Miss Sarah Daniels1, 33, was born in London. She was 5' 6'' tall, with a fair complexion, fair hair and blue eyes.
She boarded the Titanic at Southampton on 10 April 1912 as a first-class passenger travelling as a maid with the Allison family: Hudson and his wife Bess and their two infant children Loraine and Trevor. Also travelling with them in first class was a children's nurse Alice Cleaver and two other servants: Mildred Brown and George Swane, who both travelled in second class.
When the Titanic stopped at Queenstown, Ireland Sarah sent a postcard to a friend Nell Green2:
I wish you were here, it is a lovely boat and it would do you good. Am just going on deck. Fisdig2
On the night of 14 April, after the ship hit the iceberg Sarah was able to board a lifeboat and leave the shp.
MAID TELLS STORY
"I did not even know that the engines had stopped when a maid came into my cabin and told me to get dressed," said Miss Sarah Daniels, one of the maids who accompanied the Allison party on the ill-fated Titanic, who, together with Miss Alice Cleaver, the nurse, carrying the little baby, the sole survivor of the family; and Mildred Brown, another maid, arrived in Montreal on the Delaware and Hudson train this evening.
"I was so sleepy that as soon as the maid left the room," continued Miss Daniels "I got into bed again, and only began to dress when another girl came in and roused me.
We all did as we were told. There was no excitement and not knowing what had happened, we were not alarmed. The boat I was in was not very crowded. There were only 4 men in the boat, and they took the oars. There was no officer in the boat, and a woman steered as we were rowing away in the darkness." - Weekly Free Press and Prairie Farmer, Winnipeg, 24 April 1912
The Allison's cook Mildren Brown later wrote:
I found Sallie had got on alright but poor girl she keeps worrying about her things, of course we have lost everything bar what we stand up in.
Her employers, the Allisons, along with their baby daughter Loraine, died in the sinking. The infant Trevor was carried off the ship by his nursemaid Alice Cleaver.
The party returned to Montreal where Sarah gave some interviews to the press that were widely syndicated but what became of Sarah Daniels after this date is currently unknown.
Comment and discuss
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does any one know what became of sarah daniels after the disaster, like if she married and had children and when she died? thanks
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No clue, sorry
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I am also intrigued to know what became of her.....I am trying to trace my ancestry and find out if any of the three "daniels" in the first class are in my lineage.....so if you find something, please let me know.....
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Jason et al, Judith Geller's "Women and Children First" discussed Sarah. I don't remember if it discussed her ultimate fate, although it did include a letter to relations in England following the disaster. She discussed the somber travelling party back to Canada consisting of the surviving servants and Allison family relatives; and described trying to seem respectfully solemn when she was really feeling euphoric at being alive.
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She left with Trevor with him in boat 11, as in says here ... please get your information right and so which boat did they enter/leave in
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Alice Cleaver had Trevor.
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How do you know that Sarah Rebecca Daniels was THE Sarah Daniels on the ship? WHat connects them?
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I have been meaning to try and research about Sarah Rebecca Daniels' life following the Titanic disaster. Very little information is available on the web but I'll keep searching. I did not know about the letter that she is supposed to have sent her British relatives after the disaster (see above post). I think I do have a copy of Judith Geller's book somewhere (most likely packed with many others in a warehouse waiting to be shipped to our second home in India once this Coronavirus situation improves) but have so far missed the account about this letter. As far as I am aware, she sent a postcard to a friend from Queenstown - the famous "Wish you were here card" that was later auctioned, complete with the 1912 Irish stamp. But this other letter is news to me. After failing to convince Hudson Allison about the seriousness of the situation, Sarah Daniels was rescued on Lifeboat #8 on the port side. Her colleague Alice Cleaver, as is well documented, rescued baby Trevor Allison and the...
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Very interesting post, Phil. I have met several Titanic enthusiasts (mostly BTS members) who felt that there was something dodgy about Sarah Daniels' background and that might be the reason that so little is known about it. Until recently I thought the woman quoted above was the Sarah Daniels, Titanic survivor. Most accounts list her age as 36 when she boarded the Titanic, which fits in with the date of birth there, as does the middle name Rebecca. But as you say, there does not seem to be any concrete evidence and "Sarah" and "Daniels" were (and are) very common names...
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Might the recently unsealed 1921 Census of England & Wales be of any use ?
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To be honest, I cannot think off the top of my head where I saw that date of birth 10th November 1875; could it have been on her ET bio before it was revised? It still says that DoB on the "Titanic Wiki" site but I accept that it is a rather lightweight source. But I am sure that I have seen that supposed date of birth elsewhere and have a VERY good reason to remember it; I was born on that exact date - 10th November - albeit 80 years later in 1955.
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