 | The topic of this articlemay not meet Wikipedia'snotability guideline for biographies. Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citingreliable secondary sources that areindependent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention. If notability cannot be shown, the article is likely to bemerged,redirected, ordeleted. Find sources: "Rhoda Abbott" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(August 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Rhoda Mary Abbott | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1873-01-14)14 January 1873 |
| Died | 18 February 1946(1946-02-18) (aged 73) |
Rhoda "Rosa" Mary Abbott (née Hunt) (14 January 1873 – 18 February 1946) was a passenger on theRMS Titanic. She was the only female passenger who went down with thesinking of the ship and survived.[1]
Abbott was bornRhoda Mary Hunt inAylesbury,Buckinghamshire, on 14 January 1873, the daughter of Joseph Hunt and his wife Sarah Green Hunt.[2] She grew up in Aylesbury, and spent her early adulthood inSt Albans with her family, before moving to the United States in 1894.[2]
Upon her arrival inProvidence, Rhode Island, she met London-bornmiddleweight champion Stanton Abbott, whom she married soon after in 1895. The couple had two children, Rossmore (21 February 1896 – 15 April 1912) and Eugene (31 March 1898 – 15 April 1912).[3] She settled as a housewife and mother and was active at the local Grace Episcopal Church, as well as helping around the house.
In 1911, Abbott was divorced from her husband, returned to England with her sons on theRMSOlympic, working as asewer, as well as becoming a soldier inThe Salvation Army. However, she quickly realized that the boys were not happy living in England and booked a return to America in April 1912.[3]
The family boarded theRMSTitanic as third-class passengers inSouthampton on 10 April. On board, she befriended Amy Stanley, Emily Goldsmith, and May Howard, who had cabins nearby.[2]
On April 14, 1912, the family was asleep when theTitanic hit an iceberg. By 00:15, they were alerted by a steward to put on life jackets and retreat to the ship's deck. After waiting in line to follow other third-class passengers to the deck, Abbott and her sons waited at the second-class saloon area. There, her son Rossmore is said to have knelt in prayer asking that his mother's life be spared even if he and his brother were not saved. Even though "only women and children" were allowed past the gate, Abbott's sons (aged 13 and 16) were able to accompany their mother to the lifeboats.[2] They arrived when one of the final remaining lifeboats, Collapsible C, was already being loaded around 02:00. When it was her turn to enter the lifeboat, she realized that her sons would be denied a spot, and stepping back, refused a place in the lifeboat.[2]
When the ship sank, Abbott was swept from the deck into the water. She tried to clasp her sons but to no avail. Having given up finding them and at risk ofhypothermia in the freezing water, she was able to reachCollapsible Boat A, which had washed offTitanic at 02:15.[1] Hours went by before Fifth OfficerHarold Lowe returned with lifeboat 14 to retrieve survivors in the water. Several occupants of Boat A had either succumbed or slipped back into the icy water; of the people on board, Abbott was one of only 13 who survived.[2] Her two sons were lost at sea, and only Rossmore's body was later identified.
According to Abbott, she had no regret about remaining on theTitanic until the very end because it allowed her to stay with her sons.[3] On the rescue shipCarpathia, Abbott received special care in the smoking room. Her legs were badly injured by the immersion in frigid water so that she could not move until arrival in New York. There she was hospitalized for two weeks in Manhattan'sSt. Vincent's Hospital.[3] She was one of the last survivors to be discharged.[2] Abbott’s name was mistakenly reported as “Rosa” in the press in 1912, leading to longterm confusion among the public.
As a result of the sinking of theTitanic, Abbott had respiratory problems, including severe bouts ofasthma, for the rest of her life.[2] On 16 December 1912, she married longtime friend George Charles Williams, and the couple settled inJacksonville, Florida.[2] By 1928, they had returned to England to settle Williams' father's estate in London. Abbott took care of her husband until his death in 1938.
Abbott died in London ofheart failure as a result ofhypertension on 18 February 1946, at the age of 73.
