Passengers who never got to live their new life...

The Donegal farmer’s son was doing well, working as a provisions dealer for the Bournemouth Liptons branch at 216 Old Christchurch Road. His bride had been living in Salisbury.

But there was even greater excitement to come, for Neal was soon to be asked to take up a position with the company in America. His letter of introduction to the general manager in New York was written by no less a person than Sir Thomas Lipton himself.

The young couple’s excitement must have been tangible as they eagerly handed over £16 2s for ticket number 376566 for third class passage on a ship called the Titanic.

Over in Boscombe, Corpus Christi church is still a vibrant place of Catholic worship, and Portman Road, where Neal McNamee lived, is still populated with Victorian and Edwardian semis.

As weddings go, it was a very small one, says Father Denis, of Corpus Christi, as he looks at the marriage certificate Neal and Eileen.

“There were only five people there altogether, including the couple,” he says.

“The witnesses were a lady called Matilda Theresa Wareham and the other witness was the parish priest, Father Charles De La Pasture, who was the original parish priest. The priest who did the service was a chap called Father John Clayton.”

Father Denis believes the couple were marrying with the intention of making a new life for themselves.

“Despite the size of the occasion I suspect it would have been very happy for this young couple,” he says.

“Seeing their names on this certificate, the whole thing hits home. You can see that it’s somebody’s son and daughter, their fathers’ names are on the certificate and it’s going to hit somebody’s home.

The bodies of the newlywed McNamees were never recovered. All that remains are a bench with a plaque and a tree which were placed in their memory in Winston Churchill Gardens, Salisbury.

“Because the bodies were never found it’s doubly sad because their families won’t have had a chance to grieve properly," Father Denis says.