• Sunday-What'sUP April 15 - 08:11 pm

Banfield is a familiar name in the Copper Country. Isle Royale Mine was a booming business 100 years ago. Fred Banfield was a 28 year old miner from Cornwall, on his way to that mine exactly 100 years ago today. But on this morning in 1912, Fred's journey ended unexpectedly - along with more than 1500 others - when the unsinkable Titanic went down. See the account at Encyclopedia Titanica, with a more recent update from the Traverse City Record-Eagle.

Our thanks to Carol Schwab for the first photos, from the Titanic commemoration service last week in Houghton. (Here's a slideshow from the event), and to Kevin Musser's CopperRange.org.

A lot of folks have found Pasty Central recently, with the attention "Pastygate" has attracted in Great Britain (and subsequent searches that lead to "pasty.com"). If you are new to these pages, we welcome you and encourage you to explore the history, beauty, and culture of Michigan's Upper Peninsula in the Pasty Cam Archives that have grown over the past 14+ years. Each Sunday we have a Shoebox Memory, and each weekday another "glimpse of life in the U.P.". This region has a unique connection with the UK, with Camborne, Cornwall being the Twin Town of Calumet, where Pasty Central originates.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a good week :o)

Good Morning. Speaking of the Titanic, here's an article in today's Record-Eagle.
http://record-eagle.com/local/x333969217/Titanic-Ties

And an honorable mention, Jack Chick published a tract with the Titanic as the backdrop.
http://chick.com/reading/tracts/0048/0048_01.asp

Fred Jr. certainly inherited his dad's eyes. The Titanic's loss, a very sad time in history. Can't you just imagine the terror felt in the hearts and minds of those left on board, with no hope.

Thank you for highlighting my great-great uncle, Frederick J. Banfield this week. In the short time that I knew his son, Fred Jr (1997-2002, when he passed), I was able to form a close relationship with him. He was not only a British Naval man, but a Titanic historian, who spent many years touring and sharing what he knew about the Titanic. The presentation at the Portage Lake District Library and this memorial to his father would have made him very proud and very happy. Again, thank you.

Leah, you must be my cousin, Barb's daughter. I don't think we've ever even met. Anyway, I'm sad for your family for the loss of you great-great uncle, as well as every other family's loss on that tragic day. Too sad!

Deb, I am Barb's oldest daughter, so I guess that makes us cousins also. Obviously, I would never have known Uncle Fred, but I do wonder how things would have been different had he lived. His wife, Cecilia would have moved to the Copper Country after the birth of Fred Jr (Nov 15, 1912). Surely, my grandfather and his brother Tom would have grown up knowing Fred Sr and playing with their cousin Fred Jr. As it was, the 3 cousins met when they were in their 80s and kept in contact until they all passed. Through cousin Fred, we got to "know" his father and our "Granny (mother of Fred Sr & John)." Thanks for the post and perhaps we will meet someday in the UP!

Thanks for sharing, Leah. Maybe some day we'll both be there at the same time and we can meet. I hardly get to see Barb, either, but I adored her mom and your grandmother.

Touching photos... We had a lady in our church (First Covenant Iron Mountain)who "missed" the Titanic. My dad told me she was early and took the sister ship.