• Tapes & CD's •
•
Bound for the Promised Land •
May 1998 (Tape)
**Now
Available on CD**
The
track listing is as follows :
"Bound
for the Promised Land"
(Harrison, Harrison, Rundle, Griffin, Spittal)
"Here
Come the Navvies"
(Traditional arr. S.o.S.).
Engineered,
Produced and Mixed by Mike Gerrish.
In
the spring of 1912 The Goodwin Family, from Melksham, had decided
to emigrate to Niagra Falls, Canada to give their children a
better start in life. The
England of 1912 must have appeared to be crumbling. There were
strikes and riots throughout the country with the army shooting
striking miners in Llanelli and Liverpool.
The
family were originally due to sail in the Easter week but due
to the disruption caused by a coal strike they postponed their
trip. They made new arrangements to sail on the "SS New York".
It appears that the miners strike contributed again to their
fate as, due to the coal shortage, they were transferred to
the "Titanic" along with all the available coal.
Ironically, as the "Titanic" was leaving Southampton it nearly
collided with the "New York" when the smaller ship's moorings
broke and it swung into the path of the passenger liner.
It missed by just four feet!
At
11.40pm on Sunday 14th April 1912 the "Titanic" struck an ice-berg
and sank just over two and a half hours later. No-one knows
what became of the Goodwin family. Only that no trace of them
has been found so it is assumed that they went down with the
ship..
They
were a popular family in Melksham and there is a plaque in St.
Michael's church in their memory.
On
Thursday February 13th 1998 an article appeared in the "Wiltshire
Times" about the Goodwin Family and the research that local
historian Janet Hollerhead had done into their story. Thinking
that the story would make a good subject for a song, Colin contacted
Janet who gave him more information on the Goodwins and a copy
of the front page of the "Daily Mirror" for Friday April 26th
1912 which had the family's photograph on the front page.
"The
song is based around the standard saying of all children who
are on a trip, "When will we be there?". They also were emigrating
to one "Promised Land" but, we hope, ended their journey in
another."
Colin
also used the internet to continue the research into the family
and came across an interesting anomaly. There are many passenger
lists published on the internet and in some the father, Frederick
Goodwin, is not listed but a Frederick Godwin is shown as a
survivor. This is also the case on the third class passenger
list published in the book "A Night to Remember" by Walter Lord.
The
research is continuing, even after the song has been finished,
and if anybody has any information perhaps they'd let the band
know. The band has presented Janet with the first copy of the
special edition and both have agreed to let the other know of
any new information.
The
sale price is £3.50 and is available at the gigs or for £4.50
mail order
Please
email promised@chdesign.co.uk
for details
Click
here for the Lyrics to "Bound for the Promised Land"
