Mr Philip Charles Fell was born in Liverpool, England, on 23 July 1891. One of ten children, he was the son of an Irish-born father, Philip Fell, a cooper, and the former Janet Aitken of Liverpool.

Philip’s father died in 1910, and by 1911 the family lived at 49 Canterbury Street, Liverpool, although Philip was not listed and presumably at sea at the time; before 1912, he had been a waiter on the Cunarders Franconia and Carmania.

In April 1912, Fell was a waiter aboard the Carpathia when that ship rescued the survivors of the Titanic disaster. Many years later, he recalled that three of his charges were deeply concerned as all had acquaintances aboard Titanic, including “Mrs Vane (?), Mrs Cornhill (Cornell) and Mrs Astor.” Fell was able to ascertain that all three women were safe and arrange three joyous reunions. 

Fell remained at sea long enough to serve aboard a troopship during WWI but left shortly after to work ashore as a waiter for close to forty years, based mainly in Liverpool’s Adelphi Hotel and the Central Station Restaurant. In later years, he worked as a night porter before retiring in 1958.

In 1915 Fell married Elizabeth Florence Louise Grant (b. 1892), and they raised a family, making their home in Chester. Widowed in 1957, Fell remained a resident of Chester until his death in May 1967.