May 5th, 1875 - October 1st, 1967

She is a Taurus.

Ada Elizabeth Hall was born in Hackney, London, England as the youngest daughter of William Henry Hall (born 1831), a painter, and Laura Susan Powell (born 1831), both natives of greater London. She had 6 known siblings: John (born 1852), Laura (born 1857), Henry W. (born 1859), Emily Jane (born 1860), George Richard (born 1862), and Arthur Emmanuel (born 1872). Ada first appears on the 1881 census living with her family at Exeter House on Pratts Road, Hackney before moving to Blackthorn Street, Bromley by the following census. She was by the time of that time working in a coffee house.

She was married in 1896 in Poplar, London to Martin Luther Balls (born 1867), a wheelwright from Norfolk. The couple settled in Essex and had 2 sons: Martin Luther (September 8th, 1897) and Edgar William Reubin (May 4th, 1899). However, it seems that family life wasn't happy for Ada and by the time of the 1901 census they were living apart, Ada at an address in East Ham, Essex, Swinburne Avenue, and claiming to be a widowed laundress. Early the following year, her widowhood became reality when her husband died at the age of 44. Also of note is that Edgar didn't appear on either the 1901 or 1911 censuses and his whereabouts at the time are unknown. Ada was working as a domestic live-in parlour maid when she appeared on the 1911 census, residing at the home of a wealthy stockbroker in Brondesbury Park, Willesden, London. Her son Martin was living with Arthur Hall in Manor Park, East Ham, Essex.

Aboard Titanic/April 14th-15th, 1912:
Emily was married to the Reverend Robert James Bateman and lived in Jacksonville, Florida. Reverend Bateman had returned to England to visit relatives in his native Bristol and it was under his encouragement that she agreed to accompany him back across the Atlantic, with Edgar and Martin to join her at a later date. She and Reverend Bateman boarded the RMS Titanic in Southampton on April 10th, 1912 as 2nd class passengers. During the voyage she shared a D-deck cabin with Swiss-born Marie Jerwan. On the night of the disaster Ada, a deeply religious woman had, along with Reverend Bateman, organized a prayer meeting near the 2nd class dining room. A small group of no more than half a dozen people sang hymns and joined in prayer, concluding around 10:30 PM.

Ada then returned to bef and slept through the whip's impact with the iceberg. Marie woke her when she burst into their room exclaiming "We had an accident!" Too tired to take notice, Ada nonchalantly went back to sleep and was only compelled to get up and dress when Bateman arrived at her cabin and boldly instructed her to do so. He then escorted her to the aft port lifeboats, reportedly throwing his neck tie to her as the boat was lowering and shouting "If I don't meet you again in this world, I will in the next."

After The Sinking/Later Life/Death:
Ada survived the sinking and eventually, made her way to America. It would be a year before she was reunited with her sons, they making the Atlantic crossing, departing from Southampton on May 31st, 1913 aboard the Philadelphia. She and her sons settled in Baltimore, Maryland. Ada remarried around 1925 to William R. Perrine (born 1865), a widower and native of Maryland. They lived in an apartment complex in Baltimore at Paul Street of which Perrine was the manager. She was widowed in 1955 and she went to live in Narraganset Avenue, Pittsfield, Massachusetts where Martin was the pastor of the Berkshire Full Gospel Church, of which she was a charter member.

She gave occasional interviews to newspapers about her Titanic experiences in later years and reportedly retained her Cockney accent despite many years in America. In her advance years Ada battled Leukemia and died in the Maryland Masonic Home for the Aged in Cockeysville, Maryland on October 1st, 1967 at the age of 92. She was buried beside her husband in Oak Lawn Cemetery, Baltimore. Reverend Martin Luther Ball, as stated above, became a gospel minister and lived at different times in Massachusetts and Florida. He was married and had several children. He died in Florida on March 26th, 1989. Edgar was married in 1922 to Lilian Elizabeth Marie Kleiderlein and they had a son, Edgar George, in 1925. Edgar and his family remained in Baltimore where he worked for a printing company. He died on December 20th, 1985.

Sources:
www.encyclopedia-titanica.org

Rest In Peace Ada E. Balls.