Albert Ernest Witcher

Mr Albert Ernest Witcher was born in Everton, Hampshire, England over the Spring months of 1873.

He was the son of John Witcher (1830-1893), a farm labourer and shepherd, and Mary Ann Lancaster (1830-1898), Hampshire natives who were married in 1853. 

One of a dozen known children born to his parents, Albert's siblings were: John (b. 1850), Mary Ann (b. 1854), William George (b. 1856), Fanny (b. 1857), Emma (b. 1859), Eliza Ellen (b. 1860), William (b. 1865), Susan Alice (b. 1865), Caroline (b. 1866), Harry (b. 1867) and Amelia Dorcas (b. 1869).
He first appears on the 1881 census living in Milford, Hampshire and on the 1891 census in Pennington, Hampshire and then described as a gardener.
Albert was married to Nellie Louise Gilbert at St. Thomas's Church, Lymington on 8 September 1893 at which time he was employed as a ship's steward. Nellie hailed from Lymington and was born in 1873 to James Gilbert, a sailor, and his wife Sarah, née Alston. Together Albert and Nellie would have two daughters: Marie Louise Alberta (b. 17 December 1894¹) and Norah May (b. 27 July 1897).

Albert was not recorded on the 1901 or 1911 censuses but his wife and daughters are listed on the earlier record as residents of 9 Nelson Place, Lymington, the home of a widowed aunt named Mary Jane Rumsey.

Witcher signed onto the Titanic on 6 April 1912; he had transferred from the Olympic and as a fireman he received monthly wages of £6.

Albert Witcher died in the disaster and his body, if recovered, was never identified. His wife and daughters and aunt Mary Jane Rumsey received financial aid from the Titanic relief fund as dependants.

Nellie Witcher never remarried and remained in Hampshire for the rest of her life. She died in 1950. 

His daughter Marie was married in 1913 to Robert Parsons; her first born, a son, arrived later the same year but was stillborn. Another two children followed, George Arthur Robert (b. 1915) and Norah Kathleen (b. 1918).  Marie was a widow when she and her children appeared on the 1939 Register as residents of South Street, Lymington. She died in 1972. 

Albert's daughter Norah was married in 1922 to Henry George Coombes (b. 1893), a bricklayer, and they had a son named Gerald Albert George (1927-2013) a few years later. Norah died in Winchester in 1982.