Mrs Thornton Davidson (Orian Hays), 27, was born 18 November 1884 the daughter of Charles Melville Hays and Clara Jennings Gregg, She and her husband, Thorton Davidson were returning to their home in Montreal after a holiday in Paris. Mr and Mrs Davidson occupied cabin B-71. Mr and Mrs Hays occupied cabin B-69.
Orian and Clara were rescued in lifeboat 3 but both their husbands were lost.
Clara later remarried to Robert Newmarch Hickson. After her death on 3 May 1979, she was buried next to her parents and first husband at Mount Royal Cemetery, Montreal.
Comment and discuss
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In the bio for Mrs Thornton Davidson (Orian Hays) it states Clara later remarried to Robert Newmarch Hickson. Yet on the gravestone below it gives Robert Newmarch Hickson as beloved husband of Orian. Is this a typo Phil, or am I missing something? Houghie
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Hi Ian, The gravestone provides the correct information. Orian Hays Davidson later remarried to Robert Hickson following the death of her first husband, Thornton, on the Titanic. Her mother, Mrs. Charles (Clara) Hays, never remarried. Regards, Ben
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Cheers Ben It's as I thought (a typo) - but just wanted confirmation as its been one of those days when everything I have wanted to do has just gone from bad to worse. Houghie
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I have read in On A Sea Of Glass that Orian Davidson wrote a private and unpublished letter in which she claimed that Robert Williams Daniel was among the other survivors in Lifeboat #3 in which she was rescued herself. He reportedly helped with the rowing. The book quotes Peter Engberg-Klarstrom as the source of that information but there are no details about who that letter was addressed to or how Mr Engberg-Klarstrom accessed that information. If a copy of that letter is available on the web, I would very much like to see it. I find that very interesting because AFAIK, Orian Davidson is the only other survivor who claimed to have actually seen Daniel in a lifeboat. Moreover, she was Charles Hays' daughter and it is believed that Hays was among the various business connections the Daniel established during the voyage (See ET article on Daniel by Randy Bigham). If that was the case, then there is a high chance that Hays introduced Daniel to his family and so Orian Davidson would...
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I have read in On A Sea Of Glass that Orian Davidson wrote a private and unpublished letter in which she claimed that Robert Williams Daniel was among the other survivors in Lifeboat #3 in which she was rescued herself. He reportedly helped with the rowing. The book quotes Peter Engberg-Klarstrom as the source of that information but there are no details about who that letter was addressed to or how Mr Engberg-Klarstrom accessed that information. If a copy of that letter is available on the web, I would very much like to see it. I find that very interesting because AFAIK, Orian Davidson is the only other survivor who claimed to have actually seen Daniel in a lifeboat. Moreover, she was Charles Hays' daughter and it is believed that Hays was among the various business connections the Daniel established during the voyage (See ET article on Daniel by Randy Bigham). If that was the case, then there is a high chance that Hays introduced...
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Hello Arun. Alleged text from the letter in question was shared with several individuals back in the late 90s or early 00s. Peter was kind enough to share that information that was passed along to him as part of a discussion about the validity of Daniels' claims to have been rescued from the water. However, it should be clarified that nobody has seen the actual alleged letter that the text was said to be from, just some of the text, and even though nobody knew it at the time, the letter has subsequently been revealed to be a possible fake. Please understand that Peter is not the original source of the letter, and is not the one responsible, if it is indeed fake. The person responsible is known, but it is not helpful to go down that road here. In any event, the supposed Davidson text cannot be relied on to yield any clues as to Daniels' survival. We will have to update that text/endnote in a future printing of the book. We have made a number of updates to it over the years. I...
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Thank you Mr Engberg-Klarstrom and Mr Fitch. Please let me clarify that in my post #4 above I was merely looking for additional information - if available - from you two respected Titanic historians. I assumed that during your exhaustive researches, you might have come across bits of information that are not published elsewhere - this letter being one of them. However, from what you have said, I accept that the letter might be a fake and in the best interests of all concerned, you don't want to discuss it further. Fine, we'll leave it there. But it still leaves Robert Williams Daniel's mode of escape from the sinking Titanic a big mystery. He was a fairly easily recognizable man but no one seems to recall him in any lifeboat. His own statements are vague and sometimes improbable considering the chain of events. Like for example seeing Captain Smith near the bridge as it flooded and then describing his escape as though he was jumping off the rising stern. I find...
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