Mrs John Henry Chapman (Sarah Elizabeth Lawry) was born at Tremorkin, St Neot, Liskeard, Cornwall, England in the Spring of 1882, later being baptised on 6 October that year.
She was the daughter of William Henry Lawry (b. 1848), a farmer, and Emma Hill (b. 1849), both natives of Cornwall who had married on 22 June 1880.
She had three siblings: William Joseph Edward (b. 1880), Emma Louisa (b. 1884) and Charles Edwards Hill (b. 1889).
Sarah first appears on the 1891 census living with her family at Tremorcome in St Neot parish. Her father died later that year on 29 December 1891 and her mother never remarried; the remaining family are shown on the 1901 census living at an unspecified address in St Neot with a 19-year-old Sarah having no stated profession. Her mother died on 10 April 1910 and the 1911 census shows Sarah and her brother Charles, a tin miner, residing at Dye House in St Neot; again she had no stated occupation.
Her brother William, a carpenter, had emigrated around 1906, initially to Canada before settling in Fitchburgh, Dane, Wisconsin in 1909. Her younger brother also emigrated to Wisconsin later in 1911, leaving Sarah in Cornwall.
For many years Sarah had been corresponding with a childhood sweetheart John Henry Chapman (b. 1875), also from Liskeard but who had emigrated in 1906 and had made his home in Spokane, Washington since 1910. The two became engaged and with the intention of marrying, Mr Chapman left his Washington home in November 1911 and returned to Cornwall. He and Sarah were wed on Christmas Day 1 1911 at the Wesleyan Chapel.
Mr and Mrs Chapman boarded the Titanic at Southampton as second class passengers (ticket number 29037 which cost £26, purchased from George & Co of Liskeard). Sources differ over the eventual destination of the couple; one unidentified newspaper states that they were headed to Mr Chapman's home (1-2 Monroe Street) in Spokane whilst another states they were destined for the home of Mrs Chapman's brother William in Fitzburgh, Dane, Wisconsin; it is possible they were travelling to Spokane via Wisconsin. Whilst aboard the couple became friendly with Mr Samuel James Hocking of Devon and several others from Cornwall, including Mrs Emily Richards and her family and Mr James Vivian Drew and his family.
On the night of the sinking, according to Mrs Emily Richards, the Chapmans, the Drews, Hockings and Richards all waited on the deck together as the evacuation was taking place. The Drews later became separated from the main crowd and the remainder in the party were escorted to lifeboat 4 which was being filled from A-deck promenade. Mrs Chapman was reportedly following behind Mrs Richards as she began her climb into the boat but, realising her husband would not be allowed to accompany her said 'Goodbye Mrs Richards, if John can't go, I won't go either' before stepping back and rejoining her husband.
Mr and Mrs Chapman both died in the sinking. Mrs Chapman's body, if recovered, was never identified but the body of her husband was recovered and buried at Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Among his possessions was her handbag and their marriage certificate.
The couple are remembered on a family headstone in St Neot's Cemetery, belonging to her aunt Emma Elizabeth Lawry (1853-1934):
IN
LOVING MEMORY OF
JOHN HENRY CHAPMAN
AGED 35 YEARS
ALSO OF HIS WIFE
SARAH ELIZABETH CHAPMAN
AGED 30 YEARS
WHO LOST THEIR LIVES THROUGH THE
SINKING OF THE TITANIC IN 1912.
PEACE, PERFECT PEACE
Her brother William remained in the USA and became a naturalised citizen in 1928, settling in Wisconsin for the rest of his life where he was married and raised a family 2. He died in 1959.
Her brother Charles also remained in the USA where he worked as a farmhand in Oregon, Dane, Wisconsin. He died in 1934.
I have previously used the message board,but have been off line for a few months owing to a house move. Mr John Henry Chapman was my gr.uncle. He & his wife lost their lives on their honeymoon vogage.I have postcards sent from Queenstown to my mother& my aunt, also some of the effects noted in the records. My new e mail address is
Hello, Sheila. I have read about some stories about your great uncle and aunt. Do you still have the postcards now? - Hydie
Hi, Sheila! Nice to see you here again! :-) I'm still plugging away on my project and would like to thank you once again for your kindness and for all the help you've given me in the past. Take care, my friend. Sincerely, George
Hi All, Did anyone in the UK watch "Country File" on BBC TV on Sunday morning? (Sounds off topic, but it's not). John Craven , the presentor, was in St. Neots in Cornwall and was interviewing a local historian and she took him to the memorial to Sara Elizabeth and John Henry Chapman. She told the story of what happened prior to the sinking. According to her John had left Sara in the UK while he went to the USA or Canada because Saras' mother was ill, anyway Saras mum died and he came back to the UK to take her back accross the pond on the Titanic. Now here is the rub, as the ship was...
I had the TV on in the background and wasn't paying any attention to the prog until I caught the word 'Titanic', and then of course I started listening! The real story can be found in the recollections of Emily Richards. As a fellow Cornishwoman, she had made friends with the Chapmans and they, along with Emily's family, waited as a group until boat 4 was loading. When it became clear that her husband would have to stay behind, Sara made the decision to stay with him. So there's a kernel of truth in the TV version, but only insofar as Sara chose to die with her husband rather than live...
Cheers Bob, That is what I had read had happened, but when you hear a story from a reputed historian it's got to make you think. Again thanks Bob Best wishes and Rgds Dennis
>>That is what I had read had happened, but when you hear a story from a reputed historian it's got to make you think.
My parents and I think They were desendants from us. I think they stayed together too late and were crushed by the funnel when it fell as depicted in ANTR as anyone would know that the Chapmans were portrayed
Matthew, Unless they had children before they married it seems unlikely that your family could be descended from John and Sara Chapman. I understand they were on their honeymoon. You might however be related to them through other family members. Unfortunately the URL links on this web-site are not presently working, so I cannot see who received monies from the MANSION HOUSE TITANIC RELIEF FUND or read the PROBATE REPORT for John's death.
The honeymoon couple in ANTR (the Clarkes) were 'composite characters', there to represent all of the 2nd Class (and all of the young couples) on board. They weren't intended to represent any particular real people, though Mrs Clarke's refusal to be separated from her husband with the comment "We started out together and we'll finish together" were taken from Lightoller's recollection of an American couple on the boat deck. But even if the Clarkes had been based on the Chapmans, their death scene came from the screenwriter's imagination rather than any factual account of the sinking. No...
Let me rephrase that. I meant to say Distant distant relatives
Hello Bob You wrote, 'American couple.' I also thought that however, someone pointed out that western, which was the exact word used, meant western England.
Hallo, Michael. Lightoller's words were "evidently from the Western States". Over here we don't have States. We would refer to 'the West country' or perhaps 'the Western Counties'.
Hello Bob, Well this theory came from an English researcher who told me said that. Odd that another Englishman would not catch the 'states' thing unless that term sometimes used in certain parts of the country. I have an English friend that uses the word 'lawyer' and another who uses 'soliciter'.
Well, Michael, I can only assure you that we don't have any Western States over here, and I'd be amazed if any English person would assert otherwise. Thanks to Hollywood, the Americanisation of standard English is well advanced, but it's still selective. We haven't yet got round (not gotten round, note ) to calling our pounds dollars or our counties states. Not in the West country nor in any other part of England I have live in over the past nearly 60 years. 'Lawyer', by the way, is as traditional a term here as in the US, but we rarely use the word 'attorney',...
Hello Bob Well since one English person says it correct and another English person says it is not correct, I guess it's better to let English people debate the nuances of their dialect. I will say, the word lawyer, was not always common on your side of the pond. Agatha Christie once mentioned that when talking about the denouement of one of her books. I see it is used more frequently now, but apparently it was not always so.
Michael, we're not discussing the nuances of dialect here, but the interpretation of a book written in standard English. During his Gold Rush episode, Lightoller writes of teaming up with a group which included two Americans from the Black Hills. He refers to them as "our Western States men". So we do know that Lightoller used that term to mean just what we would expect it to mean, and was well qualified to recognise the characteristics of Westerners. And he surely recognised them on the boat deck that night. .
Hello Bob, Actually if you throw away dialect and other spurious details- you are working with an account written well over 20 years later. Did he mention this couple in 1912 letters, accounts, or testimony? How can we be sure this was not some flourish he decided to add to the story? I've read certain things in his book that I don't think happened the way he remembered it. So we should not take every word he writes as fact! Going back to dialect, since he was exposed to Americans- can you be sure that he did not take to calling certain parts of England- 'Western states'? We just don't...
I certainly agree, Michael, that an autobiography can be populated to some extent with composite characters, more representative than real. But I have no doubt whatsoever that Lightoller was describing this particular couple (whether real or imagined) as natives of the American West. Lightoller was a well-travelled man and knew his geography. We know that elsewhere in the same publication he used the term 'Western States' correctly to signify a region of your country. We can be equally certain that he knew that there are no 'Western States' in his own country, either on the ground or in...
Yes, I see that you are immovable in your position as well, which is your prerogative. We just have to accept that dialect is constantly changing and that if the event with the couple did happen, which there is 50-50 possibility that it did not, he was not entirely clear. If you can find exact evidence- than that can put the matter to rest. I think another person from England commented a few years ago on this, and said the may have a been a British couple as well. I am sure it is here somewhere on the board. Goodness knows what thread it is under.