Titanic newsboy identified as Edward Parfett, later a war
The unnamed boy in a famous Titanic disaster photo has been identified as Edward 'Ned' Parfett, a newsboy who later died in World War I.
The most famous photograph of the Titanic disaster's aftermath shows a boy selling newspapers outside the White Star Line's offices in London on April 16, 1912. For most of the 20th century, the subject was known only as "the newsboy," but researchers and family members have identified him as Edward John Parfett.
Parfett, known to friends as Ned, was around 15 or 16 years old when the picture was taken. He came from an Irish Catholic family and lived on Cornwall Road in Waterloo. After an injury ended his work in construction, he turned to selling newspapers. The photograph, showing him holding a placard reading "Titanic Disaster, Great Loss of Life," became an iconic representation of the public's shock.
The life of Edward Parfett
Edward Parfett enlisted in the Royal Artillery in 1916 during the First World War. He served first as a dispatch rider before moving to reconnaissance duties at the front. His service was marked by bravery. Parfett was mentioned in dispatches and awarded the Military Medal for gallantry. An officer wrote that he had placed "the greatest confidence in him" during operations under severe shelling.
Of the four Parfett brothers who served, three returned home. Ned did not. He was killed on October 29, 1918, near Valenciennes, France, when a shell struck the quartermaster's stores where he was collecting fresh clothes ahead of leave. His death came less than two weeks before the Armistice. Parfett is buried at the British war cemetery in Verchain-Maugré.
The anonymous photographer
While the subject of the photograph is now known, the photographer who captured the moment remains unidentified. The image was taken outside Oceanic House on Cockspur Street, a building that now houses a Tex-Mex restaurant. The source report states, "We still have no idea who they were."
The picture's power lies in its raw conveyance of grief, outlasting the anonymity of both its subject and its creator. It took until the late 1990s for researchers and Parfett's descendants, including his great-nephew Dominic Walsh, to conclusively link the face in the photograph to the soldier's story. The image endures as a poignant link between two early 20th-century tragedies.
