Elisabeth Walton Allen - Titanic First Class Passenger
Miss Elisabeth Walton Allen was a 29 year old, American, first class passenger travelling back to St. Louis, Missouri, aboard Titanic with her cousin Miss Georgette Alexandra Madill, her aunt Mrs Edward Scott Robert, and her aunt’s maid Miss Emilie Kreuchen. She boarded Titanic at Southampton and shared cabin B5 with her cousin Georgette Madill. She is said to have been returning home to pick up her possessions to take back to Britain, where she intended to live upon marrying.
Elisabeth Allen, the daughter of George and Lydia Allen, was born on Sunday 1st October 1882 in St Louis, Missouri. She became engaged to a British doctor, Dr James Beaver Mennell. She presumably met him while spending the winter before the Titanic disaster in the UK with her aunt and cousin.
At the time of the iceberg collision, Elisabeth Allen said that she was awake talking to her cousin in her cabin. When her aunts maid, Emilie Kreuchen came to the cabin to inform her that the “baggage room is full of water” she told the maid not to worry and that the ships watertight compartments would be shut. After returning to her own cabin Emilie Kreuchen immediately returned to inform Elisabeth that her own E deck cabin was flooding. At this point Elisabeth become more concerned.
After the order to go on to the boat deck, Elisabeth and all of her own travelling companions boarded the port side Lifeboat 2, which was amongst the last of the boats to leave the sinking ship. In charge of Lifeboat 2 was Titanic’s Forth Officer, Joseph Boxall. Lifeboat 2 was the first lifeboat to reach the rescue ship Carpatia, and Elisabeth was the first Titanic survivor to board Carpathia.
Elisabeth eventually returned to Britain on board the White Star Line ship, RMS Baltic. In July 1912, in a joint wedding with her sister, Clare Allen, Elisabeth married Dr James Beaver Mennell. She and James lived in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, UK, and they had three sons, James John and Peter.
At the age of 85, Elisabeth Walton Mennell died on 15th December 1967 in Tunbridge Wells.
Related pages - Titanic's First Class Passengers, All Titanic Pages