Sarah Stap

[ian Hough]

Just thought I'd drop you a line to say I have managed to locate Sara's Grave - sadly I wish I could have posted this earlier as it would have been a good opportunity to share it with you all in time for her anniversary (27 March)
Sara Stap

Incidently it's in the same cemetery as Cpt Lord's which can be seen at Editors cut along with the Ex-white Star building - which is up 'To Let'

I have also posted a page for Cpt Smith featuring
a: Views of his birth home in Etruria Stoke-On-Trent, England
b: His memorial statue in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England
c: A mural memorial in the Hanley shopping centre
Cpt Smith

And also Titanic memorials in the united Kingdom featuring
a: Liverpool Embankment -Merchant Navy Engineers and Titanic memorial
b: Two plaques on the Ex White Star Building in Liverpool

I hope you enjoy them
All the best
Houghie

 

[Andrew Maheux]

Nice find.

My best,

Andrew M.

 

[Justine Cousin]

We know so far that among the 19 stewardesses, 16 of them were serving the 1st class,2 the 2nd class, and 1 was a 3rd class matron.
Yet I was wondering if there was some hierarchy among all those women, that is to say if some of them were second or chief stewardess.
Thanks to whoever has a thought on that matter

 

[Lester Mitcham]

Justine,

If you look here: https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/discus/messages/5914/92804.html as suggested by Bob Godfrey, based on the wages paid it would seem there were probably 4 stewardesses in 2nd Class.

I recall seeing a suggestion that Miss Stap who seems to have had her own room on A-deck may have been the head stewardess. If you look here: https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/pog/crew_pog_victual_1st.php she was the 1st of the stewardesses to sign the Particulars of Engagement.

 

[Bob Godfrey]

Lester and Justine, I'm sure I have a 1912 news cutting somewhere in which Miss Stap is referred to as Head or Chief Stewardess, but I'm not sure of her status. In Titanic People Craig Stringer states that she "signed on the Titanic as Chief Stewardess" but there's nothing to indicate that in the paperwork, nor in her rate of pay - Chief Stewards were paid considerably more for the extra responsibility. Perhaps any such role among the stewardesses was an informal arrangement, designating a spokesperson rather than a position of authority.

 

[Lester Mitcham]

Hello Bob,

Thank you the added information.

Hope you are keeping well.
With my best wishes,
Lester

 

[Bob Godfrey]

Thanks, Lester, and the best to you too.

Miss Stap's claim to be Chief Stewardess was made in an interview for the Birkenhead News, May 4 1912. But she also claimed to be 31 years old when she signed on - a slight exaggeration as in reality she wouldn't see 45 again! But then she was the daughter of a White Star Line Captain, and that kind of pedigree could take you right to the front of the job queue.

 

[Justine Cousin]

Thanks Lester and Bob for the information, it will help me quite a lot in my search!

Best wishes to both of you

 

[Ana Florencia Pinton]

If you look here: Titanic Victualling Crew: Signed at Southampton : First Class she was the 1st of the stewardesses to sign the Particulars of Engagement.

Wow I never read that! I always wondered at what time did the crew embark. 6am! Sorry for the OT remark!

Returning "in topic", Lester you said that she had her own cabin on E deck, but most stewardesses had their own cabin in their designated part of the ship (at the most they would share it with another stewardess).

 

[Bob Godfrey]

When we say in English "I had my own room" (or table, or whatever) we mean we had it for our own exclusive use, with nobody else sharing.

 

[Ana Florencia Pinton]

Yes, I expressed myself badly. I wanted to say that one of the arguments to prove that Snaps was Chief Stewardess (in an informal arrangement) was the she had "her own cabin" on A Deck. In the map I have in fact that cabin is labelled "Stewardess", singular. Other cabins were labelled in plural ("2 Stewardesses" or a generic "Stewardesses"), but there were in fact also other singular "Stewardess" cabins, making me think she wasn't the only one having a cabin for herself.

Now that is all obsolete thinking, because by doing the math on the other thread (14 stewardesses divided by 7 cabins) it would seem that they all shared a room. Unless Snaps was up there alone and the remaining 3 shared one room.