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Reginald Lee
Reginald Lee
Biological Information
Full name

Reginald Robinson Lee

Gender

Male

Born

May 19, 1870

Death

August 6, 1913 (age 43)

Cause

Pneumonia

Background Information
Family

William Lee (father) Jane Sarah Née Jackson (mother)

Romances

Emily Selina Hannah Hill (wife)

Hometown

Benson, England

Religion

Christian

Titanic Statistics
Boarded

Belfast, Ireland

Destination

New York, U.S.A.

Occupation

Lookout

Class

Titanic Crew

Fate

Survived on Lifeboat 13

Production
Classification

Historical Character

Portrayal

Martin East

Reginald Robinson Lee (May 19, 1870 – August 6, 1913) was a lookout stationed in the crow's nest of the RMS Titanic when the ship collided with an iceberg at 11:40 P.M. on April 14, 1912. He was 43 when he died.

Biography[]

Early Life

He was born in Benson, Oxfordshire, England on 19 May 1870, later being baptized at the church of St. Helen, Benson on 19 May that the same year. He was the eldest son of William Lee and Jane Sarah Née Jackson, both school teachers and natives of London and Leicestershire respectively who had married in 1869.

The family later settled in Hampshire around 1875, initially in Whitchurch before moving soon after to Southsea where they were shown on the 1881 census living at the School House of St Jude's School. His father passed away on 23 October 1887 and the remaining family appear on the 1891 census living at 43 Worthing Road, Portsea. Reginald is described as a clerk in the Royal Navy and his mother is still working as a school mistress.


RMS Titanic

Lee joined the Titanic's crew on April 6, 1912, having been transferred from its sister ship, RMS Olympic. On April 14, Lee joined lookout Frederick Fleet in the crow's nest beginning at 10:00 P.M. The binoculars the two were supposed to use were not on board, forcing the lookouts to use their own eyesight. They failed to see the iceberg in time and, despite telling the bridge to order a hard turn to starboard, the ship collided and began to sink.

Once the life boats were being filled, Lee was ordered to man lifeboat No. 13, which was launched from the starboard side of Titanic at 1:30 a.m. As a result, Lee survived the sinking, as did Fleet. Lee testified before the Board of Trade Inquiry into the disaster, but died shortly thereafter from complications from pneumonia, in Kenilworth, on August 6, 1913. He died at the age of 43.

Behind the scenes[]

He was portrayed by Martin East in James Cameron's 1997 film, Titanic, and credited as Lookout Lee.

External links[]

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