Mr Joseph Bruce Ismay was born on 12 December 1862 at Crosby, near Liverpool. He was the eldest son of Thomas Henry Ismay and Margaret Bruce (daughter of Luke Bruce). Thomas Ismay was senior partner in the firm of Ismay, Imrie and company and founder of the White Star Line. The family lived at Dawpool, Cheshire. Bruce was educated at Elstree School and at Harrow. When he left Harrow he was tutored in France for a year before being apprenticed to Thomas Ismay’s office for four years. He then went on a one year tour of the world and upon his return was posted to New York where he worked at the White Star Line office for a further year. At the end of that period he was appointed the company agent in New York. He married Julia Florence Schieffelin in 1888 and in he and his family returned to England when he was made a partner in the firm. When Thomas Ismay died in 1899 Bruce became head of the thriving business. In 1901 his firm was approached by American interests towards forming an international conglomerate of shipping companies and the White Star Line became part of the International Mercantile Marine Company.
By 1907 The White Star Line needed a response to the popularity of their nearest competitors latest ships. Cunard had introduced the Lusitania in 1907 followed shortly afterward by the Mauretania. These ships had been built with the help of a governemt subsidy and had set new standards in luxury at sea as well as being faster and larger than any that had gone before. Ismay and Lord Pirrie, of the shipbuilders Harland and Wolff, decided that high speed, while desirable, was not the essential element in capturing the vital immigrant trade which was their main source of income at that time. They would concentrate on creating the largest ships to maximise steerage capacity while making them the most luxurious in first and second class accomodation in order to woo the wealthy and the prosperous middle class. Ismay accompanied his ships on their maiden voyages and the Titanic in 1912 was no exception. After the collision he was rescued in Collapsible C.
During his life Bruce Ismay would inaugurate the cadet ship Mersy for the training of officers for the merchant navy, gave £11,000 to found a fund to benefit widows of lost seamen and in 1919 gave £25,000 to establish a fund to recognise the contribution of merchantmen in the war. He divided his time between his homes in London and Ireland. He died on 17 October 1937 leaving an estate worth £693,305.