Passenger lists from the Titanic can be seen online for the first time from today to mark the 95th anniversary of the disaster this weekend.

Documents recording the details of all who sailed on the ill-fated maiden voyage were previously kept under tight security at the National Archives, and could be viewed only under supervision.

But amateur historians and descendants of the 1,500 passengers and crew who died when the ship sank on April 15, 1912, can now read the hand-written lists on the internet, at www.ancestorsonboard.com . The lists provide details about each passenger’s occupation, nationality, age, the class in which they travelled, departure port and intended destination. They give not only insights into the lives of the victims, but are revealing about those who had a narrow escape. Some Irish passengers who bought tickets did not actually embark, while one family left the ship in Cherbourg, France.

Images of the lists have never before been printed. Original documents running to 34 pages can be viewed free for a limited period, to mark the anniversary. The documents had been stored at the National Archives headquarters in Kew, West London.

The lists are in two sections, of the passengers who boarded at Southampton and those at Queenstown (now Cobh) in Co Cork. The record of passengers who boarded at Cherbourg has not survived.

One of those travelling in luxury was the 28-year-old Lucy Noel Martha Leslie, Countess of Rothes, who boarded at Southampton. The lists show that her parents disembarked at Cherbourg. The rest of her party were rescued. Records can also be seen for John Jacob Astor IV, a millionaire businessman, inventor and writer, and the richest man to die. His wife Madeleine and their unborn child survived.

The couple thought to have inspired the love story in the James Cameron film Titanic are listed as second-class passengers. Kate Phillips, a 19-year-old shop assistant, and Henry Morley, a shopkeeper, eloped under the assumed name of Mr and Mrs Marshall. Their baby, Ellen, was conceived on the journey.

Henry died but Kate survived.

Elizabeth Gladys Dean, known as Millvina, then aged 10 weeks, was the ship’s youngest passenger and, now aged 95, is the last surviving passenger.

The Titanic, built in Belfast, was a White Star Line ocean liner and the personal fortunes of its richest passengers amounted to $600 million in 1912.

Elaine Collins, commercial director at findmypast.com, which organised the release, said: “The passenger lists are a national treasure.”

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