Alice Cleaver
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Alice Cleaver | |
|---|---|
 Alice Cleaver holding Hudson Trevor Allison, the baby she saved from the Titanic | |
| Born | 5 July 1889 Kentish Town, London, England |
| Died | 1 November 1984 (aged 95) Winchester, Hampshire, England |
| Other names | Alice Williams |
| Occupation | Nursemaid |
| Known for | Titanic survivor; for saving Trevor Allison |
| Spouse |
Edward James Williams
(m. 1918) |
| Children | 2 |
Alice Catherine Cleaver (5 July 1889 – 1 November 1984) was a survivor of the RMS Titanic who was best known for being a nursemaid for the Allison family, wealthy insurance moguls from Canada during the early 20th century, and for saving the youngest Allison child, Hudson Trevor, from the Titanic.[1]
Little is known about her later life, as she rarely spoke of the disaster.[2] She was the subject of books and movies that misidentified her as Alice Mary Cleaver, a woman who was infamous for murdering her own infant.[2][3][4]
Aboard RMS Titanic
When she was 22, Cleaver was hired by the Allison family to be a nursemaid for their youngest child, Hudson Trevor. She traveled first class on the Titanic with them (under ticket No. 113781)[3] and boarded in Southampton. She stayed in the same room as Trevor so that she could care for him, which was right next to the parents in first class.[2]
On 14 April 1912, the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg and started to sink.[5] Cleaver took Hudson Trevor into her lifeboat, but didn't tell anyone. Speculation claims this confusion could have led to the Allison family perishing, as the mother Bess would not want to leave her son behind.[6] Testimony from that night has speculated as to why she never alerted the Allisons to her departure from her room, but Cleaver herself rarely spoke of the incident.[1][2][3][4]
Alice and Trevor were met in New York City by Hudson's brother, George, who, along with his wife, Lillian, took custody of the now orphaned Trevor.
Cleaver later spoke to the New York Tribune, telling them: "We were all in bed when the Titanic struck, but we did not get up, for we never for a moment thought there was any danger. Then a little later we were told we had better get up, and I hurriedly dressed the baby. We went up on deck, and there were not one-quarter enough lifeboats. We got into the lifeboat just like the others, and we thought it was just a precaution, not because there was any danger. In about an hour there was a tremendous explosion, and the steamship seemed just to fall apart. We were in the lifeboat five and a half hours before we were picked up."[7]
Later life
In 1918, Cleaver married Edward Williams, a widower, and had two daughters.[3]
Though Cleaver reportedly never spoke of the disaster, author Walter Lord lists her as having contributed to his book A Night to Remember,[8] as having written him a letter under her married name "Mrs. A. C. Williams":
I was acting as a nurse to the two children of Mr and Mrs Allison. Having taken the position two weeks before we sailed as their own nurse decided not to go at the last moment - Lorraine was 3 years old at the time and Trevor 10 months. There is not much I can tell you in a letter. I had some difficulty in persuading Mr. Allison to get up and go to see what had happened after the crash, which they did not hear at all and thought it was my imagination. Some long time after the engines had stopped he decided to go and find out the trouble.
While he was away I was warned we would have to leave the ship, so prepared the children and Mrs. Allison - but she became hysterical and I had to calm her. About that time an officer came round to close the cabins and advised us to go on deck - here met Mr. Allison outside the cabin but he seemed too dazed to speak. I handed him some brandy and asked him to look after Mrs. Allison and Lorraine and I would keep Baby, the child I managed to get off the ship, some confusion occurred outside as to which deck we should go and that is how he came separated, afterwards I learned from one of the staff that Mrs. Allison was hysterical again and that Mr. Allison had difficulty with her and I can only surmise that is how they lost their lives - as there was plenty of room in the lifeboats because people refused to leave thinking it was safer on the ship." - 13 September 1955
Death
Cleaver died on 1 November 1984. At the time of her death, she was living in Winchester, Hampshire. Her remains were cremated at the Southampton Crematorium.[3]
Identity
There has been some confusion over the age and identity of Alice Catherine Cleaver, with some mistaking her for Alice Mary Cleaver, a woman who was convicted in 1909 for the murder of her own child.[4] This misconception was printed as fact in at least two books about the sinking of the Titanic, Titanic: An Illustrated History (1992) and Titanic: Women and Children First (1998), and was included as part of the plot for the 1996 television mini-series Titanic,[4][3] in which Cleaver was portrayed by Felicity Waterman as an emotionally unstable young woman with premonitions of the disaster, who then sees the opportunity to rescue baby Trevor from the sinking ship as a saving grace from her tumultuous past.[4] Cleaver was portrayed by Izabella Urbanowicz in the 2012 miniseries Titanic in a more historically accurate fashion.[citation needed]
Cleaver's age has also been debated due to descriptions of her being a competent nursemaid and a good maternal figure, which Titanic Lives author Rob Rondeau believes were indicative of an older woman.[2]
Portrayals
- Diana Blackwood (1958) - A Night to Remember
- Felicity Waterman (1996) - Titanic
- Izabella Urbanowicz (2012) - Titanic; TV series
