Encyclopedia Titanica

Annie Moore Ward

Miss Ann Moore Ward was born in Calderhead, Lanarkshire, Scotland on 16 January 1874.1

She was the daughter of Hugh Ward and Ann Dennis (b. circa 1855). One of four children,2 her known siblings were Catherine (b. 1872) and James Moore (1876-1940).

The family had settled in Pennsylvania around 1880 but possibly as early as the latter half of the 1870s. What became of her father is not known but her mother was remarried in 1890 to an Irishman, John H. Craig (b. 1851), a house painter. Annie, her mother, brother and stepfather were shown on the 1900 census residing at 2416 Evergreen Avenue in Philadelphia and at that time she had no stated profession. By 1910 the family home was still on Evergreen Avenue but Annie was not shown there.

Annie came into the employ of the wealthy Cardeza family as the personal maid to wealthy widow Charlotte Drake Cardeza. In late 1911/early 1912 she had accompanied her employer to Africa and Europe where they had joined Mrs Cardeza's son Thomas, the two of them being big-game hunters. For the return to the USA Annie boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg on 10 April 1912 with Mrs Cardeza, her son Thomas and his manservant Gustave Lesueur and the entourage travelled on ticket number 17755 which cost the princely sum of  £512, 6s, 7d.

On the night of the sinking Annie did not take time to dress properly and threw a fur coat over her nightgown. She stuffed some bits and pieces from a table into the pockets, which included salt and pepper cellars and some jewellery. When she offered the things that she had taken, to Mrs Cardeza her employer said that she could keep them.

The Cardeza group was rescued in lifeboat 3.

Annie continued to work in the employ of Mrs Cardeza up until the latter's death in 1939, following which she worked as a housekeeper and appeared on the 1940 census living at Norton Street, Philadelphia.

She had been married to William S. Moynahan (b. February 1871), Mrs Cardeza's gardener, who was a native of Pennsylvania born to Irish parents(3). The couple had no children and William died in 1936. Annie herself died on 25 December 1955 aged 81 and she and her husband are buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia. She is remembered by surviving family as an eccentric but interesting lady and upon her death left the jewellery and salt and pepper cellars that she had rescued from Titanic.

Her brother James was married to a German lady, Frieda Lobs (1876-1954) and raised a family in Springfield, Pennsylvania. One of their daughters (b. 1907) was named for Annie. Another child, James (b. 1909) lived with Annie on Norton Street, Pennsylvania in the early 1940s. James Moore Ward died in Pennsylvania in 1940.

 

Notes

  1. Birth date as per Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950; sometimes erroneously listed as 16 January 1876.
  2. The 1910 US census declares that Ann had four children, with two still living at the time, namely Annie and James.
  3. William was the second son of James (1839-1914) and Rebecca Moynahan (1845-1921), Irish immigrants who had settled in the USA in the mid 1850s and 1860s respectively.

Newspaper Articles

Evening Bulletin (16 April 1912) Had Premonition Of Harm
Washington Times (19 April 1912) Like Awful Dream, Declares Woman
Mrs. Cardeza, of Philadelphia, Tells of Her Experience In Wreck

Bibliography

Judith Geller (1998) Titanic: Women and Children First, Haynes, ISBN 0393046664
Search archive online

Credits

Gavin Bell, UK
Peter Engberg-Klarström, Sweden
Janet A. Kunz, USA (Grandaughter of Anna Ward's brother Mr James Moore Ward)
Hermann Söldner, Germany

Comment and discuss

  1. Leigh Anthony Ross

    Is Mrs. Cardeza's maid Anna Ward or Annie Ward because I have seen her mentioned as both and several pages. This is from her bio on ET and as you can see both names are used: ANNA Ward Miss ANNA Ward, 35, was born 1 August 1876. She came to America from Scotland with her mother, brother and sister. They lived in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, PA. She worked as personal maid and companion to Mrs Charlotte Cardeza. They boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg. After the collision and crew were starting to load boats ANNA was in her nightgown. She put a fur coat on top of her gown and then took some things that were on a table or nightstand or maybe both. She placed these things in the pockets of her fur coat. When she offered the things that she had taken, to Mrs Cardeza, Mrs Cardeza said that ANNA could keep them. ANNA was rescued in lifeboat 3. ANNA continued working for Mrs Cardeza until Mrs Cardeza'a death in 1939. In the 1930s other members of her family also worked for her.... Read full post
  2. Karrie Wright

    Karrie Wright

    that is weird, but I'm sorry I can't help, but I think Annie was probally just a nickname. Karrie
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  3. Phillip Gowan

    Karrie, Annie was sort of a "fond" name. Her full name was Anna Moore Ward Moynahan. Phil
  4. Leigh Anthony Ross

    Is it then typo in the ET first class passenger list when it states that her name is Miss Annie Moore Ward?
  5. Phillip Gowan

    It just used her familiar name Annie. Sort of like someone named Ben might be called Benny. Her middle name was Moore and she later married Bill Moynahan after Titanic.
  6. Leigh Anthony Ross

    I mean in the passenger list wouldn't it have used her real name instead of a "fond" name?
  7. Phillip Gowan

    The passenger lists have always been notoriously wrong on many names. The list you find here on ET is probably the best and most correct one in existence thanks to the input of many researchers in many countries-- but there are still many, many errors even in it, especially in crew names. Another example--all the original lists showed a second class passenger named Lutie Davis Parrish. For years everyone assumed that that was really her name and that Davis was a maiden name. But no one could ever find them on any censuses or in other records that would verify the names. When she was finally tracked down and we "got the goods" on her, it turned out that her name was Lucinda Davis Temple Parrish. Davis had been a middle name and Lutie was just a nickname. To further confuse things, in later years she stopped using the nickname Lutie and started using the nickname "Lucy." There are many other such instances of errors in the first, middle and surnames.
  8. Maria Fernandez

    I'm sure you'd find simmilar mistakes on other passenger lists from then and even today
  9. ashley ingham

    ashley ingham

    Re: how old was Annie Moore Ward when she first boarded the titanic and what was her reaction?
  10. Mark Baber

    Ashley--- The page from which you posted your message tells you how old she was.
  11. Bob Godfrey

    Yes, but it tells us she was both 35 and 38. Or possibly 40. Unless the gravestone is wrong, I'd go with 38.
  12. ashley ingham

    ashley ingham

    Re: did her mother,brother, and sister live?
  13. Bob Godfrey

    Ashley - Anna Ward's family were not on the Titanic, if that's what you were thinking.
  14. destiny

    Re: When was she really born??

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Titanic Passenger Summary

Name: Miss Annie Moore Ward
Age: 37 years 8 months and 14 days (Female)
Nationality: Scottish American
Marital Status: Single
Embarked: Cherbourg on Wednesday 10th April 1912
Ticket No. 17755, £512 6s 7d
Rescued (boat 3)  
Disembarked Carpathia: New York City on Thursday 18th April 1912
Died: Sunday 25th December 1955 aged 81 years
Buried: West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, United States

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