Miss Evelyn Marsden

Miss Evelyn Marsden, 28, was born on 15 October 1883 at Stockyard Creek, Dalkey, the daughter of railway worker Walter Henry Marsden and Annie Bradshaw. Stockyard Creek is about 80 km north of Adelaide, South Australia and is now in ruins. By 1912, her father was the Stationmaster at Hoyleton, a tiny town about 20 km further north.

When Evelyn, whose previously ship had been the Olympic, signed-on to the Titanic on 6 April 1912 she gave her address as 7 West Marlands Terrace (Polygon, Southampton). As a stewardess she was paid monthly wages of £3 10s.

She was rescued in lifeboat 16

In her youth Evelyn would visit a farm at Murray Bridge, South Australia. While there she was taught to row a boat against the tides and currents of the Murray River. When Evelyn returned to South Australia after the Titanic disaster she made her way up to the farm and thanked the family for teaching her to row and handle a boat properly.

Shortly after the Titanic tragedy, Evelyn married Dr William Abel James, who had also worked for the White Star Line. They arrived back in Adelaide, South Australia at the Semaphore anchorage in November 1912. Her husband took up residence as a doctor at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and they moved into a new apartment in Ruthven Mansions on Pulteney Street. The couple then moved to the South Australian coastal town of Wallaroo and lived and worked there for 15 months before they moved to the Sydney suburb of Bondi where William continued to practice as a doctor. They had no children

Evelyn died 30 August 1938, her husband died soon after. His grand nephew said Dr James arranged to die when he did as he could not bear to live without his beloved Evelyn.

Evelyn James (née Marsden) and her husband are buried at Waverley Cemetery in Sydney, Australia. Until recently the grave was unmarked but on 5 October 2000 a stone was finally erected on the site.