but there was a new book which argued instead that living alone could be the most fulfilling and rewarding experience. “Independence is a bonus. One of the most exciting things about being single is the number of choices life offers us,” said Deanna Maclaren, author of The Single File.

“We can spend our hard earned money anyway we choose. Without the hassles of marital pressures, we are free to devote as much time and energy as we wish to our careers. Our choice of friends, food and how we have fun is not influenced by the prejudices of partners.”