Sarah
Stap (1st August 1864 to 27th
March 1937)
Sarah was one of the 750 people who survived when Titanic struck an iceberg in the North
Atlantic ocean and sank. Ironically she was born on a ship off the coast in the
Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean (her dad Henry was the commander.) She was
one of five children (another sister was also born at sea.)
She was 47 when the Titanic set sale,
working as a stewardess on £3, 10 shillings per month. Maiden voyages were
nothing new to her as she had been on the Baltic and Adriatic
ships. Her great nephew said she was more a matron than a stewardess.
On the fatal night she was asleep in bed
and was awoken by a "slight bump". She lay in bed for a further
forty-five minutes as she was used to ships thudding against big waves. She ascended
to the decks to see lifeboats had already been slung out and the ship was
sinking. A crew member ordered her to board Life Boat 11 immediately; it was
already packed but could take one more person. She told the young cabin boy
beside her that she’d had lived a good amount of her life already and he should
board instead. The boy picked her up and put her in the lifeboat. She was in
the crowded boat for six hours not knowing if they would die of cold before
rescue came.
This ordeal didn’t steer her away from
sailing and she returned to work on various liners. She never married or had
children and lived nearby in Birkenhead with her sister for twenty years. She
died in her sleep aged 72 and lies asleep here for eternity.
As I left the cemetery I passed a
headstone comprising the “Splatt” family. So far I’ve
never knowingly met a Splatt.
Sarah was put on
Lifeboat 11 (shown on left)…
