Mysterious Person

[Amie Hooper]

I have a book with all the newspaper clippings from when the Titanic was built to when it sank and with the survivor lists on some of the clippings. There is a woman in 1st class who is on only on about 4 of the survivor lists and she isn't any other. I searched here on this site but had no results. I can not find her any where only her name in the clippings. I was wondering if any one knows any information about;

Mrs W. A. Hooper

 

[Brian Ahern]

Hi Amie,
I can tell you with near absolute certainty that there was no such person in first class. If there was, she has completely slipped under the radar in terms of all accounts and lists then and now, which is not likely to have happened.

Newspapers at the time frequently misspelled or completely messed up passenger names. I assume it's owing to wireless messages being garbled. To give you an idea, Mr. and Mrs. Kimball were listed on one list of survivors as "Mr. and Mrs. Kimberly" and Mrs. Cornell as "Mrs. O'Connell". There were many more such examples. I can't think whose name could have mutated into "Mrs. W.A. Hooper". The only "Mrs. W.A.-anything" I can think of off-hand was Mrs. William Augustus Spencer.

 

[Dave Gittins]

I wouldn't lose any sleep over W A Hooper. As Brian says, the early lists in newspapers are notoriously inaccurate. They even include people who were not on the ship, such as George Eastman. I've seen a list that includes Lady Cynthia Asquith in a recent book that should know better.

The four examples you have may be the same example repeated by several papers. It's not in lists I have from major US papers.

My personal favourite mystery passenger is Leonch Eldegrek, who is listed in The New York Herald among the third class. I'm open to suggestions as to who he was.

Some early accounts in papers outside Britain and the USA are really wild. I recently looked at an Australian paper which seems to have got out its list of famous Americans, compared it with a passenger list and placed anybody with a vaguely similar name to a passenger onto the ship. Various notable American politicians, judges, etc were killed off!

Some confusion is understandable. Apart from errors in the survivors lists compiled on Carpathia, errors may have been made in the radio transmissions. To add to the errors, lists were sent to New York from radio stations by telegraph or telephone.

 

[Carla Velterop]

Hi Amie,

I did a short search for you and I found a website with a bit about your mystery person, or at least somebody with her name; http://www.linkstothepast.com/waukesha/howell.html . That's all I could find

BTW, I have looked through the lists I have and I couldn't find her name anywhere, so she might not have been on the Titanic.

Carla

PS. Welcome aboard!

 

[Amie Hooper]

Thanks for the welcome!

I have been on that site before when I was searching for her and as everyone else said she probably not even on the Titanic because there is no or little information about her at all.

 

[Dave Gittins]

I eventually found W A Hooper in a very early survivor list in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle of 16 April 1912. After that, there's no sign of her.

 

[Carla Velterop]

She's not on any of the lists of the 'big' newspapers, such as the New York Times etc. I stand by what I said about her maybe not being on the Titanic. Either that, or the Brooklyn Daily Eagle made up some person with that name to make it seem like more people were saved (the numbers of those saved went from 600 and something to 800 and something over a short space of time due to the newspapers and amateur radio operators). Kind of wierd theory, but it seems almost logical '-) Or, she could have been on the Titanic as a last minute passenger (which is why she doesn't show up on some lists) and then after the Titanic disaster she decided to say that she wasn't on the Titanic to protect her privacy... another strange theory, but also plausible

I don't think we'll be able to solve this one, Amie

Not with present evidence, anyway.

Could you tell me the names of the newspapers that you found her name in so that I can see where they got their references and see if they link to something?

Carla

 

[Amie Hooper]

The Newspapers that Mrs. W. A. Hooper are found are in:

Red Wing Daily Republican, Tuesday evening, April 16, 1912, Page. 7

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle "Extra", New york City, tuesday, April 16, 1912. Front page.

Boston American "Extra", boston, April 16, 1912. Front page

The Denver Times: Tuesday Evening, April 16, 1912 Page. 4

Amie

 

[Carla Velterop]

Thanks, Amie! I'll see what I can get for you by the end of the week

Carla

PS. Could you privately send me scans of the newspaper clippings, please? Thanks.

 

[Carla Velterop]

Hi Amie,

I've done some research and only one of the newspapers has actually replied to me. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle says that the source was just a local reporter. I don't think I can help you anymore, sorry - I've done what I can

Carla

 

[Amie Hooper]

Thanks Carla for the information!!
I guess she will remain a mystery for now!

Amie

 

[Dave Gittins]

Silly me! I forgot to check the obvious source, namely the US records of those who arrived on Carpathia. She's not there. She joins Leonch Eldegrek among the misprints.