This article was originally published in the Atlantic Daily Bulletin Journal of the British Titanic Society in 2016
Kenneth Cameron Hind was born on July 1, 1860(?) to Henry Youle and Catherine Baille Cameron Hind in St. Patrick Ontario, Canada. His father was an immigrant from England who was a noted university professor, geologist, and explorer. At the time of his birth, Henry was promoting the expansion of Canadians into northwest Canada where the land was fertile and there was much wildlife. Not much is known about Kenneth’s early childhood except that he was one of 7 children. He had an older brother named Duncan who later become the rector of St. John’s Church in Sandwich, Ontario. Like his father and older brother, Kenneth attended graduated from King’s College. He got his B.A. in 1883 and his M.A. in 1885. The records available about him are from 1891 when he was the rector of Newport near Windsor Province, Nova Scotia. He remained there until 1893 when he became the rector of the old parish of Horton. He remained there until 1899. He had a leadership position at St. Stephen’s Chapel of Ease in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1900 which probably lasted until the members from St. Stephen’s and St. Luke’s merged into All Saints’ Cathedral in Halifax in 1910.
At All Saints’ Cathedral, Kenneth served as a Canon of the church. The opening of All Saints’ Cathedral was a big event because it fell on the bicentennial of the first Anglican services in Canada since the capture of Annapolis. To celebrate, church officials from all around came and spoke. Canon Kenneth Hind helped serve the communion elements during the service. On April 17, 1912, Canon Hind joined the cable ship Mackay-Bennett on a grim mission. He was to provide spiritual guidance for the crew while they were caring for the bodies they recovered from the Titanic disaster and officiate at the burials at sea. It was chartered by the White Star Line after ships reported seeing bodies floating in the ocean. The captain was charged with remaining at sea at least a week and recovering as many bodies.
On the April 21st, they arrived at the location where ships had reported seeing bodies. Early in the morning, they lowered a boat and began to pick up the bodies. Among the first bodies found was a small infant with blonde hair and not wearing a lifebelt. The sight touched the hearts of the crew. A total of 51 bodies were recovered that day. At 8:15 that evening, the ship’s bell tolled and all the crew solemnly gathered at the forecastle deck. It was decided that 24 of the bodies which were unidentifiable, (most of whom were presumed to be crew), were to be buried at sea. The crew gathered around and removed their hats in front of the bodies wrapped in canvas bags with weights attached to them. Canon Hind later said that, “Standing on the bow of the ship, as she rocked to and fro, one gazed at the starry heavens and across the boundless deep, and to his mind the Psalmist’s words came with mighty force: ‘Whither shall I go then from thy Spirit, or whither shall I go then from Thy presence; if I ascend up to heaven Thou art there; if I made my bed in the grave Thou art there also; if I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost part of the sea, even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me.’” Then in the quietness of the moment, Canon Hind’s voice rang out and said, “I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord, he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.” When the time of the committal came, these words were used over each body: -“For as much as it has pleased Almighty God to take unto Himself the soul of our dear brother departed, we therefore commit his body to the deep to be turned to corruption; looking for the resurrection of the body (when the sea shall give up her dead) and the life of the world come, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who shall change our vile body, that it may be like unto His glorious body, according to the mighty working whereby He is able to subdue all things to Himself.” After that, he led them in a prayer and together they sang “Jesus Lover of My Soul.” Then the bodies were committed to the deep three at a time. Canon Hind would say, “For as must as it hath pleased - - ' we therefore commit his body to the deep” over each body before it would be slipped over the side of the ship into the abyss below.
The next day, they came upon a lot of wreckage including Collapsible B still overturned. They picked up 26 bodies including John Jacob Astor, but most of them were badly damaged. They ended up burying 15 bodies that night. Although they recovered 128 bodies on the 23rd of April, they didn’t bury any of them at sea. To help accommodate the large number of bodies which they weren’t anticipating, the Sardinia stopped and gave the Mackay-Bennett more canvas bags to store the bodies. Unfortunately, they were still lacking in embalming fluid since they only brought enough for 70 bodies. April 24th was so foggy, you couldn’t see from one end of the ship to the other. They couldn’t do any body recovery efforts. On that day, they buried 77 bodies from the day before. The crew started early on April 25th, lowering the boat at 6:15 A.M. By noon, word had come that the SS Minia was coming to relieve the Mackay-Bennett and carry on the search. They picked up 87 bodies that day and tagged them. At midnight that night, the Minia arrived at the scene within sight of the Mackay-Bennett. The Mackay-Bennett carried out one more attempt to find bodies with the Minia. They found 14 bodies that day and received more embalming fluid from the Minia. The captain expressed to Canon Hind that he felt they had covered ground fairly well. At noon, they turned around and headed to Halifax.
In all, 306 bodies were recovered and 116 were buried at sea. On April 30, the Mackay-Bennett arrived to the sound of tolling bells and the sight of crowds of people, anxious to see if their loved ones were among the Mackay-Bennett’s grim cargo. A tugboat came and intercepted the Mackay-Bennett carrying Chief of Police Rudland, Detectives Kennedy and Hanrahan, Dr. Finn, Mr. Jones and Mr. Mitchell. After the Mackay-Bennett docked, no one was allowed to board and one reporter noted that he saw Canon Hind and Captain Lardner talking with the men that came on the tugboat on the bridge. After the bodies were solemnly removed, Canon Hind departed. He was interviewed by a reporter in which he gave an account of the voyage and expressed frustration that a White Star Line representative was not present.
On May 4th, Canon Hind laid one last Titanic victim to rest. Captain Lardner and the crew of the Mackay-Bennett held a funeral service for the blonde haired child with no lifebelt they picked up on their first day. They placed him in a little white coffin and put a plaque over his chest which said, “OUR BABE.” Canon Hind led them in the funeral service at St. George’s Anglican Church before the child’s body was taken by a horse drawn hearse over to Fairview Cemetery and buried. After his part in the Titanic tragedy, Canon Hind appears to have gone back to regular life. He remained an Honorary Canon at All Saints’ Cathedral until at least 1920. Canon Kenneth Hind passed away on February 12, 1923 of Bronchial Pneumonia at the Victoria General Hospital. His obituaries talked about his life in the ministry, but didn’t mention his role in the recovery efforts following the Titanic disaster.