March 8th, 1877 - February 2nd, 1962

She is a Pisces.

Clear Annie Cameron was born in Pendleton, Salford, Lancashire, England to Harry Arthur Cameron (1846 - 1899) and Annie Chiles (born 1845). Her father, a tailor, hailed from Leek in Staffordshire whilst her mother was from Kemberton in Shropshire. They were married in Warwickshire in 1870 and besides Clear they had 3 other children. Clear's siblings were: Earnest (1870 - 1945), Janet Gertrude (1873 - 1914), and Nie (1883 - 1972; later Mrs. Joseph Stewart Graham). Janet, known as Gert, was married in 1898 to Edward James Dowding, a post office inspector, and had 2 surviving children: Gertrude Ella (born 1908) and Arthur Edward "Ted" (born 1910). Janet and her family lived in Bournemouth, Hampshire.

Clear appears on the 1881 census with her family living at London Road in Buxton, Derbyshire. Her parents were still at the same address on the 1891 census but Clear was listed elsewhere as a house servant at London Road, Buxton. By the time of the 1911 census she was working as a housemaid at Hyde Park Gate, Kensington, London, the home of Colonel Henry Hugh Oldham and his wife Ella Frances Emma, née Pigou. Colonel Oldham was invested as a commander, Royal Victorian Order (C.V.O).

Aboard Titanic/April 14th-15th, 1912:
By 1912 even though Clear was relatively comfortable by those days' standards, owning her own motorcar at one point, she decided that life in England wasn't enough and she and her friend Nellie Wallcroft decided to emigrate to the USA where there were more opportunities. Initially booked on another liner for their crossing, the coal strike forced their passage on RMS Titanic which they boarded at Southampton on April 10th, 1912 as 2nd class passengers. Whilst aboard it seems Clear and Nellie were acquainted with West family, among others. On the night of the sinking Clear and Nellie went to bed at around 10:30 PM. Feeling especially tired that evening she soon fell asleep but was awakened by Nellie exclaiming "Clear, what's that!?" Clear dismissed her but Nellie insisted she had nearly been thrown from her bunk; soon the 2 ladies realized that the engines had stopped.

Clear, however, was indifferent and lay down again to sleep when she heard a man's voice shouting something about an iceberg. This encouraged her to get up and dressed and she instructed Nellie to do the same. As they were preparing themselves a steward came to their door, advising them to get up on deck. Arriving on the boat deck Clear and Nellie saw 2 young officers running around shouting orders. They got into a lifeboat (lifeboat 14) and during the fragile cdadt's descent to the ocean Clear described the scene of 5th Officer Harold Lowe brandishing his pistol to deter "immigrant men" from jumping into their boat. When the lifeboat was about 2 miles from Titanic Clear described the ship breaking in two. She later helped row the boat during the night.

After The Sinking/Later Life/Death:
Following her rescue by the RMS Carpathia she described the generosity of those on that ship but lamented over the cramp conditions. She also expressed disgust over how many men from 1st class had survived over women and children and were critical of the actions of the Duff-Gordons and Ismay (A/N: I don't understand this logic and I probably never will. Also only 4 women died in first class alone and only one child. It's a tragedy but there were more women and children who died in the 3rd class or even 2nd class). Arriving in New York Clear and Nellie were met by the latter's sister and brother-in-law, Mr and Mrs. Carl Land. Clear soon found work as a maid with a Mrs. Nelson Henry of West 9th Street, whom she described as "Society Lady". Mrs. Henry was the wife of General Nelson H. Henry and was the leader of the Women's Relief Committee and she remained in her employ around 6 months.

She never acclimated to New York, finding it overly expensive, and couldn't get accustomed to the ways of her new home. She would describe New York as "one of the dirtiest, rottenest holes on earth" but later joked with her sister that she might return to England with a black husband (A/N: 😑😑😑), Clear being  amazed at the number of African-Americans living in New York and who she found to be very affable. She later worked for a Mrs. Crowley in Haverford, Pennsylvania, a city which she found much to her liking. She corresponded with Janet frequently whilst in the USA, the latter dated October 18th, 1913. Janet died on March 28th, 1914 and her widower Edward was remarried towards the end of the year to Molly Tucker; he died in 1967 at the age of 94.

Janet's children always grew up wondering what had become of their aunt Clear. Ted uncovered 19 letters from Clear and Nellie in his father's attic in the 1990's and soon made it his mission to determine what became of her. He lived in Thurso, Scotland with his wife Dinah and died in 2001 without knowing whatever happened to Clear. Clear had married in Philadelphia on April 29th, 1914 to Ernest William Francis, an English butler over a decade her junior. Having never enjoyed her experience much in America, Clear and Ernest left the USA in December of 1914 aboard the Baltic, arriving in Liverpool on New Years Day. They settled in Surrey, living in Worcester Park for many years, but had no children. It's not certain if Clear and Nellie maintained contact.

In later years Clear was afflicted with senility and spent her last days in a nursing home in Woking, Surrey. She died on February 2nd, 1962 at the age of 84 and was cremated with her ashes being scattered across the Keats Garden in the Woking St. John Crematorium, Surrey.

Sources:
www.encyclopedia-titanica.org

Rest In Peace Clear Cameron.