Encyclopedia Titanica

Lost Ladies

Who were they and why did they die?

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Lost Ladies

On the Titanic, there were 95 ladies travelling second class. 83 of them were rescued (87.4%). 12 were lost in the sinking. Who were they and why did they not survive?

On the Titanic, there were 95 ladies over the age of 12 travelling second class. 83 of these (87.4%) were saved. How come twelve of the ladies in second class were lost?

First of all, second class passengers had a tendency to end up on the aft port side of the ship, i. e. near boats 10, 12, 14, and 16. There, they had a good chance of entering said boats. Approximately ⅔ of the surviving ladies in 2nd class entered one of these boats. However, the strict rule of ''women and children only'' on that side of the ship made it difficult for married ladies. Some were enticed to enter the boats, being assured that their husbands would get into other boats, but at least two of the married women (and probably more) in that part of the ship had the chance to escape but chose to stay with their husbands. One young lady was near a lifeboat but for some reason did not enter it, although her travelling companion and the latter's son did. Some of the women may not have found their way to the lifeboats at all. Let us have a closer look at the twelve ladies who did not survive.

Mrs. Lilian Carter
She had been born 3 March 1867 in St. George's, London, the daughter of Thomas, a lawyer born 20 October 1823 at Uffington, Berkshire, and Ann Frances (nee Ford; also listed 'Fanny') Hughes, who had been born in 1826. Her parents had married in the third quarter of 1847 in the St. Thomas district of Devon.

In 1881, she was 14 years of age and a scholar, living at Park Street in the St. George Hanover Square area of London, with her parents. There were also three servants living in the household; Jane Hawkes, 28, cook, Rachel Smith, 20, parlourmaid, and Tamar Smith, 16, a housemaid.

She married Ernest Courtenay Carter on 1 January 1890, in the church of St. Paul, Chester, Cheshire, in the Church of England tradition. Rev. Carter was a vicar (Church of England) in London. They had no children.

In 1911, they lived at St. Jude's Vicarage, 26 Commercial Street in Whitechapel, London. There were two servants in the household at the time; Emily Stevens, 53, cook, and Laura Reed, 36, house-parlourmaid.

Nobody seems to have noticed the Carters during the sinking of the Titanic.


Mrs. Sarah Elizabeth Chapman
Her birth was registered in the second quarter of 1882 in the Liskeard district of Cornwall, England. She was the daughter of William Henry, a farmer born about 1848 in Cornwall, and Emma (nee Hill) Lawry, born about 1849 in Cornwall, and she was christened on 6 October 1882 in St. Neot, Cornwall. Her parents had married 22 June 1880 at St. Neot in the Liskeard district of Cornwall.

In 1891, she was 8 years old and lived with her family at St. Neot in the Liskeard district of Cornwall. She had a sister, Emma Sussia (?), 5, and a brother, Charles Edwards Hill, 2.

In 1911, she lived with her brother in St. Neot, Cornwall. She was 29 according to the census and there was no occupation stated.

She married John Henry Chapman in Liskeard at the Wesleyan church on December 26, 1911. They were on a delayed honeymoon, apparently travelling to Fitzburn, Wisconsin, via Chicago. Possibly, their final destination was Spokane, Washington.

On the night of the sinking, Mrs. Chapman was seen on boat deck by Mrs. Eliza Hocking and Mrs. Emily Richards, according to the West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser.

When Mrs. Hocking was about to enter her boat (unknown which one), she heard Mrs. Chapman say: ''Goodbye' Mrs. Richards. If John can't go, I won't go either.'' Subsequently, Mrs. Chapman stayed on the ship and was one of twelve women in second class to be lost.


Mrs. Irene Corbett
She was born 6 August 1881 in Utah. Her parents were Levi Alexander, who was a bishop in the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS), born 12 June 1857 at Payson, Utah, and Mary Alice (nee Curtis; she had been born 30 August 1858 at Payson, Utah) Colvin. They had married 14 October 1880 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

In 1900, the Colvins lived in Payson City, Utah. Irene was 18 years of age at the time and her brothers and sisters were Katie, b. November 1882, Curtis, b. November 1885, Tracy (son), b. November 1887, Millie, b. November 1889, and Hattie, b. October 1892.

Miss Colvin married Walter Harris Corbett in Salt Lake City on 13 December 1905. Irene and Walter had three children: Walter Colvin, 16 December 1906 – 9 March 2002, Kady Roene, 5 November 1908 – 30 December 1973, and Mack Colvin, 27 December 1910 - 6 October 1976.

In 1912, the Corbetts had just moved to 900 East Center Street, Provo, Utah. Mrs. Corbett had travelled to London in the winter of 1911-1912 to study nursing/obstetrics. Apparently, she took a six-month course to become a midwife. Her address in London was the ''General Lying-in Hospital, York Road.''

In all probability, the only passenger from Utah on the ill-fated Titanic which went down yesterday on the Newfoundland banks, was Mrs. Irene Colvin Corbett of Provo. Mrs. Corbett has been in London during the past winter studying medicine. In a letter to her mother, Mrs. Levi A. Colvin, received yesterday, she stated that she would take passage for home on the Titanic, expecting to arrive in two weeks. Mrs. Corbett is the daughter of Bishop and Mrs. Levi A. Colvin of Pleasant View ward, which joins Provo on the north. Her three little children are with the grandparents in Provo, the family having moved from Pleasant View to 900 East Center Street, Provo, only a few days ago. Mrs. Colvin, Mrs. Corbett's mother, said that all she knew of the affair was what was contained in the letter received from her daughter Monday. The family has received no news as to whether Mrs. Colvin (sic) is among those saved. - The Ogden Standard, 17 April 1912, p. 6

Her actions during the night of the sinking of the Titanic are unknown since no survivor mentioned having seen or noticed her.

Her husband later remarried (11 November 1914) and had three more children. His second wife was Annie Dean. He passed away on 4 February 1917, aged 31, and is buried in Provo, Utah.


Mrs. Mary Emma 'Mayme' Corey
Mary Corey She had been born in August 1879 to John Alexander and Sarah (nee Jarrett) Miller. Mary Emma's father John had been born in Ohio in December 1849 and was a carpenter. Her mother Sarah was born in Pennsylvania in October 1854. In 1900, when the family lived in Elliot Borough, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Mary's (listed Mamie) brothers and sisters were noted as Abert (Albert?), born in October 1881, a stenographer, Bertha, born in October 1881, a seamstress, John, born in March 1884, an errand boy, Howard, born in April 1885 (he was at school), Percy, born in June 1889 (he was at school), Elva, born in February 1894, Lydia, born in January 1896, and Sarah, born in November 1898.

In 1910, the Miller family lived at 1131 Steuben Street in Pittsburgh. Mary was described as a city school teacher.

She married Percy Coleman Corey, 37, in Windsor, Essex, Ontario, Canada, on August 26, 1911. He was described as a manager of a petroleum company and she as a teacher. They both belonged to the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Corey was born in June 1874.

A romance surrounded the wedding of Corey and Mary Miller. She had been a teache for 14 years in the Westlake School. They had been sweethearts for several years, and had planned to wed after Corey returned from India. Miss Miller was visiting a relative in Cleveland, O., when Corey went to bid her fare (?), well before leaving for the far east. The prospect of long parting proved too much for the young couple and at Corey's suggestion, they went to Canada and were married. Their honeymoon consisted of a trip to India. Young Carnes and his wife already were there. This was eight months ago. Several weeks ago Mrs. Corey decided to spend the summer with her parents, and Mrs. Carnes, also longing for a sight of her home in Kentucky, arranged to go, too. They reached London safely, and on April 10 boarded the Titanic. On that same date, the cablegram received at the Miller yesterday states Carnes died... - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 20 April 1912, p. 1

Mary's widower Percy Corey would later marry a Hazel Eugenia Mcdanials (sic) in Los Angeles, on August 22, 1914. Reports that he had died of smallpox proved to be incorrect, thus, which also was corroborated in the contemporary press.

She wrote to her relatives about life in Burma and she does not seem to have enjoyed life there very much, telling her relatives that she was bored and homesick. In one letter she described her household:

"Haven't anything much to do, having five servants, a cook, a boy to clean the house, a boy to wait on the table, and a woman to wait on me." - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 19 June 2002, p. 110

She was pregnant when she sailed for America and, according to fellow passenger Lawrence Beesley, she was a schoolteacher (unless he was referring to Annie Funk). Contemporary press stated she had been a teacher at the Westlake School, West Carson Street, Pittsburgh, for 14 years and that she had gone to India to live with her husband shortly after their marriage. She was now coming home for a visit with her mother. She had been visiting points of interest in Europe before joining the Titanic on her maiden voyage.

Mrs. Corey and her friend, Mrs. F. Carnes, were returning from the oil fields of Burma, India, where their husbands were employed. While Mrs. Carnes was homeward bound her husband died in India and she was drown (sic) in the Titanic disaster without knowing of her husband's death. A cablegram was sent yesterday to Percy F. Corey, in Burma, telling him of the death of his wife and of his friend's wife in the disaster. - The Pittsburgh Press, 21 April 1912, p. 1

Nobody reported seeing her on deck on the night of disaster, but it has been suggested she, being pregnant, stayed in her cabin with Mrs. Karnes until it was too late to escape the sinking liner.


Miss Annie Clemmer Funk
Annie Clemmer Funk She had been born 12 April 1874 in Pennsylvania.

Her parents were James Bichtes, born 17 January 1845 in Pennsylvania, who operated Funk's grist mill (between Clay and Palm in Berks County) and Susanna Bechtel (nee Clemmer; she had been born 13 February 1845 in Pennsylvania) Funk, who had married 21 November 1868 in Berkshire, Pennsylvania. Annie Funk had six living brothers and sisters, including Oswin C., born about 1869, Ambrose, b. ca. 1871, Harry, b. ca. 1876, and Mary, b. in late 1879 or early 1880; another three siblings had died in childhood. Her parents had married 21 November 1868 in Berkshire, Pennsylvania.

Miss Funk had been a Mennonite missionary in India for five years. She was stationed at Janjgir. She had started a school for girls there and learned the local language. In 1912, upon learning that her mother was ill, she returned to her home in Pennsylvania.

In a letter to her father, she wrote that she had planned to sail on the Haverford, bound for Philadelphia, but that would have necessitated a stay in London for nine days, and she was anxious to get home and so took passage on the Titanic instead. Her mother passed away in 1913 and her father lived until 1929. There is a cenotaph in Union Cemetery of the Hereford Mennonite Church in Berkshire, Pennsylvania.

Miss Funk is 38 years of age and was on her way home from India, where she spent five years as a missionary at Janjgir, Central Province, one of the stations of the Mennonite Church. She sailed from India on the steamer Persian of the Peninsular and Oriental Line. She was to have gone to London on this boat, but by a change of plans went ashore at Marseilles from which point she travelled to London by rail. This brought her to the metropolis on April 8, two days before the sailing of the Titanic. This information was received by Miss Funk's father in a letter that reached him two days ago... She originally had intended coming across on the ship Haverford, which sailed from London yesterday for Philadelphia. By the tone of her last letter, it was evident that she was anxious to reach America at the earliest possible moment, hence the belief that she sailed on the Titanic.

Miss Funk studied for the missionary work at the summer schools at Northfield, from which many have been sent to foreign shores. Two years she spent in the South among the Negroes under the missions conducted by the Methodist Church....Two years prior to her departure for India she accepted a position as assistant secretary of the Paterson, N. J., branch of the Young Women's Christian Association. She sailed for India five years ago, and according to the rules governing the Mennonite Missions, she was returning on what was to have been here (sic) first furlough of a year's duration. - Reading Times, Pennsylvania, 19 April 1912, p. 2

Relatives and friends of Miss Annie C. Funk, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James B. Funk, of Clayton, Berks county, are sure she lost her life on the Titanic. Miss Funk was the first woman ever sent to India as a missionary by the Bally Mennonite Church, and left her home five years ago, and was located at Janjgir, Central Province, India.

Some time ago her parents received a letter from her, stating that she would sail from India on the liner Persia for London. However, when the steamer came to Marseilles, France, she embarked (sic) and made the rest of the journey by rail, arriving in that city on April 8, just two days before the Titanic sailed. Her original intention was to take the steamer Hannover for Philadelphia, but this would have detained her nine days, so she took the Titanic. Miss Funk was aged 35, and was born in Hereford township. She attended the State Normal School in West Chester; prepared for her missionary work at Northfield, Mass., and her first real work was in the home missionary field. For two years she worked among the colored people at Chattanooga, Tenn., and left this place for Paterson, N. J., where she was elected assistant secretary of the Young Woman's Christian Association. On September 30, 1906, she was publicly consecrated to the India mission work at her home church, and on November 15 a farewell service followed, where hundreds attended, for she was to be the first Mennonite woman of Berks county to go to a foreign mission field. - The Philadelphia Inquirer, 20 April 1912, p. 5

There were reports that she had been offered a seat in a lifeboat, but had declined the offer so that someone else could be saved. This rumour has not been substantiated, however, since no survivor has been discovered who mentioned seeing/noticing Miss Funk after the Titanic hit the iceberg (or during the voyage as such, for that matter). Furthermore, there was no need to give up a seat, since no boat was full (except boats 13 and 15).


Miss Martta Maria Hiltunen
Marta HiltunenShe was born 7 February 1894 in Finland. Her parents were Pekka Pekanpoika (b. 16 April 1860) and Ida (nee Muinonen, b. 25 January 1864 in St. Michel). Hiltunen and she seem to have lived in Utra, Finland.

She was travelling with the Hämäläinens, but for some reason did not enter the lifeboat with them. Mrs. Hämäläinen reported in one interview that she had given her purse to Martta when they entered the lifeboat (It is a little unclear which boat Mrs. Hämäläinen and her son entered; in one interview, she clearly indicates boat No. 4, and in others she said there was a big crowd around the boat, indicating the aft port side of the ship. In one interview she even stated she was in boat No. 10 with her small son) and that she expected her to follow, but the girl seemed dazed or confused and stayed on deck and was lost when the ship sank. Mrs. Hämäläinen said: ''Martha was there just a little while before we left,' said Mrs. Hamlin (sic), but there was a crowd and so much excitement that we became separated....'' (Detroit Free Press, 21 April 1912, p. 9)


Ellen Truelove Howard
Ellen HowardShe was born 14 April 1851 and was christened 26 December 1851 in Chisledon, Wiltshire, the daughter of Ann Arman, who was unmarried, and who had been born 6 April 1832 at Chisledon, Wiltshire.

In 1851, Ann Arman was noted as a servant, and as a visitor in the family of Henry and Mary Wheeler, who lived in Rodborne Cheyney, Wiltshire. Mr. Wheeler was a tailor, aged 34, and his wife was 30. Miss Arman was still a domestic servant in 1871, working in the family of Lawrence and Elizabeth Engel in the St. George Bloomsbury area of London, England.

[There is a chance her parents were the Edward (b. about 1823 in Wiltshire) and Ann Misseter (nee Brinkworth; b. 20 November 1817 at Chippenham, Wiltshire) Arman who had married in the third quarter of 1845 at Swindon, Wiltshire.]

She married Benjamin Howard on 16 May 1872 in Highworth, Swindon, Wiltshire. They had four children; William Henry (b. 1873), Frederick Charles (b. 1878), Ethel Louise (b. 1879) and Herbert Ben (b. 16 February 1887). They lived at 85 Cheltenham Road in Swindon, Wiltshire, where, by 1912, they had lived for at least 20 years.

Mr. Howard's health had been declining, and they were going to visit their sons Herbert, who had emigrated to the USA in 1908, and Frederick, who lived in Buhl, Idaho. Their actions during the night of the sinking of the Titanic remain unknown since no survivor reported seeing/noticing them during the evacuation.


Mrs. Claire Karnes
She was born in June 1889 in Pennsylvania. Her parents were William F. N., a clerk at a coal office born in July 1867 in Pennsylvania, and Bessie/Eliza (nee Barclay; she had been born in September 1867 in Pennsylvania) Bennett, who had married 15 April 1887 at Mahoning, Ohio. In 1900, she lived with her parents and brother Charles at her paternal grandparents' home in Allegheny, Pennsylvania.

In 1910 she was stated to have been 20 years old and was not listed as having any occupation and she lived with her maternal grandparents at Sheffield Street in Pittsburgh. Her brother Charles, 22, also lived there.

She married Jacob F. Karnes, 31, on 5 April, 1911, in Wellsburg, Brooke, West Virginia. One newspaper article suggested she was returning to the USA on account of ill health. Mr. Karnes, who was an oil well worker, died of smallpox in Youngala, Burma, shortly after Mrs. Karnes had died on the Titanic.

Frank Karnes, formerly of Oil City, located in Upper Burma, India, with the Burma Oil Company. He returned here on leave of absence last year and on board the steamer from Liverpool met Miss Clare Bennett, daughter of J. C. Bennett, a Pittsburgh merchant. Several months later they were married and Mrs. Karnes returned with her husband to India. A letter received here some time ago from Mr. Karnes stated his wife was recovering from a severe attack of fever and would return to the United States with a friend, Mr. E. P. Corey. Late advices were to the effect that the women would sail from Liverpool last week... - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 18 April 1912, p. 9

Within the past two weeks a resident of Mt. Jewett received a letter from Mr. Corey, dated May 5th, in which he refers to the death of Karnes, and Hileman from smallpox, the accidental killing of another companion, Philip Barry, by the wrecking of a derrick while pulling casing. He also referred to the loss of his wife in the Titanic disaster and the terrible strain he had been under as a result of his manifold afflictions. - The Kane Republican /Pennsylvania/, 24 June 1912, p. 3

Since no survivors mentioned Mrs. Karnes or Mrs. Corey during the night of the sinking of the Titanic, it is difficult to establish what happened to them. It has been speculated that Mrs. Corey, being 7 or 8 months pregnant, stayed in the cabin for too long and that Mrs. Karnes kept her company.


Mrs. Anna Amelia Lahtinen
Anna LahtinenShe was born 17 February 1878 in Finland. Her parents were Juho Jacob Silfven (b. 22 July 1849) and Brita Elisabeth Seppanen (b. 17 April 1849), who had married 4 April 1874 at Uleåborg, Finland. Her brothers and sisters were Carl Albert, b. 18 January at Uleåborg, Johan Victor, b. 1 September 1876, Ellen M., b. 1881 in Michigan, John Benhart, b. 29 June 1883 at Hancock, Michigan, Lidya, b. 8 March 1884, Edward Elia, b. 21 February 1888 in South Dakota, Kathryn Elvira, b. 8 April 1888 in South Dakota, and William Arthur, b. November 1891 in South Dakota.

Anna had come to the USA in 1903. She married Rev. William Lahtinen on October 15, 1904, in Lawrence County, South Dakota.

In 1910, she lived at Cokato, Wright County, Minnesota, with her husband William, and their adopted daughter Martha Agnes, 2 years old (b. 29 September 1907 at St. Paul, Minnesota). Martha died shortly before their departure from Finland (10 March, 1912).

In October, Mr and Mrs. Lahtinen and their child, Martha, went to Finland where Mr. Lahtinen and two Finnish ministers of Michigan were to deliver a course of lectures, and where Mr. Lahtinen's mother was to be visited. A rumor came to friends that the child only a week or two ago died in Finland and, if the report is true, it may account for the fact that its name does not accompany that of its mother....Mrs. Lahtinen has relatives in the Black Hills, S. D. The house which is destined never to shelter the man who built it, if his cousin's inference is correct, stands at 2016 Second avenue south. This is near Irving Avenue and the Cedar Lake road. - Star Tribune, Minneapolis, 19 April 1912, p. 3

After the Titanic hit the iceberg, Rev. and Mrs. Lahtinen went on deck with Miss Lyyli Silvén. Miss Silvén entered boat No. 12, but Mrs. Lahtinen stayed on deck, not wishing to leave her husband.

Having found her relatives she was reluctant to enter even the last boats, but Rev. Lahtinen had forced her to do so. Rev. Lahtinen had been looking calm and cheerful. Mrs. Lahtinen was supposed to be helped into the boat as well, but she clung to her husband and said she would not be parted from him, but rather die with him. In the boat where Miss Silvén was there were 50-60 passengers. The last thing she saw was some first-class men, who fetched some deck chairs, placed them on the deck and started conversing each other, whereas the bow kept sinking. When her boat had come some way away from the liner and taken a capsized boat's passengers aboard, there was a terrible noise from the Titanic, hollering and shooting. According to Miss Silvén, they had been rowing for half an hour, when the Titanic's stern rose and the gigantic ship sank. The thousands of lights were still glowing. - Karlshamns Allehanda, May 15, 1912


Mrs. Mary Ann Mack
Apparently, Mrs. Mack had been a stewardess earlier in her life, albeit there is no known evidence to this effect.

She had been christened on 7 February 1855 in Birmingham or Harborne, Staffordshire. Her parents were George, a coachman born about 1827 at Edgbaston/Birmingham, and Mary (nee Every) Lacy, who had been born about 1823 in or near Dudley, Worcestershire. Her parents had married 14 March 1852 at St. Philip's Church (Cathedral) in Birmingham, in the Church of England.

In 1861, she was 6 years old and lived with her parents and sisters Emma, 5, and Elizabeth, 1, at Park Lane in Harborne, Worcestershire. The family name was at the time advised as ''Lucey.''

It is claimed that her first husband was a John Arber; he has also been mentioned as John Nober; no marriage record has been discovered as yet and there is a chance they were never married. They had a daughter, Agnes Mary, who purportedly was born 12 August 1877, although her death record in New York from 1932 stated she was 55 when she passed away.

[An Agnes Mary Nober had been born in the Hackney district of London in the third quarter of 1876 and his lady may well have been Mary Mack's daughter.]

In 1881, Agnes, whose place of birth was noted as Marsden, Surrey, and whose last name was noted as Lacy (!?), was 3 years old and was living with her grandparents at Brunswick Street East in Hove, Sussex.

Mrs. Mack's second husband was an Edward Mack, a bookmaker and commission agent born ca. 1840 who died in Hampshire in February 1912. However, no marriage record for either of the marriages has been found as yet,

[In 1881 a Mary A. Lacey, born about 1855 in Harborne, Staffordshire, was registered as a visitor with the family of a Jesse Hobbs, who lived in Kensington, London. This Mary Lacey was a domestic servant and was apparently not married. On the other hand, a John Arber married in late 1875 in the Farnham district of Surrey, but no Mary Lacey was listed as his spouse.]

In 1901, she lived, as Mrs. Mary Mack, at Wimpson Lane in Millbrook, Hampshire, and was purportedly aged 45.

She was travelling on the Titanic to stay with her daughter, now Mrs. Haran, in New York.

(English) An aged English woman was drowned, while coming to this country, after the recent death of her husband, to make her home with her only daughter. The daughter's husband, a waiter at the time of the disaster was recovering from a severe attack of typhoid fever. The mother's body was recovered, and this Committee provided funeral expenses. Later, it was learned that the body had been buried at sea. The mother was bringing her household goods, a large amount of clothing and some cash, the exact amount of which is unknown, and, in view of this property loss, the daughter was permitted to keep the appropriation. ($100) - Red Cross files: No. 286

During the sinking, nobody reported to having seen/noticed Mrs. Mack. One passenger in boat 9 mentioned an elderly lady making some sort of fuss near the boat, refusing to enter it. She rushed away from the boat and was not seen again before the boat left. There is a small chance this was Mrs. Mack, but there is nothing to substantiate this.


Mrs. Dorothy Ann Turpin
She was born 25 April 1885 in Plymouth, Devon, England. Her parents were Arscott, a carpenter/joiner (organ building) born about 1852 at Thornbury in Devonshire, and Mary Jane (nee Rees) Wonnacott, born about 1857 at Holsworthy, Devonshire, who had married in the second quarter of 1878 at Holsworthy.

In 1901, she was aged 15 and was noted as a shop assistant in a stationer's shop and lived at Staddon Terrace in Plymouth, Devonshire, England, with her parents and brother Charles Thomas, 21, a butcher's salesman, and sisters Lucy Jane, 18, and Gertrude May, 7.

She married William John Robert Turpin in Batter Street Presbyterian (church) on March 23, 1908. Mr. and Mrs. Turpin lived at 59 Chaddlewood Avenue, Lipson, Plymouth. In 1910, they lived in Garfield, Salt Lake, Utah, and William was noted as a carpenter/smelter. They were returning to Utah when the Titanic sank. No survivors reported having seen the Turpins during the sinking of the Titanic.


Miss Henriette Virginie Yvois

She was born 22 April 1889 in Paris to Modeste Henri Theóbad (Théobald?) and Maria Anna (nee Willems; born at Brussels, Belgium) Yvois, who had married 29 October 1891 at Paris, which means Henriette was in fact born out of wedlock.

She was allegedly a model and lived at 5 Rue des Pyramides in Paris, France.

Her father was a 'garcon restaurateur,' which probably means a restaurant waiter.

She had come to St. John, New Brunswick, on 31 March 1911, having travelled 2nd class on the Empress of Ireland. Her occupation was given as that of a ''color photographer,'' and her destination was ''Mr. W. H. Harbeck, 1222 East Columbia Street, Seattle, Washington.'' She stated her mother was ''Anna Williams, 5 Rue de Pyramids, Paris.'' She had never been to the USA before and had paid for the journey herself. She was 5 foot 1 inch tall, had a dark complexion, dark hair and blue eyes.

She travelled on the Titanic with William Harbeck. It has suggested that Harbeck was her lover; which may be true, however, they may simply have been business associates. Lawrence Beesley had observed her and Mr. Harbeck earlier during the journey, but on the fatal night there are no known reports of their whereabouts.


Further Reading
Lucky 13 by Peter Engberg
Second class men had the lowest chance of survival of all passenger categories. How, then, did 13 second class gentlemen survivors actually escape the sinking Titanic? Here are their stories...

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  1. Dennis Foley Dennis Foley
    I've always wondered why so many women in 2nd class were lost, especially those not traveling with their husbands. I have a theory (nothing more than that!), however, about Mesdames Corbett, Corey and Karnes. Here goes: Somewhere along the line I read that Mrs. Corey was very pregnant(7-9 months) when she sailed on Titanic. It is widely surmised that she had befriended Mrs. Karnes, per Lawrence Beesley's observations in second-class library. Now Mrs. Corbett, according to her bio, had been studying nursing while in England. Though I don't know of any connection between her and the other two, it could be surmised that the 3 of them, given that they were all 3 Americans by birth (?), became acquainted. It seems likely to me that Mrs. Corey would have wanted to avoid any crowd scene, including pushing and elbowing that must have been going on, given her pregnancy (indeed, didn't one of the surviving crewmen manning the second-class boats state in the Enquiry that he heard women
  2. Iain Stuart Yardley Iain Stuart Yardley
    An opinion expressed by a mate of mine is that because these unaccompanied women had no-one to tell them what to do they didn't do anything to try to save themselves, that they were so used to having their movements dictated they hesitated. I don't necessarily prescribe to this theory but it's an idea. Cheers, Boz
  3. Renae Barrett Salisbury Renae Barrett Salisbury
    I don't know anything about Mrs. Corey or Mrs. Karnes, but I have researched Irene Colvin Corbett and interviewed her grandson Don; consequently, I have some insights about the Bos' and Dennis' theories. First of all, Mrs. Corbett was not the sort of woman who would have waited for a man to tell her what to do. Her personality was quite the opposite. Although in her early 30s and the mother of three children, she sought training at the Lying In hospital in London to further her interests in obstetrics. A devout member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (aka Mormons), she acted against the wishes of her husband and the counsel of her religious leaders who thought she ought to seek training in an Eastern Institution. Her parents, however, supported her decision, even mortgaging their home to help pay for her passage and her education. The Colvins also cared for Irene's three children while she studied abroad. While in London she sent in writings to the
  4. Michael Friedman Michael Friedman
    Mr. Foley, Your theory is quite similar to one I have been working on for some time, to explain the loss of second class women who had access to the boats, were traveling unaccompanied by men, but were lost nonetheless. Mrs. Carter, Mrs. Chapman, Mrs. Howard, Mrs. Lahtinen and Mrs. Turpin apparently would not leave their husbands. Apparently Mlle Yrois also chose to remain with Mr. Harbeck. That leaves six unaccompanied women who were lost: Miss Hiltunen reportedly came on deck late and got delayed by handling Mrs. Hamalainen's suitcase? Mrs. Mack may be the elderly woman at Boat 9 who lost her nerve and returned below. There was a report that Miss Funk gave up her seat to a woman trying to join her children in a boat (if true, perhaps that was Mrs. Becker at Boat 11?) But what about the others? We know Mrs. Karnes and Mrs. Corey were traveling together, and that Mrs. Corey was eight months pregnant. Coming from India, they may likely have fallen in company with Miss
  5. Michael Friedman Michael Friedman
    Just another thought: a discovery such as "the Cave List" for second class would probably shed some light on cases such as the ladies under discussion. Regards, Mike
  6. Dennis Foley Dennis Foley
    Very interesting Mike. I never thought of this scenario. Thx for your thoughts. Regards, Dennis
  7. Peter Engberg-Klarström Peter Engberg-Klarström
    Regarding Miss Hilttunen - Mrs Hämäläinen got into boat No 4 with her baby, expecting Miss Hilttunen to follow, but she just did not get into the boat, much to Mrs Hämäläinen's surprise. Mrs Chapman also seems to have been near this boat and said that she would not go without her husband. There were at least two women near boat No 4 who did not enter it. I believe that Miss Evans also was there - Mrs Brown's story matches boat No 4 better that boat D, which leaves us with three women (and possibly more) who did not enter No 4. Peter
  8. Gary.J Bell Gary.J Bell
    HI After reading through many Titanic books, i noticed there seemed to be a rather high number of second class women fatalitys, why was this so? i mean it is so often stated that second class on titanic was like first class on many other liners of the time and that second class passengers were treated not unlike first class in some respects. Were they given a tour of first class before she sailed?? If i am right, i just wondered why the second class women were lost when they had ample access to the lifeboats.
  9. Brian Ahern Brian Ahern
    Gary - one reason could be that more third class passengers left from boats in second class space than first class space, so there was more of a crush in second class. This could account for why more solitary women - like Mrs. Karnes, Mrs. Mack, Miss Funk and Miss Yrois - didn't make it into boats. Other women - like Mrs. Carter and Mrs. Chapman - deliberately remained aboard to stay with their husbands. Just a thought, Brian A. And, yes, second class passengers were allowed to tour first class before sailing.
  10. Gary.J Bell Gary.J Bell
    Thanks Brian! It just seems odd that many of the women from Second Class did not survive compared to First Class, but your idea does sound as if that might have been the case. Ive only come across this fact recently, apart from books and popular names from Second Class, you dont hear or see much about it on TV or the Cinema. Gary
  11. Lester Mitcham Lester Mitcham
    Gary, There have been posts on this. See under Passenger Research: Biographical - 2nd Class: Mesdames Corbett, Corey, Karnes, second-class. There may be other posts under the main sub-heading.
  12. Arthur Merchant
    The "unattached" 2nd Class women: Corbett, Corey, Karnes, and Funk have had extensive disucssion on their circumstances in other threads. The other two in this categoray are: Ms. Yvois, who was traveling clandestinely with William Harbeck in an extra-marital affair. A reluctance to draw attention to themselves may have been a factor in her not making it to a boat. The other unattached female was the twice widowed Mary Mack. While not a young woman, she wasn't elderly either. However, upon a new check of her biography, it shows that 16-year-old Thomas Mudd shared the same ticket number with her. I don't see any information on what relation these two passengers had, but if Mrs. Mack was looking out for the youth on behalf of his family, she may have opted to not leave him alone if he was forbidden access to a boat. Does anyone know the connection between Mack and Mudd and if that played a role in Mary not being saved?
  13. Lester Mitcham Lester Mitcham
    Hello Arthur, Mrs Mack and Thomas Mudd were not travelling on the same ticket. This is an error on the part of whoever typed the numbers onto this web-site and complicated by the lack of letters that often formed a part of the ticket numbers. The numbers were identical "3" and the letters were close enough to cause confusion. Both Mrs Mack and Thomas Mudd paid £10.10s. Originally in the High Detail Passenger Lists on this web-site Mrs Mack's ticket number showed as S.O./P.P 3. That was in fact Mudd's ticket number. Listed immediately above him on the CTL [that is the Contract Ticket List], Mrs Mack's ticket was S.O./C. 3. Lester
  14. Arthur Merchant
    Ah, that makes sense. The ticket number system was quite confusing. Then I will stick with the supposition that, similar to Edith Evans, Mary Mack was convinced it was safer on the ship until it was too late. I forgot one other unattached 2nd Class woman, Marta Hiltunen. The accounts of her activities that night have been particularly cryptic especially the story of her not boarding a boat because she insisted on staying with the Hammalanens' luggage. Would people agree that a reasonable theory would be a scenario similar to that of Elin Ester Braf, who despite Mrs. Johnson's entreaties, was too frightened to traverse the space into a lifeboat and remained on the ship? Especially considering the Hammalanen party were in unfamiliar 1st Class territory, Mrs. Hammalanen, already occupied with her infant, might have been unable to convince Marta to overcome her fear. Or they got separated and only mother and child reached boat 4.
  15. Peter Engberg-Klarström Peter Engberg-Klarström
    Dear Arthur, Mrs. Hämäläinen was devastated when she realised that Martta Hiltunen hadn't followed her into boat 4. In her interviews, she thought Martta was right behind her in the boat, but alas. Peter
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Encyclopedia Titanica (2018) Lost Ladies (Titanica!, ref: #20216, published 6 January 2018, generated 1st July 2024 03:57:44 AM); URL : https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/lost-ladies.html