Thomas Myles was 63 years old when he embarked on the Titanic at Queenstown on April 11, 1912.

Thomas was Irish-born and an adventurer from the start. He reportedly began working for the White Star Line after his exit from St. Colman’s College in Cork.

His employment took him afar to India via a freighter--conveniently skippered by a cousin--where he experienced both Bombay and Calcutta. Sometime later, Thomas also sailed up the length of the Mississippi River.

Eventually, Thomas arrived in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, supposedly with nothing but a single pound to his name. He settled there, marrying a few years later to a woman named Mary, the American daughter of Irish parents.

Thomas became a naturalized American citizen in 1878.

Ever since, Thomas been a resident of Massachusetts, and a rather prosperous one at that.

Via the gradual acquisition of land and at least ten properties, Thomas had built his fortune. By 1890, he had constructed a proud and splendid mansion called “Idlewild” in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and he was reported to have been planning to build another.

According to the Hudson Observer, the Myles family became "regarded as one of the most influential and respected in Cambridge."

Time passed. And then, in late 1911, Thomas was summoned back to Ireland by a death in the family.

So Thomas returned to his home country, to sell off a portion of the family estate. He is reported to have been accompanied by his daughter Gertrude.

Thomas also went home to oversee the custody and safekeeping of his younger brother James, who was now Thomas's last surviving relative in Ireland. James, noted as a tailor by trade, was reported to have struggled with learning disabilities, and was unable to write or read.

In packing for the journey home, Thomas made sure to stock up on comforts from his homeland: 50 lbs of Irish creamery butter, to be specific, as well as ten lbs of tea.

Thomas was initially America-bound on another White Star liner, but the coal strike had interfered.

He therefore transferred his passage to the Carpathia. Unfortunately, it was at capacity and could not accommodate additional passengers.

And so, Thomas booked Second-class passage on Titanic.

There is only a glimpse of Thomas’s movements while on board, courtesy of fellow Second-class passenger Lawrence Beesley.

Lawrence wrote in great detail about his time spent in the library as he observed fellow passengers--and Thomas made a positive impression.

Thomas is not referred to by name in this account, but Lawrence later identified him via a photograph. Moreover, evidence suggests that Thomas Myles was the sole Second-class passenger with a Cambridge address, leaving little room for doubt as to the unnamed gentleman's identity.

Thomas Francis Myles died when Titanic sank.

His body, if ever recovered, was not identified.

In the immediate aftermath of the sinking, Thomas's family was vocal in their hopes that he had survived. But they were swiftly proven wrong.

In Jersey City, New Jersey, Thomas's son, Frederick, suffered a violent and public mental breakdown in the days following the disaster. Contemporary reporting describe him as "crazed with grief from brooding over the untimely death of his father" leading him to "a tear along Grove Street" resulting in arrest.

Frederick was thereafter found by police to be exhibiting symptoms of "delirium tremens," or alcohol withdrawal, and was detained. His brother, Leo, came down from Cambridge to collect him.

Three weeks after the disaster, an unnamed survivor reportedly visited the bereft Myles family to inform them that they had witnessed Thomas sit in--and then abruptly exit--a lifeboat, insisting on 'women and children first.'

He was also supposedly seen on deck, leading a group of passengers in a recitation of the Rosary. This particular report has led some to believe that the witness was mistaken, and had actually witnessed Fr. Thomas Byles in his heroic final moments.

Another survivor also elected to visit the Myles, this time with a more concrete account: Lawrence Beesley, who had previously noted Thomas Myles during their shared time in the Second-class library.