Testaments of Youth

Of the other Dill brothers, Marcus Graham Dill, who met John Rowe Dill just before his death, survived the conflagration, and pursued his medical career in Edinburgh. He died in 1966. He was married to Elizabeth Barnwell. They had no children.

Alfred Vincent Dill graduated from Edinburgh University and also became a doctor, yet another family member following in the footsteps of Seneca and John Hadzor so many years before.

It is not clear which of the Dill sisters it would have been who worked on the hospital ship,  as a V.A.D (Voluntary Aid Detachment) nurse, bringing the wounded back from France. 

But, of these sisters (Agnes, Louisa, and Hessy Foster), Agnes Rose Dill (1887-1927) eventually married Edward Wickham Jones and moved to South Norwood. They had a daughter, Shirley Wickham Jones, who was born in 1924. 

With the Dill sisters as well as brothers involved in the war, the story starts to look quite similar to the memories so vividly and movingly recounted by another V.A.D nurse, Vera Brittain in Testament of Youth, and detailing her journey from unquestioning patriotism to pacifism. We do not know from what shifting perspectives Samuel Marcus Dill and Agnes Rowe viewed the Great War as it proceeded, but Brittain's work gives valuable clues as to how those perspectives changed both at the Front and at home, as the war just ran on and on, and the casualty figures mounted to a level never seen before in the history of human conflict. 

The Dill Family Go to War

The last dinner menu for first-class passengers on the Titanic, including Arthur Rowe,comprised oysters, filet mignon, poached salmon, chicken Lyonnaise, foie gras, roasted pigeon, lamb with mint sauce and Punch Romaine, a palate-cleansing ice flavored with oranges and drenched in champagne.

For Agnes Rowe, the years following the loss of her twin brother on the Titanic were not to get any easier. Whilst her husband, the Reverend Samuel Marcus Dill attended to matters spiritual as Moderator of the Church of Scotland, at least two of her sons embarked on military careers, which took them in the first instance to India, there to experience first hand the glories of the British Raj. 

Once war broke out in Europe however, it was not long before the overstretched British army felt the need to call on the forces from distant parts of the empire to reinforce their frontlines in France and elsewhere. And so they did, to be joined in due course by more of the Dill children. 

In uncovering the story of the Dill sons, military records have been of some help, but the main source is from a discussion forum about the Duke of Connaught's Baluchis where the activities and fate of the Dill brothers has been pieced together by a number of contributors, using newspaper archives of the time. Further information is also available on the OurHeroes website. 

The Children of Samuel Marcus Dill and Agnes Rowe

Index of wills.
Samuel Marcus Dill was the executor
of the wills of both his mother,
(the grand-daughter of Susanna West) and father.

Samuel Marcus Dill, the second child of Robert Foster Dill and Catherine Haughton Rentoul was educated in Geneva and Belfast, and graduated finally as a Doctor of Divinity from Belfast Theological College. 

He was the Minister at Alloway, Ayrshire, and by 1912, the very year the Titanic sank, had become Moderator of the Church of Scotland. 

He married Agnes Rowe in 1878 in Toxteth, Liverpool, and their nine children were as follows:

i) Agnes Edith Dill (1879-1881). Born and died in Balleymena, County Antrim, Ireland.

ii) Kathleen Norah Dill (1880-1965). Born in Ballymena, County Antrim and died in Peebles, Scotland.

iii) Marcus Graham Dill (1882-1966). Born in Alloway, Ayrshire, died in Edinburgh.

iv) Robert Foster Dill (1883-1915). Born in Alloway, Ayrshire, died in France. 

v) Agnes Rosa Dill (1887-1927). Born in Alloway, Ayrshire, died in Upper Norwood, Surrey.

vi) John Rowe Dill (1889-1915). Born in Alloway, Ayrshire, and died in France.

vii) Louisa L M Dill (1892-1973). Born in Alloway, Ayrshire.

viii) Hessy Foster Dill (1892-1975). Born in Alloway, Ayrshire, and died in Croydon, Surrey. She married William Jackson.

ix) Alfred Vincent Dill (1894-????). Born in Alloway, Ayrshire, and was living in Lanark, Lanarkshire in 1976.

These children were all fourth cousins of Hetty Jane Owen.

Samuel Marcus Dill and Agnes Rowe

The loss of Alfred Rowe on the Titanic must have stayed with his twin sister, Agnes Graham Rowe (died 1934) for the rest of her days, and indeed with her nine children, all of whom were old enough at the time to appreciate the magnitude of the disaster. 

It is a fair assumption that the family will have sought comfort in religion, not least since Agnes was married to the Reverend Samuel Marcus Dill (1843-1924) of Belfast, great-grandson of Susanna West,  third cousin once removed of Hetty Jane Owen, and the second child of Robert Foster Dill and Catherine Haughton Rentoul.

Samuel Marcus Dill and Agnes Rowe had by 1891 transplanted themselves away from Ireland to Alloway, Ayrshire, Scotland, there to proceed with ministering to the spiritual needs of the Scottish Presbyterian community. 

It will have been there that the news will have reached them about the calamity that had just taken place in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Titanic Centre, July 2016

There’s no denying it. The Belfast Titanic Centre is a highly impressive achievement that brings to life the tragic but legendary fate of what was supposed to have been the world’s greatest ocean liner. It is a multimedia experience that pays tribute to the victims whilst plotting an atmospheric course through the complex cause and effect sequence that led to the final disaster. And if the gift shop with its array of Titanic souvenirs leaves a somewhat bitter taste in the mouth – as if the Centre is somehow profiting from the immense loss of life that occurred, well, this must be forgiven in the face of the commercial realities of sustaining the project.

The Titanic set off on its maiden voyage from Southampton on April 10th 2012. Travelling first class was one Alfred G. Rowe. Born in Lima, Peru in 1853, Alfred was part of a widely-travelled family of British merchants and landowners. His mother was from Glasgow, whilst his father was born to British parents in Jamaica. 

In 1856, the family returned to England and settled in the Liverpool area. Alfred though continued his adventures, and bought up a ranch in Texas. He was thus a seasoned Atlantic traveller, attending to business and family both in the USA and England. For five days, he will have enjoyed all the considerable luxury and entertainment that the Titanic had to offer, until on April 15th, 1912, the great ship, the pride of the Belfast shipyards, collided with an iceberg and sank. Over 1500 passengers met their deaths in the icy waters of the Atlantic that day, amongst them Alfred Rowe.  

The Children of Catherine Haughton Rentoul and Robert Foster Dill

The children of Catherine Haughton Rentoul and Robert Foster Dill were: 

i. Susanna West Dill (1841-1931) married John McCrea
ii. Rev. Samuel Marcus Dill (1843-1924) married Agnes Graham Rowe (1855-1934)
iii. Mary Dill (1845-1931) married Richard Dawson Bates.
iv. Francis Nesbit Dill (1848-1901)
v. Hessy Foster Dill (1850-1931) married William Archer Kennedy
vi. James Chiseldon Gooch Dill (1856-1911)
vii. Robert Foster Dill (1858-1869)
viii. Catherine Haughton Dill (1861-1948)
ix. Jane Gordon Dill (1863-1947)

They are all third cousins once removed of Hetty Jane Owen. 

Presbyterian Meeting House in Fisherwick Place, Belfast, where Catherine Haughton Rentoul died. The family no doubt attended the church. Illustration copied from: An Extract of Reflection.