Did a female victim on Titanic get stuck in her room?

Ann Elizabeth Isham, a first class passenger, was never seen by anyone that left an account of the sinking. It is speculated that she may have remained in her cabin throughout.


Stewardess-matron, Catherine Wallis, also died, reportedly returning to her cabin stating "I am not going on deck; I am going back where I am safe."

Twelve Second Class ladies died in the sinking, several of whom were not seen at all during the sinking.
 
Regarding those 12 Second Class ladies lost, I suspect that Finnish passenger Martta Hiltunen might have gone back to her room after he missed getting into Lifeboat #4. She was nowhere near Collapsible D when that boat was loaded and launched only 10 minutes later and no one around recalls seeing her at the time.
 
In my opinion, i don't think that anyone, male or female, got 'stuck' in their cabin ie not being able to get out when they wanted to. But quite a few probably elected to remain in or return to their cabins because either they did not believe that the Titanic was going to sink or (in the latter case) because they missed getting into a lifeboat. One of the latter could have been Martta Hiltunen, a Finnish Second Class passenger who did not follow her cabin mates Anna Hamalainen and the latter's baby son Wiljo into Lifeboat #4, presumably due to confusion arising from the language barrier. Martta was nowhere in the vicinity when Collapsible D was loaded onto the same davits as #4 only 10 minutes later and so one assumes that she returned to her cabin to wait for the end.
 
You know, I understand not believing Titanic would sink, at first. Even Lightoller is on record as having not believed Titanic would sink until rather late in the evacuation process; however, at some point Titanic's list was such that I have a hard time imagining that there was anyone who did not eventually become concerned. Under normal circumstances, I would expect them to eventually figure out that there was a serious issue and leave their cabins.

I have less of a hard time believing that some cadre of men and women realized they were likely to not be saved, and the returned to their cabins (or at least to the warm spaces inside the ship) to await their fate.
 
First-class Steward Henry Etches gave an anecdote of how, in the early stages of the sinking, he knocked on the locked door of C-78 to instruct the occupants to get up to the Boat Deck. He received replies from both a man's voice and a woman's, but could not convince them to open the door. He never found out who was in the cabin, but it's very likely they both perished in C-78.
 
Canin C-78 was occupied by the Minahans and Steward Etches had nothing to do with it or any other cabin on C-deck. In his testimony statement about the couple who refused to open the door of their cabin in response to his knocking, Etches simply said "Cabin 78". In fact, he meant Cabin B-78 which was within his area of service.

Officially Cabin B-78 was occupied by the Spencer couple, but according to the Cave List they were in B-76. No one else's name was associated with B-78 and so officially it was unoccupied. There is the possibility that the couple in B-78 were there for a noctural rendezvous, which would explain why they did not open the door to Etches. But that did not mean that either of them died in the disaster; Etches left the Titanic on board Lifeboat #5, which was launched at 12:48am or so. Therefore, there was plenty of time for the couple in B-78 to come out after Etches had left and mingle with the crowd milling around. One or both of them could then have managed to get into a lifebpat.
 
Canin C-78 was occupied by the Minahans and Steward Etches had nothing to do with it or any other cabin on C-deck. In his testimony statement about the couple who refused to open the door of their cabin in response to his knocking, Etches simply said "Cabin 78". In fact, he meant Cabin B-78 which was within his area of service.

Officially Cabin B-78 was occupied by the Spencer couple, but according to the Cave List they were in B-76. No one else's name was associated with B-78 and so officially it was unoccupied. There is the possibility that the couple in B-78 were there for a noctural rendezvous, which would explain why they did not open the door to Etches. But that did not mean that either of them died in the disaster; Etches left the Titanic on board Lifeboat #5, which was launched at 12:48am or so. Therefore, there was plenty of time for the couple in B-78 to come out after Etches had left and mingle with the crowd milling around. One or both of them could then have managed to get into a lifebpat.
The Spencers were always officially in B-76, the accommodation plan saved by the Spencer’s maid even has B-76 crossed on it. I have a theory that the couple in B-78 were Lucien and Mary Eloise Smith as their placement in C-31 isn’t grounded in reality not to mention that the description Mrs. Smith gave on the Carpathia doesn’t match C-31 but does match B-78.
 
I have a theory that the couple in B-78 were Lucien and Mary Eloise Smith as their placement in C-31 isn’t grounded in reality not to mention that the description Mrs. Smith gave on the Carpathia doesn’t match C-31 but does match B-78.
Could be, but I have two issues with it. IF Etches was broadly telling the truth about the encounter and exchange across the closed door with the couple, why would Lucien and Eloise, a married couple, not open the door to ask what it was all about? Also, from everything that I have read about her, Eloise Smith came across as a rather nervous, high-strung young woman unlikley to have responded to the steward's knocking with a forthright response like "tell me what's happened" or similar. Again assuming that Etches was correct with his wording, IMO in 1912 a married woman with her husband in their bedroom might demand "tell us what happened" but the "me" suggests to me (pun intended) that she was an individualistic and experienced single traveller. That's why I thought about that other free-spirited young lady I mentioned to you in the other threads, along with her single male friend known to have been a 'ladies man'.

Just speculating.
 
You know, I understand not believing Titanic would sink, at first. Even Lightoller is on record as having not believed Titanic would sink until rather late in the evacuation process; however, at some point Titanic's list was such that I have a hard time imagining that there was anyone who did not eventually become concerned. Under normal circumstances, I would expect them to eventually figure out that there was a serious issue and leave their cabins.

I have less of a hard time believing that some cadre of men and women realized they were likely to not be saved, and the returned to their cabins (or at least to the warm spaces inside the ship) to await their fate.
True, some people may have gone into denial though.
 
IF Etches was broadly telling the truth about the encounter and exchange across the closed door with the couple, why would Lucien and Eloise, a married couple, not open the door to ask what it was all about?
Mrs. Smith described in her statement to the American Senate inquiry that she took plenty of time in dressing herself. The reason why she didn’t opened the door if it truly was her was maybe because she was not ‘decent’ because she was still dressing herself.
Also, from everything that I have read about her, Eloise Smith came across as a rather nervous, high-strung young woman unlikley to have responded to the steward's knocking with a forthright response like "tell me what's happened" or similar. Again assuming that Etches was correct with his wording, IMO in 1912 a married woman with her husband in their bedroom might demand "tell us what happened" but the "me" suggests to me (pun intended) that she was an individualistic and experienced single traveller.
She felt rather frightened by what her husband told her. Interestingly she also stated in her statement the following:
I started out, putting on my life preserver, when we met a steward, who was on his way to tell us to put on life preservers and come on deck.
It’s possible Mrs. Smith wanted to know more as to why the ship had stopped and hence why she used ‘me’ instead of ‘us’
that she was an individualistic and experienced single traveller. That's why I thought about that other free-spirited young lady I mentioned to you in the other threads, along with her single male friend known to have been a 'ladies man'.
There is evidence against that claim sadly, as much as I find it an intriguing theory. Etches knew that a couple occupied B-78, who were undoubtedly Americans, a stiff-built gentleman and a short, thin lady with a shortish name Etches fancied that began with a S.


With Mrs. Spencer having a noticeable French accent according to relatives, as well as being in B-76 instead, it’s unlikely she and her husband were the ones Etches referred to, as well as mentioning seeing a different couple at the door of B-76 later on. (Beside the Baxter family in B-58/60, Mr. Ismay in B-52/54/56 and possibly Emil Brandeis in B-70 there were no other passengers on the port side in the outboard amidships section).


Interestingly, Mrs. Smith also never mentioned of going up nor down after leaving the café Parisien which could serve as an indicator she and her husband were on B-deck. The only other three couples without a factual stateroom occupancy are the Holverson's, the Meyers and Gertrude Thorne and George Rosenshine.
 
Mrs. Smith described in her statement to the American Senate inquiry that she took plenty of time in dressing herself. The reason why she didn’t opened the door if it truly was her was maybe because she was not ‘decent’ because she was still dressing herself.
As I said, it is possible that they were Mr & Mrs Smith but I am not convinced. If Eloise Smith did not know what had happened, why would she have been dressing herself in the middle of th night? If it had been them, at the very least Lucian Smith would have opened the door a notch, peered out and asked Etches what the excitement was about.

Neither Eloise or Edith begins with an 'S'; as for the surname, think about it. Who would forget what is probably the commonest of Anglo-Saxon surnames - Smith? So, Etches could not have been referring to the surname of the couple inside the locked room; if he was, he would have simply said "Smith" (if your theory was correct) and not simply something that began with an 'S'.
 
If Eloise Smith did not know what had happened, why would she have been dressing herself in the middle of th night?
Her husband told her:
"We are in the north and have struck an iceberg: It does not amount to anything, but probably delay us a day getting into New York. However, as a matter of form, the captain has ordered all ladies on deck."
He then assured her there was no danger and then they started to take their time with dressing.
If it had been them, at the very least Lucian Smith would have opened the door a notch, peered out and asked Etches what the excitement was about.
Keep in mind this was the Edwardian era, perhaps Lucian was putting warm clothing on themselves and wanted privacy too.
Neither Eloise or Edith begins with an 'S'; as for the surname, think about it. Who would forget what is probably the commonest of Anglo-Saxon surnames - Smith? So, Etches could not have been referring to the surname of the couple inside the locked room; if he was, he would have simply said "Smith" (if your theory was correct) and not simply something that began with an 'S'.
He wasn't certain of the last name, he said:
"It was a shortish name, and I fancy it began with S."
He also said:
"I do not know anyone outside of the people in my section."
With having to look after the Carter family, their valet Mr. Cairns, Mr. Ismay's secretary William H Harrison, Mr. Guggenheim, his secretary Mr. Giglio and Thomas Andrews Jr (possibly he looked after the Odell/May party as well, as I believe they were possibly in B-88, B-90 and B-92) he had his hands quite full, as well as keeping the staterooms clean and to assure everything was arranged. With that in mind, with everything on his mind after the sinking and his duties on-board, can you blame him for forgetting it?
 
Getting back to the question of the OP, as has been discussed before First Class passenger and Titanic victim Ann Isham has been speculated by some to have been trapped in her room and drowned. IMO that conjecture is false and almost entirely based on the fact that most other survivors from around her Cabin C-49 did not recall meeting her on board, including the nosy parker Colonel Gracie who occupied Cabin C-51, the one next to Isham. But further research showed that Mrs Isham did interact with a few other survivors, notably Kornelia Andrews, her sister Ann Hogeboom and their neice Gretchen Longley, with whom she almost certainly shared a dining table. Those women actively searched for Ann Isham on board the Carpathia, as did Antoinette Flegenheim, with whom she appears to have had a social contact. Ann Isham might have also met and interacted with others, especially male First Class passengers but who were unable to corroborate the fact because they did not survive themselves.

As I said before, I don't believe that any passenger in any of the three classes was actually trapped in their room during the sinking. However, due to a combination of misreading the situation and/or oversleeping, a few might have left it too late to get to the boat deck; I believe something like that happened to Ann Isham. On board the Carpathia there was a young female journalist named May Birkhead who claimed to have spoken to an unnamed surviving First Class steward from the Titanic. This man reportedly told Birkhead that one of his charges, a middle aged lady passenger travelling alone, laughed off his message about the Captain's instructions for passengers to don life vests and get up to the boat deck as soon as possible. She did not believe that the Titanic was in any danger and insisted on getting back into bed, and the steward never saw her again.

If the story is true, the steward is most likely Charles Cullen and the passenger Ann Isham, who was one of the only four adult women from First Class who died that night. If it had really happened that way and she had gone back to sleep, the progressive sinking of the ship by the bow and the later port list would certainly have alerted Ann Isham at some stage that something was seriously wrong. She would have then got dressed, worn the life vest and gone upstairs, but by the time she got her bearings on the by then dark, crowded and noisy boat deck, it might have become too late for her to find a place in a lifeboat. I think Ann Isham was one of the "four or five women" that Steward Edward brown saw 'struggling in the water' moments after Collapsible A floated free.

A few ET members have added another possible dimension, although this one is pure speculation. A few passengers took sleeping tablets and in those days they were usually chloral hydrate compounds, which were rather strong. If Ann Isham had taken a sleeping pill after consuming a glass of table wine at dinner, their combined effects could have been enough to make her sleep deeply and not realize what was happeneing till too late.
 
Could be, but I have two issues with it. IF Etches was broadly telling the truth about the encounter and exchange across the closed door with the couple, why would Lucien and Eloise, a married couple, not open the door to ask what it was all about? Also, from everything that I have read about her, Eloise Smith came across as a rather nervous, high-strung young woman unlikley to have responded to the steward's knocking with a forthright response like "tell me what's happened" or similar. Again assuming that Etches was correct with his wording, IMO in 1912 a married woman with her husband in their bedroom might demand "tell us what happened" but the "me" suggests to me (pun intended) that she was an individualistic and experienced single traveller. That's why I thought about that other free-spirited young lady I mentioned to you in the other threads, along with her single male friend known to have been a 'ladies man'.

Just speculating.
It may just have been a case of, "we are sleeping and/or in a state of undress, so why are you bothering me?" I can tell you that under the best of circumstances I hardly ever open my door when people knock.

Edit.

And if this event occurred during the initial informing of the passengers to make their way to the boat deck, I seriously doubt Etches had the time to stand there and wait for someone to get dressed and come to the door before moving on.
 
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