September 7th, 1899 - March 4th, 1993

She is a Virgo.

Robertha Josephine Watt, better known as Bertha, was born in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland as the only child of James Reid Watt (1868 - 1937), an architect, and Elizabeth Inglis Milne (1871 - 1951). Her father was born near Aberdeen and her mother in Edinburgh and they had married in 1896. Robertha first appears on the 1901 census living at Holburn Road, St Machar, Aberdeen. The family were active members of the Belmont Congregational Church and Robertha attended Ashley Road School. The family decided to settle in Portland, Oregon and James Watt would travel ahead of his wife and daughter, departing from Glasgow aboard Anchor Line's Caledonia on October 21st, 1911.

Aboard Titanic/April 14th-15th, 1912:
Mrs. Watt and Robertha boarded the RMS Titanic at Southampton as second class passengers and they shared a cabin with two other ladies, Ellen Toomey and Rosa Pinsky and it seems their social circle included Marion Wright, Kate Buss, and William Mellors, with Robertha reportedly developing a crush on the latter. She also befriended 8 year old Marjorie Collyer. Robertha's vivid memory was that she was roused from her sleep and told to say her prayers because the Titanic was in trouble. She wrote about the experience as a student in 1917 for the Jefferson High School Newspaper in which she claimed:

"we heard many pistol shots, and could see people running hopelessly up and down the decks. Some in the lifeboat were crying. One or two were hysterical. There was nothing anyone could do. We just kept on going. We didn't row much, just enough to get far enough away from the suction. Then we puttered. We had just to drift around until dawn, occasionally flicking a gentleman's cigar lighter to let the other boats see where we were.

The fellow at the tiller was an Irishman. Paddy had no authority, he was just a deckhand. He was wonderful, telling me about the stars. It was calm. I don't remember sloping around in the boat. There was nothing on the lifeboat but a keg of biscuits. No water, no liquor, no light. I don't know if the first class lifeboats had all the things they needed, but if anyone was sick or collapsed in our boat, there was nothing to revive them with. It showed the disorganization. We didn't find the rudder [sic] until we were out quite away.

I had a nightie tucked into a pair of panties, and house slippers. Luckily, I had a fur lined coat. They lined them with squirrel bellies in those days, and it had a fur collar. They asked if anyone could row, and mother said she could. That's how she spent the time. Rowing or standing. A minister appeared out from under a seat. He must have gotten in before the the lifeboat even left the deck. He sat with his chin on his walking stick moaning on about all the years of sermons he lost. One woman all but turned and flew at him - "if you can give me back my husband and my son I'll pay you for your sermons.

We didn't get aboard Carpathia until about 9 a.m. There was a rope ladder with a belt. My mother said, "go on, you can climb that. I went up without the belt." The captain roared down, "don't let anyone come up without a belt on."

She also recalled the sinking in an interview with the Vancouver Province, in which she spoke of her mother reassuring her that if this were a nice night on Loch Ness you'd just be out for a row, and telling her "don't worry honey, you weren't born to be drowned, you were born to be hanged."

After The Sinking/Later Life/Death:
Following the sinking Bertha was reunited with her father and the family settled in Portland where she attended Jefferson High School followed by the Oregon Agricultural College. She later became a bookkeeper. She was married in 1923 to Leslie Frederick Marshall (August 19th, 1899), a Canadian dentist. Leslie was born in Kamloops, British Columbia and was a graduate of the North Pacific School of Dentistry, later opening his own practice on West Broadway, Vancouver, she becoming a Canadian citizen, and they had 4 children: Frederick, James, Robert, Donald, and Jane Elizabeth (later Mrs. Godfrey Douglas Ferguson). Like their father, Robertha's sons all became dentists and Jim and Don would join him following their graduations in the practice which later expended.

Robertha never let her experiences on the Titanic deter her from one of her passions, sailing, and she was a long-time member of the Burrard Yacht Club, owning a 45' yacht with Leslie. The family built a summer cottage in Gibsons, British Columbia which was only accessible by boat and they spent many holidays there. Bertha was widowed when Leslie died on November 30th, 1971, not long after he had retired. She was to garner further sorrow when Jane, then at the age of 46, and her 16-year-old grandson Robert Leslie Douglas were both killed by a drunk driver on November 24th, 1978. Although she would grant occasional interviews regarding her experiences and was in contact with the Titanic community, attending at least one Titanic Historical Society convention, she often shunned the publicity associated with being a Titanic survivor.

One of her most valuable possessions was the Titanic's second class passenger list. "A day out or so, passengers were given booklets with the names of those in the same class," she said. "My mother had it in the pocket of her tweed coat. When we were picked up by the Carpathia the officers borrowed it to radio the names of the second class passengers to New York. " Although she kept the list in a bank vault, it appears to have gone astray. It was not among her possessions when she passed away. Robertha spent her final years in St Vincent's Arbutus Care Home in Vancouver. She died there on March 4th, 1993 at the age of 93 and was buried in Moutainview Cemetery, Vancouver. She was the last remaining survivor the Titanic living in Canada and her death came just one day prior to that of another Titanic survivor, Ellen Shine Callaghan who died in New York as the last living Irish passenger.

Sources:
www.encyclopedia-titanica.org

Rest In Peace Robertha Watt.