K
Kathy A. Miles
Guest
I was just re-reading "Titanic Women and Children First" and got to the part about Maria Josefa Penasco and her husband Victor. She was the bride in the lifeboat whom the Countess of Rothes tried to comfort. Anway, in the book they say that her father took her to Halifax to look for Victor's body. His motive was that according to Spanish law, a body had to be present in order for someone to be considered "really dead" and for the widow to get any inheritance. They didn't find Victor, so according to the book, on pp 59-62, they...
"with the consent of Senora Purificacion, money changed hands and a body magically appeared under the name of Penasco in the Fifth folio of the Halifax death certificates, attested to by the Vice Council of Spain in Canada. Senor Victor was officially buried in Fairview Cemetary and Pepita returned to Madrid one of Titanic's many widows."
I've been suspicious about some of the other things which the author assumes and this is one of them. Why would someone admit such a deception years later? Does anyone know more about this? I wonder who they really buried? This is one of the more bizzarre Titanic stories!
Cheers,
Kathy
"with the consent of Senora Purificacion, money changed hands and a body magically appeared under the name of Penasco in the Fifth folio of the Halifax death certificates, attested to by the Vice Council of Spain in Canada. Senor Victor was officially buried in Fairview Cemetary and Pepita returned to Madrid one of Titanic's many widows."
I've been suspicious about some of the other things which the author assumes and this is one of them. Why would someone admit such a deception years later? Does anyone know more about this? I wonder who they really buried? This is one of the more bizzarre Titanic stories!
Cheers,
Kathy