Encyclopedia Titanica

Rhoda Abbott

Third Class Passenger

Rhoda Abbott
Rhoda Abbott

Mrs Rhoda (aka Rosa) Abbott,1 was born Rhoda Hunt in Ludgershall, Buckinghamshire on 25 January 1873,2 the daughter of Joseph Hunt (born 1847), labourer, and his wife Sarah (née Green, born 1853).  Her birth was registered in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.  She was baptised on 5 October 1873 in Ludgershall.

She had two siblings, Thomas William (1870-1919) and Lizzie (aka Eizabeth Gertrude, 1880-1957).

In 1881 Sarah and her three children were recorded as lodging at 3 Thomas Row, Regent St., Kensal Green, Willesden, London.  Joseph was to be found at his parents' house in Ludgershall.

On 7 Nov 1881, Rhoda was admitted to the Beethoven Street School, in nearby Queens Park.

In 1891 Sarah, Lizzie and Rhoda were living at 29 Oliphant St, London. Sarah is listed as a widow, working as a laundress.3 Rhoda is listed as a machinist shopwoman. 

Rhoda settled in Providence, Rhode Island in 1892, and soon after met and married London-born George "Stanton" Abbott.4,5  

Abbott was an accomplished boxer who turned professional early in his career. He had boxed in America in the early 1890s, but arrived to settle on 15 April 1893, aboard the SS New York; he became naturalized on 6 April 1894.

Abbott had been the lightweight champion of England, and he later worked as a freelance boxing promoter and referee, swimming teacher, boxing teacher, and physical instructor.

Stanton Abbott
The Times-Picayune (26 Sep 1894)

Rhoda and Stanton had two children, Rossmore and Eugene, both born in Rhode Island.

In May 1901, Rhoda, Rossmore, Eugene, and her mother Sarah, were recorded on the passenger list on the SS New England, travelling to Liverpool, from Boston, via Queenstown.  

In 1906 Rhoda, together with Rossmore (10) and Eugene (7) made the return voyage.  It is unknown whether they had been in England the whole time or if this was a different trip.  They left Liverpool aboard the SS Saxonia on 4 September arriving in Boston on 13 September and travelling to their home at 132 Chestnut St., Providence, Rhode Island.

Rhoda and George drifted apart and were divorced by 1910.

Rhoda Abbott was of medium height, had a dark complexion, and long, dark hair. She supported herself and her sons by dressmaking and sewing. She was also active as a soldier in the Salvation Army.

In the 1910 Census, she was listed as living with her two boys, and a boarder named George Charles Williams.  Williams worked as a silversmith, and it may not be coincidental that Rhoda's eldest son was apprenticed as an electro-gilder.

In August 1911 Mrs Abbott decided to move to England to live with her mother in St. Albans, Hertfordshire.6 She and her boys made the crossing to England on board the Olympic. It wasn't long, however, before Rossmore and Eugene became homesick for Providence, and Mrs Abbott eventually decided to return to the states for her sons' benefit.

In April of 1912, she booked her little family's passage back to America as steerage passengers on board the Titanic (ticket number C.A. 2673, £20 5s). Rhoda's cabin was close to that of Amy Stanley.

As the Titanic took her final plunge Mrs Abbott and her two sons jumped from the deck, she managed to get into Collapsible A but the two boys were lost. The boat had been swamped as it was launched and its occupants balanced precariously in knee-deep water until they were eventually picked up by Collapsible D. Fifth Officer Harold Lowe ensured the survivors were transferred. It drifted away with three bodies still in it, their faces covered by lifebelts.

Amy Stanley later recalled:

"We were very close since we were on the Titanic together. And her stateroom had been near mine. I was the only one that she could talk to about her sons because I knew them myself. She told me that she would get [sic] in the lifeboat if there hadn't been so many people around. So she and her sons kept together. She was thankful that [the] three of them had stayed with her on that piece of wreckage. The youngest went first then the other son went. She grew numb and cold and couldn't remember when she got on the Carpathia. There was a piece of cork in her hair and I managed to get a comb and it took a long time but finally we got it out."

During the voyage to New York Mrs Abbott stayed in a makeshift bed on a padded sheet in the smoking room because her legs were badly damaged from the effects of cold water. Indeed, according to one source (Pellegrino 1988) her injuries were so severe that she did not stir from her cot on the Carpathia until New York and then spent at least two more weeks hospitalized. She was looked after from there by her church (Grace Episcopal Church) in Providence, Rhode Island where her son Rossmore had once been in the boy's choir. It is thought that the Abbott's 3rd class passage back to the U.S. had been arranged by members of Grace Church.

On 16 December 1912, in Swansea, Massachusetts, she married her former lodger, George Charles Williams. On the marriage record it erroneously stated that it was her first marriage. He was listed as a brass worker, and she as a dressmaker.

On 29 January 1916, Stanton Abbott remarried to Edna Donohue (née Nelson).  It was reported in the Boston Globe at the time that he had lost his first wife on the Titanic.  He would later work as a machinist at a fire extinguisher factory. He died around 1941.

Rhoda and George
Rhoda and George Williams
(Courtesy of Phillip Gowan)

Rhoda and George settled in Jacksonville, Florida where he worked as a bookbinder.  In 1928 they moved back to England, originally intending to wind up George's father's estate and return to Florida, but after George suffered a debilitating stroke, they decided to remain living at their home in Barnes, Surrey.  George died in 1938, and Rhoda was still living at their home in Barnes when she died on 18 February 1946.

FOUND DEAD.--About noon on Monday a neighbour found Mrs. Rhoda Williams (80), of 47, of  47 Cleveland-road, dead in bed. She had died from natural causes. — Richmond Herald - 23 February 1946

Notes

  1. Often listed in articles and books as Rosa Abbott, official documents all seem to refer to the name Rhoda, however she is listed on both a 1902 and 1906 passenger list as Rosa Abbott.  Some sources also refer to the middle name of Mary, but no supporting evidence for this can be found.
  2. The date of birth is frequently listed as 14 or 15 January, the birth certificate gives 25 January as the date. Her birthplace is usually given as Aylesbury, but this is where the birth was registered.
  3. Sarah was listed as a widow, but it seems possible that Joseph was not dead.  There is evidence (yet to be confirmed) that he was listed in the 1911 census as living in a tent at Tetchwick Farm, Ludgershall, Aylesbury, Bucks and died in 1925. If he wasn't dead, his family presumably thought he was, because he was listed as deceased on his daughter Lizzie's 1900 marriage certificate.
  4. So far no marriage record in England or the USA can be found. It is possible they were not legally married.  She stated on her 1912 marriage to George Charles Williams that it was her first marriage.
  5. Stanton Abbott was his nom de guerre, i.e. a professional name. His true identity is a mystery but one newspaper revealed, how accurately is unknown, that his true name was Falkener.
  6. The place was given as St. Albanshurst in newspaper articles, an error that has been widely perpetuated.  There is no such place.

Research Articles

Phillip Gowan (2004) Rhoda Abbott
Robert L. Bracken Voyage (2004) The Mystery of Rhoda Abbott Revealed
Unravelling a Titanic enigma
Taking a Titanic tour of New England

Newspaper Articles

Bridgwater Mercury T. Threlfall, Leading Fireman
Chicago Daily News (19 April 1912) Bury Four Of The Dead At Sea
Impressive Services Over Victims Are Held Aboard the Carpathia
The Evening Bulletin (Providence, RI) (19 April 1912) Mrs Rose Abbott, Of This City, One Of Those Saved
Declines to give local address
Worcester Telegram (20 April 1912) Mrs Abbott Is Still In Hospital
Pawtucket Times (22 April 1912) Mrs. Abbott Says 7 Women Were Left
The Evening Bulletin (Providence, RI) (22 April 1912) Two Providence, Boys Added To Titanic Lost
Sons of Mrs Rosa Abbott, among victims of disaster.
The Evening Herald (Fall River) (23 April 1912) Sank With Ship Holding To Sons
Mrs. Stanton Abbott's Marvelous Escape from Death In Titanic Disaster
The Evening Bulletin (Providence, RI) (23 April 1912) School Pupils, Honor Graduate Lost On Titanic
Mother tells how her boys died
Herts Advertiser & St. Albans Times (4 May 1912) Account Of Thomas Threlfall
New York Times (4 May 1912) Minia Reports Two Bodies
Ship Returning to Halifax---Patrick O'Keefe's Story of Rescue
The Evening Bulletin (Providence, RI) (6 May 1912) Mrs Rosa Abbott Improved; In City On Business Trip.
Mrs Rosa Abbott Improved; in City on Business Trip.
The Evening Bulletin (Providence, RI) (21 May 1912) Men Saved While Women Stood On Deck, Is Charge.
Mrs Rosa Abbott tells of scenes on Titanic

Documents and Certificates

Contract Ticket List, White Star Line 1912, National Archives, New York; NRAN-21-SDNYCIVCAS-55[279]).

Bibliography

Walter Lord (1955) A Night to Remember
Don Lynch & Ken Marschall (1992) Titanic: An Illustrated History, London, Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0 340 56271 4
John P. Eaton & Charles A. Haas (1994) Titanic: Triumph & Tragedy, Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1 85260 493 X

Portrait of Stanton Abbott Death Certificate Birth Certificate

Titanic Passenger Summary

Name: Mrs Rhoda Abbott (née Hunt)
Age: 39 years 2 months and 21 days (Female)
Nationality: English
Marital Status: Divorced
Embarked: Southampton on Wednesday 10th April 1912
Ticket No. CA2673, £20 5s
Rescued (boat A)  
Disembarked Carpathia: New York City on Thursday 18th April 1912
Died: Monday 18th February 1946 aged 73 years
Cause of Death:
Ashes Scattered: Mortlake Crematorium, Richmond, Surrey, England on Saturday 23rd February 1946

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