Encyclopedia Titanica

Ellen 'Nellie' Walcroft

Second Class Passenger

Ellen 'Nellie' Walcroft
Ellen 'Nellie' Walcroft

Miss Ellen "Nellie" Walcroft1 was born at West Street, Maidenhead, Berkshire on 9th December 1875 the daughter of John Wallcroft (Brewer's labourer) and his wife Rebecca (née Broughton). At the time they were living at West Street, Maidenhead, Berkshire.  In the 1881 census, the family are listed as living at 6 Norfolk Park Cottage, Cookham, Berkshire.

Nellie had an older brother, Fred (1873-1893) and three younger brothers Walter (1879-1968), Arthur (1882-1924) and John (1884-1885), their mother died just three days after John's birth. The following year, on 22 September 1885 John Walcroft remarried to Louisa Hicks and had five more daughters.

In the 1901 census, Nellie was listed as a cook at the home of surgeon George Moore, in Castle Hill, Maidenhead.  By 1911 she had become a cook in the household of Mr Evan Spicer (a paper manufacturer) at Belair Park, Dulwich.

In order to earn more money, Nellie decided to go to America.  Travelling with her friend Clear Cameron Nellie originally booked on another vessel, but they were transferred when their ship was laid up because of the coal strike. The two ladies boarded the Titanic at Southampton as second class passengers (ticket number F.C.C. 13528, £21). On the Titanic they shared a second class cabin for two on E-Deck.  Her destination was given as Ruddington Farm, Mamaroneck, New York to join her half-sister Lucy Land who had emigrated in 1911.

Nellie Walcroft wrote a letter to the Maidenhead Advertiser dated 23 April 1912 telling her story.

She recounted how she had left Maidenhead on 9 April, stayed in London and caught the special train to Southampton at 8.30 am, 10 April. A sister and a friend said goodbye to her. The train arrived at Southampton Dock station at 10.15 am.

On Sunday night, the 14th, they went to their stateroom about 10.30 p.m. and soon fell asleep. Suddenly there was a crash and she was nearly thrown out of her berth. She woke her friend Clear, by shouting: "Clear, what's that?". The engines had stopped. A steward arrived and said: "Go back to your beds, no danger!", but she heard outside "an iceberg". They dressed and went on deck. There they walked around, when suddenly rockets went up. They finally entered lifeboat 14. Officer Lowe was in command. He shot twice, over the side of the ship, to keep men away from the lifeboat. Then it was lowered and they rowed away.

Nellie said saw the ship split and heard two more explosions from underneath the water, when the Titanic went down. For a few moments it was silent, then terrible crying arose from the people left behind. This seemed to last for hours. When day broke, they saw six large icebergs. Nellie and Clear were transferred to boat 10 when Lowe decided to go back to search for survivors. Six were pulled from the water, two of them died.

At a quarter to seven they were picked up by the Carpathia. They found they had to sleep on the tables of the Dining Saloon. They arrived at New York about 8 p.m. on 18 April where her sister and brother-in-law met her. Mr Carl Land was a chauffeur who had been lent the family car to collect the girls.

From Mamaroneck she sent a cablegram to her parents at 'Briarwood' 4 Furze Road, Furze Platt, Maidenhead, England: "Arrived, well, Nellie".

Miss Walcroft later put a claim to White Star for her loss valued at $651.

Nellie Walcroft stayed for some time at Ruddington Farm. She got a job as cook at Mamaroneck, but she felt very unhappy. Another job at Rye, New York, was no better. Leaving Rye in August, she went to Springfield to look for another job. This didn't materialize so she spent a month at Ruddington Farm with her sister. She tried several other jobs, but could not find one to suit her.

She returned to England during the first world war, and served as a forewoman cook in Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps. Her efforts were rewarded in 1919 by the British Empire Medal, Military Division, which was presented to her by the Consul General in New York on 1 November 1920.

Returning to America, she was counted twice during the 1920 Federal census, On 11 January 1920 she was listed as staying with Lucy and Carl Land, Nellie Walcroft's half-sister and brother-in-law, their daughter and another sister of theirs, Eva Griffin on Wood Crest Ave. (the Bronx or Brooklyn?). It lists her as being 40, single and a cook and having immigrated in 1917.

On 29/30 January 1920 she is listed as a cook in Manhattan in Henry Schniewand's home in Manhattan.  It states that she was 44 and had immigrated in 1912.

On 14 June 1922 she married an Irishman named William George Lipscomb2.  They lived in Brooklyn, New York with William's sister Rebecca.

In 1930 they were living at 295 Ryerson Street, Brooklyn, William was listed as a 'Floor Man' in a bank.  By 1940 they had moved to 292 18 Street, Brooklyn; William's occupation was Apartment House Superintendant and Nellie was listed as a Seamstress.

William died 28 November 1945 and Nellie died 4 September 1949.  

She is buried with her husband in Fairview Cemetery, Westfield, Union County, New Jersey Ward F, Lot 4008.

At an auction in Devises, England, in January 1999, a letter she had written, detailing her travails, was sold for $13,200.

Notes

  1. Most documents, including the Titanic passenger list and the census, spell her surname "Walcroft", her birth certificate and the 1881 census spell it "Wallcroft".
  2. William George Lipscomb was born 17 November 1873 in County Meath, Ireland, he emigrated to America in 1891 (another record says 1900) and became a naturalized citizen in 1904.

References and Sources

Maidenhead Advertiser 29 April 1912, Letter from Nellie Walcroft
William Lipscomb Draft Registration Card

Newspaper Articles

1901 Census (31 March 1901) Nellie Walcroft : 1901 Census Entry
Nellie Walcroft Maidenhead Advertiser (29 April 1912) An Account Of My Journey On The Titanic
Nellie Walcroft's description of the sinking.

Documents and Certificates

1881, 1891, 1901, 1911 Census (England)
Contract Ticket List, White Star Line 1912, National Archives, New York; NRAN-21-SDNYCIVCAS-55[279]).

Miscellaneous

1900, 1910 US Federal Census
Names and Descriptions of British Passengers Embarked at the Port of Southampton, 10 April 1912, National Archives, London; BT 27/780B)

In the Titanic Store

Ted & Dinah Dowding (1997) Clear to America by 'Titanic' and beyond, T. & D. Dowding, Thurso

Birth Certificate

Comment and discuss

  1. Pamela R. Cowan

    Pamela R. Cowan

    I don't know if anyone is still interested in this information but since I posted 10 years ago I know more about Nellie Walcroft's family. My grandparents Carl Henning Land and Lucy Walcroft Land (Nellie's half sister). Carl and Lucy met while they were both working for the McVickar family in London. They were married in 1911. Nellie's parents, John Walcroft and Rebecca Broughton Walcroft actually had 4 boys and Nellie. The birth order was: Fred, Nellie, Walter, Arthur and John. Rebecca Walcroft died shortly after childbirth in 1885 and then the baby, John, died about a month later. After my great grandfather remarried he and his wife, Louisa Hicks Walcroft, had Margaret Rebecca, Lucy Mary, Clara Annie, Eva Jessie, Kitty/Kate and Nancy. As a child growing up I knew about Nellie, Walter, Margaret, Lucy, Eva and Kitty. Thanks to information that Phil Gowan sent me I learned about Clara. Clara's name is very similar to Clear Annie Cameron's name so I wonder if Nellie and Clear... Read full post
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  2. Trevor Baxter

    Trevor Baxter

    I just recently came across Hannah Carthew's message from Jan. 31, 2006. She had questions about Nellie Walcroft's sisters and their families. I can answer some of the questions but I don't know if this information is of interest to others viewing this message board. I'll answer a few of the questions and if others are interested in more information let me know and I'll add it. Carl Land was Nellie's brother-in-law and my grandfather. He was born in Sweden in Varnamo. He left Goteborg, Sweden on 3/23/1898 at age 18 for New York. I think he met my grandmother, Lucy Walcroft, in the US while working for a family but I'm not sure which one. They were married on Oct. 28, 1911 in CT but I don't know where exactly. For their first two children my grandmother returned to her parents' home for the birth of the babies. Their third child was born in the Bronx. Nellie had two brothers, Arthur and Walter, from her father,... Read full post
  3. Mark Baber

    Mark Baber

    Trevor, please note that the message you're responding to is from 2006 and its author has not visited us in over four years, so she may very well not reply.
  4. Pamela Cowan

    Pamela Cowan

    Trevor, I still haven’t found out where Nellie is buried. I know where some of her sisters are buried, if you are interested in that information. Pam
  5. Trevor Baxter

    Trevor Baxter

    Hi Pam, yes I would be interested in this information, could she be buried with one of them? Trevor.
  6. Pamela Cowan

    Pamela Cowan

    Trevor, I doubt very much if she’s buried with any of her sisters. She married late in life and thus never had any children. I don’t think that her husband had any children either but I am not sure. My guess is that she and her husband are buried together in Brooklyn. There’s a possibility that she was sent back to Maidenhead, UK, her hometown. She has a brother, Arthur Walcroft, and her father, John Walcroft, are both buried there. Arthur died in 1924 and John died in 1949. Her brother, Walter, died in 1968 in Aylesbury, UK. Her brother, John, died in Abingdon, UK in 1885. Nellie’s mother, Rebecca, also died in Abingdon, UK in 1884. Her brother, Fred, died in 1893 in Cookham, UK. Her sister, Margaret, died in 1965 in Sumter, SC, USA. Her sister, Lucy, died in Taft, CA, USA in 1983. Her sister, Eva... Read full post
  7. Trevor Baxter

    Trevor Baxter

    Trevor, I doubt very much if she’s buried with any of her sisters. She married late in life and thus never had any children. I don’t think that her husband had any children either but I am not sure. My guess is that she and her husband are buried together in Brooklyn. There’s a possibility that she was sent back to Maidenhead, UK, her hometown. She has a brother, Arthur Walcroft, and her father, John Walcroft, are both buried there. Arthur died in 1924 and John died in 1949. Her brother, Walter, died in 1968 in Aylesbury, UK. Her brother, John, died in Abingdon, UK in 1885. Nellie’s mother, Rebecca, also died in Abingdon, UK in 1884. Her brother, Fred, died in 1893 in Cookham, UK. Her sister, Margaret, died in 1965 in Sumter, SC, USA. Her sister, Lucy, died in Taft, CA, USA in 1983. Her sister, Eva Griffin, died in 1922 and is buried in Fairfield, CT, USA. Maybe she is buried with Eva if she isn’t with... Read full post
  8. Pamela G

    Pamela G

    I just recently came across Hannah Carthew's message from Jan. 31, 2006. She had questions about Nellie Walcroft's sisters and their families. I can answer some of the questions but I don't know if this information is of interest to others viewing this message board. I'll answer a few of the questions and if others are interested in more information let me know and I'll add it. Carl Land was Nellie's brother-in-law and my grandfather. He was born in Sweden in Varnamo. He left Goteborg, Sweden on 3/23/1898 at age 18 for New York. I think he met my grandmother, Lucy Walcroft, in the US while working for a family but I'm not sure which one. They were married on Oct. 28, 1911 in CT but I don't know where exactly. For their first two children my grandmother returned to her parents' home for the birth of the babies. Their third child was born in the Bronx. Nellie had two brothers, Arthur and Walter, from her father,... Read full post

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Titanic Passenger Summary

Name: Miss Ellen 'Nellie' Walcroft
Age: 36 years 4 months and 6 days (Female)
Nationality: English
Marital Status: Single
Last Residence: in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England
Occupation: Cook
Embarked: Southampton on Wednesday 10th April 1912
Ticket No. 13528, £21
Rescued (boat 14)  
Disembarked Carpathia: New York City on Thursday 18th April 1912
Died: Sunday 4th September 1949 aged 73 years
Buried:Fairview Cemetery, Westfield, New Jersey, United States

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