An appropriate picture in this centenary year of the sinking of RMS Titanic on 15th April 1912: this stone in Craigton Cemetery commemorates the Rev. John Harper, who went down with the ship.
Originally an open air preacher, John Harper became pastor of the Paisley Road Baptist Church in 1897. The congregation met at the Gordon Halls, Paisley Road, Tradeston but in 1901 moved to Craigiehall St. in Plantation, where they erected the so-called “Tin Kirk”. The church still exists, although the Tin Kirk was replaced in 1921 by a more substantial red sandstone building. It is now called the Harper Memorial Baptist Church.
John Harper's wife Annie died in 1906 after only two years of marriage, leaving him with a baby girl called Annie Jessie “Nana” Harper. After a short stint as a pastor in London in 1910 and a preaching visit to the Moody Church, Chicago, in 1911 he returned to Scotland briefly, before accepting an invitation from the Moody Church for a further three month visit. He sailed on the Titanic from Southampton on 12th April 1912 together with his daughter and her aunt, Jessie Leitch. After the collision with the iceberg and when it became clear that the ship was sinking, the Rev. Harper first of all ensured that his daughter and her aunt were put aboard a lifeboat and then, until the final demise of the ship, provided whatever moral and physical assistance he could. It is believed that he even gave his lifejacket away to someone else. Nana Harper and her aunt were rescued and lived until 1986 and 1963 respectively.
Also in Craigton Cemetery and another clergyman who died in tragic circumstances: William Sprott, the minister of Queen's Park United Presbyterian Church who died at Bedford age 47 on 13th March 1875 after being injured in a railway collision the day before.
The accident happened at Bedford St. Johns railway station on 12th March 1875 when a Midland passenger train collided with the rear coaches of a Bedford service. The Rev. Sprott appears to have been the only fatality, although four other people were injured. The subsequent enquiry identified a badly positioned Bedford starter signal as a major cause of the accident. The inscription on this rather massive monument reads:
“Erected by the congregation of Queen's Park United Presbyterian Church in affectionate remembrance of the Reverend William Sprott, their first minister, who died at Bedford 13th March 1875 from the effects of injuries received in a railway collision on the preceding day. Aged 47 years”.
Also commemorated is his widow Agnes Cook Kinloch, who died on 8th July 1884.
