AN historian researching the Titanic is hoping to erect a plaque in a Worcester street in memory of a city sweet shop owner who lost his life on the doomed liner.

Sean Szmalc, president of the Falkirk Titanic Association, Scotland, intends to honour Henry Samuel Morley at the site of his old shop in Foregate Street.

The 40-year-old was running away to America with his shop assistant, Kate Phillips, 19, and had boarded under the assumed names "Mr and Mrs Marshall".

But Mr Morley died when disaster struck and the White Star ship struck an iceberg 650 miles off the coast of Newfoundland in April, 1912.

He bundled Miss Phillips into the last lifeboat minutes before the liner sank beneath the Atlantic.

Nine months later, Miss Phillips gave birth to Ellen Mary Walker, who claims she was conceived on the tragic journey.

Miss Phillips had discovered she was pregnant during an inquiry into the sinking in New York.

She returned to Worcester to raise her child.

Mr Szmalc's association is dedicated to commemorating the lives of everyone connected with the Titanic and he has met Mrs Walker on a previous occasion.

"Mr Morley's is a fascinating story," he said.

"He was having an affair with Kate Phillips and they ran off together to start a new life.

"He left his wife and child for a new life and had planned to elope to San Francisco."

Mr Szmalc, 27, said he has been interested in the Titanic since he was five years old.

"It has been my ambition to remember and commemorate the people who were on the Titanic and to remember their sons and daughters who were still living and keep the story going," he added.

"It would be brilliant if I could get support from Worcester City Council to erect a plaque dedicated to Mr Morley and the three other Worcester people who died on the Titanic."

Last year, Mrs Walker was made an honorary member of the Falkirk Titanic Society.