Abbotts' Cabin Number

[Ant Ellison]

Hello! I'm new to this forum, but I've been researching Rossmore Abbott and his family for several months now. However, I haven't been able to find what cabin the family would have been in. I know they were close to the rooms of Amy Stanley and the Goldsmith family, but does anyone know anything beyond that?

 

[Arun Vajpey]

I don't think there was a specific cabin assignment for Third Class passengers or if there was, no list available. Third Class cabins were at either end of the ship and in general single men were berthed at the bow end while single women and families at the stern. But some comments by Daniel Buckley or Eugene Daly suggest that when the young men at the bow end started to go sternwards soon after the collision, there were many girls with them. If true, there might have been some interchanges of cabins in Third Class after the Titanic departed; there were plenty of unoccupied spaces. Also, BB's deckplans suggest that there were more larger Third Class cabins (8-berthers) at the bow end; of course, those might not have been occupied during the fateful maiden voyage.

9 year-old Frankie Goldsmith was travelling with his parents and so they were very likely berthed at the stern end of the ship; his father was lost but Frankie and his mother were saved on Collapsible C. Frank Goldsmith later wrote a book called Echoes in the Night about his Titanic experiences and survival and there is an article here on ET about Rhoda Abbot by Robert Bracken that quotes that book as the only reference: The Mystery of Rhoda Abbott Revealed. According to it, Rhoda Abbott watched the surviving Goldsmiths, Amy Stanley and others get into Collapsible C but could not follow because her teenage son, including 16 year old Rossmore Abbott, were with her. This claim is supported by the fact that Rhoda, Rossmore and Eugene Abbott jumped into the sea together during the final plunge but only Rhoda made it to Collapsible A; both her sons were lost.

However, there are a couple of queries that arise about that scenario. This is an excerpt from that Bracken article:

The real seriousness of the situation was not realized as Rhoda and the boys casually dressed and put on life jackets. They entered the crowded hallway and followed the human chain moving forward, passing through an opened watertight door which opened to a stairway leading to the deck above. They joined a large group of third class men, women, and children in the second class saloon area of the ship. Only women and children were being allowed beyond the gate standing before the group. Somehow, Rhoda managed to get her two young sons through the gate overseen by several crewmen. They next climbed a steel ladder onto the stern end of the boat deck and were led slowly forward, moving carefully so as not to trip over discarded ropes and debris remaining from the previous launchings of lifeboats there

If true, the Abbotts and others joined a group of Third Class men, women and children, arrived at the stern end of the boat deck and then were "led slowly forward". I have not read any other statement about a large group of men, women and children led slowly forward on the starboard side of the boat deck in the latter stages of the sinking, but am happy to be updated. But it does suggest that the Abbotts had a Third Class cabin at the stern end.

The other issue is about Amy Stanley; if (according to the article), she was in the same lifeboat as Frankie Goldsmith, then she would have been saved on Collapsible C like some works do suggest. But that does not tie in with her own letter to her mother about a man and child jumping into her lifeboat and so some experts believe that Amy Stanley (who was berthed with Virginia Martin-Emanuel & her nanny Elizabeth Dowdell, Lifeboat #13) was actually saved on Lifeboat #15.

 

[Ant Ellison]

I don't think there was a specific cabin assignment for Third Class passengers or if there was, no list available. Third Class cabins were at either end of the ship and in general single men were berthed at the bow end while single women and families at the stern. But some comments by Daniel Buckley or Eugene Daly suggest that when the young men at the bow end started to go sternwards soon after the collision, there were many girls with them. If true, there might have been some interchanges of cabins in Third Class after the Titanic departed; there were plenty of unoccupied spaces. Also, BB's deckplans suggest that there were more larger Third Class cabins (8-berthers) at the bow end; of course, those might not have been occupied during the fateful maiden voyage.

9 year-old Frankie Goldsmith was travelling with his parents and so they were very likely berthed at the stern end of the ship; his father was lost but Frankie and his mother were saved on Collapsible C. Frank Goldsmith later wrote a book called Echoes in the Night about his Titanic experiences and survival and there is an article here on ET about Rhoda Abbot by Robert Bracken that quotes that book as the only reference: The Mystery of Rhoda Abbott Revealed. According to it, Rhoda Abbott watched the surviving Goldsmiths, Amy Stanley and others get into Collapsible C but could not follow because her teenage son, including 16 year old Rossmore Abbott, were with her. This claim is supported by the fact that Rhoda, Rossmore and Eugene Abbott jumped into the sea together during the final plunge but only Rhoda made it to Collapsible A; both her sons were lost.

However, there are a couple of queries that arise about that scenario. This is an excerpt from that Bracken article:

If true, the Abbotts and others joined a group of Third Class men, women and children, arrived at the stern end of the boat deck and then were "led slowly forward". I have not read any other statement about a large group of men, women and children led slowly forward on the starboard side of the boat deck in the latter stages of the sinking, but am happy to be updated. But it does suggest that the Abbotts had a Third Class cabin at the stern end.

The other issue is about Amy Stanley; if (according to the article), she was in the same lifeboat as Frankie Goldsmith, then she would have been saved on Collapsible C like some works do suggest. But that does not tie in with her own letter to her mother about a man and child jumping into her lifeboat and so some experts believe that Amy Stanley (who was berthed with Virginia Martin-Emanuel & her nanny Elizabeth Dowdell, Lifeboat #13) was actually saved on Lifeboat #15.

Thank you! This helps a lot.