Encyclopedia Titanica

Titanic Survivors' Untimely Deaths

The tragic stories of Titanic survivors who died prematurely...

Titanica!

   Join Us and Hide Ads

The tragic stories of Titanic survivors who died prematurely...

The Titanic disaster brought a premature end to 1500 lives but some of the survivors would also die long before their time; whether through war, illness, fire, road traffic accidents or suicide. Here are some of their stories. (See also List of survivors that died young and first Titanic survivors to die).

1912

Mary Nakid
Died from meningitis three months after the sinking aged 1.

Eugenie al-Ba'qlīnī
Died from meningitis three months after the sinking aged 3.

Archibald Gracie
Died a few months after the sinking, partially from the effects of his ordeal.

1913

Reginald Robinson Lee
The lookout who with Fred Fleet sighted the iceberg died little more than a year later...

1914

John Anderson
Escaped from an Whitchurch Mental Hospital where he was being treated. The press reported he had drowned but other accounts suggest he was rescued and returned to the hospital.

Eliza Hocking
Found dead in the street, probably as a result of a hit-and-run car accident.

Annie Robinson
Jumped overboard while a passenger on the Devonian.

William Henry Taylor
Crushed in an accident at Southampton docks.

Mary Joseph (Yusuf)
Died from burns sustained in a fire at her home, aged 4.

1915

James Avery
Suffered a stroke at work leading to his death at age 24.

Frederick Willaim Scott
Died in a boiler explosion aboard the SS La Marguerite.

Robert Douglas Spedden
Hit by a car near his family holiday home, aged 9.

Kātrīn Yūsuf
Mother of Mary (above), aged 26, 3 months after giving birth to a daughter.

1916

Charlotte Collyer, George Combes and Wilfred Foley
Died from tuberculosis.

Helen Bishop
Died from epilepsy brought on by a car accident, aged 23.

1917

Edward Buley
Died aboard HMS Partridge

Archie Jewell
Died in the sinking of the SS Donegal, torpedoed in the English Channel.

Nellie O'Dwyer
Died owing to pre-ecalmpsia and kidney probems during pregnancy.

Joey Thompson
Though not a survivor of the sinking, Painter Joey Thompson disembarked at Southampton after the delivery trip - the only member of the Harland and Wolff Guarantee group to do so. Killed in an industrial accident at the firm's Bootle Works.

1918

Daniel Buckley
Killed in action toward the end of World War One.

Anna Demessemaeker
Anna never recovered from the shock of the disaster. She died in an asylum aged 42.

Reginald Hardwick
Died in the battlefields.

John Kennedy
Anthrax poisoning, probably from an infected shaving brush.

James McGann
Supposedly died in 1918 aged 35. Circumstances unknown

Hannah O'Brien
Died in the influenza epidemic.

Robert Pusey
Died aboard HMS Dirk.

1919

Washington Dodge
Shot himself in the elevator of his apartment building due to business and investment problems.

1921

Allen Baggott
Died from convulsions possibly related to a chronic alcohol problem.

Arthur Lucas
Shot himself on a train.

Suzette Ryerson
Following surgery for appendicitis developed ether pneumonia and died from heart failure aged 30.

1922

Charles Hallace Romaine
Killed after being hit by a taxi cab.

Christopher Arthur Shulver
Killed in a coal bunker explosion aboard the Adriatic.

Alfred White
Died while queuing at a Southampton bank

1923

Alice Phillips died from influenza aged 31.

1924

Adāl Najīb Qiyāmah
Died of cancer aged 27.

1925

Oscar Leander Johansson Palmquist
Murdered by the partner of his mistress.

Ruth Taussig
Typhoid fever.

1926

Edward Brown's family believe that the Titanic disaster had an adverse effect on his health and this contributed to his early death, aged 48, in June 1926.

1927

Henry William Frauenthal
Jumped from his apartment balcony after months of depression partially resulting from the mental illness of his wife.

Juha Niskanen
Set his cabin on fire and then shot himself in the head in a fit of depression over failure to strike gold on his property in California.

1929

Trevor Allison
Died from effects of ptomaine poisoning aged 18.

1930

Jessie Trout
Killed in a car accident.

1931

Assad Thomas
From pneumonia, aged 20.

1933

Albert Haines
Hit by a car while crossing the road.

Joan Wells
Died from sepsis, aged 25.

1934

Frederick Sheath
Had battled asthma all his life and passed away aged 42.

1938

Frank Osman hanged himself in his pub cellar.

1939

George Terrill Thresher
Died when the SS Parkhill was torpedoed off the coast of Aberdeen.

Helene Barbara al-Ba'qlīnī
Died of cancer aged 29.

1940

Madeleine Astor
Died at the age of 47, officially of heart disease but it is speculated, due to an overdose of prescription drugs.

James Forward
Believed lost overboard from the SS Aronna off the coast of Australia (1940)

Edgar Lionel Perry
Killed in a Southampton pub during the blitz.

1941

John Collins
Died in a psychiatric hospital from the effects of syphilis

1942

George Brereton
Shot himself.

1944

Natalie Wick
Died due to complications from routine surgery.

1945

Jack Thayer
Slit his own throat and wrists due to depression over the loss of his son during World War II.

1951

John Morgan Davis
Poisoned himself during the Christmas holidays after his wife left him.

1954

Phyllis May Quick
Shot herself in the head at a time of marital problems.

1956

Edith Pears
Committed suicide by drinking bleach.

Hilder Hirvonen
Died of cancer aged 46

1957

Agnes McCoy
Officially recorded as a heart attack, numerous bruises were found on her neck and face. It is possible she died during a burglary of her apartment.

1960

Mabel Martin
Died in a motorcycling accident.

1965

Frederick Fleet
Hanged himself from a clothes-line. He had been suffering from depression following the death of his wife Eva and being evicted from his home by her brother.


If you know of more to add join in the discussion below.

Related Biographies

Share this page

Comment and discuss

  1. Cam Houseman Cam Houseman
    As best as I've been able to track, at least 48 of the 712 Titanic survivors died prior to April 15, 1922, the 10 year anniversary. Other than the ones mentioned above, there was John Kennedy who died of Anthrax poisoning, Hannah O'Brien and one other who died in the influenza epidemic, several who died during World War I, some who succumbed to common diseases even though they were fairly young, and several whose natural lifespans just came to an end. And in that short period the deaths of those survivors were spread out all over the world--as far away as Mrs. Hewlett in Naini Tal, India, another on the island of Malta,one in Syria, and of course in various places in America and Europe. There were of course the suicides (amply covered in other threads) and I think I'm counting a total of 14 or 15 of them now. Hangings, shootings, throat-slashings, and even one who drank bleach.Regarding Iain's mention of Agnes McCoy--there is no proof she was murdered and she died in 1957 when she was an old woman. Her great-niece who now lives in Virginia told me that she remembers visiting Agnes with her father shortly before Agnes's death and that she was a "very sick old woman who couldn't have lived much longer." A coroner's inquest was held because of what appeared to be bruises on the body but the official cause of death listed on her death certificate is heart disease. Of course "murder" makes a better story than succumbing to
View 46 comments... Open Thread Leave a Reply

Find Related Items

Survivor Deaths

Contribute

  Get in touch

Citation

Encyclopedia Titanica (2017) Titanic Survivors' Untimely Deaths (Titanica!, ref: #20210, published 25 September 2017, generated 29th January 2025 11:57:33 PM); URL : https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-survivors-untimely-deaths.html