Miss
AVIS GERTRUDE DOLPHIN, Second Cabin Passenger
Avis Dolphin, 12, was from St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada. Her family
had emigrated from England to Canada in 1907 when she was two. Her
father had died from tuberculosis following his service in the Boer
War and her mother ran a small nursing home. Her mother was determined
that Avis have an English education, and Avis was to travel to England
on the Lusitania with nurses Hilda Ellis and Sarah Smith, both
of whom were Mrs. Dolphin's employees going to England on vacation.
During the voyage Avis had befriended author and professor Ian Holbourn. Avis was seasick throughout
the crossing and Professor Holbourn kept her spirits up by telling stories
of the Isle of Foula, of which he was laird.
When the torpedo struck, Avis had been sitting down to lunch and coffee
had just been served. The Lusitania listed so suddenly and
violently that dishes crashed to the floor. The stewards shouted,
"No danger, keep to your seats!" Except for a few screams, the atmosphere
in the dining room was one of "absolute calm."
The lights went out and the passengers scrambled to get up and out. Avis
then thought, "What a shame, I'm going to miss dessert." Ian shouted
to her and her nurses, "Stay where you are!"
Ian Holbourn was sitting about twenty feet away and he took her back
to his room to get lifebelts. Ian's room was C-10 and a deck above
Avis'. There, Ian put on her a lifebelt that belonged to a
fellow passenger while the other passenger assisted in tying the lifebelt.
Ian gathered a few of his most important manuscripts and carrying
his own lifebelt, together they made for the top. Ian and Avis were
at the top of the companionway and almost out on deck when the lights went
out.
On deck, Ian and Avis sighted Hilda Ellis and Sarah Smith. Sarah
did not have a lifebelt and Ian offered her his. She refused, saying
that "his life was of more value than hers as he had a wife and children"
(Holbourn, 248). Ian would later comment strongly on the need of
lifebelts on the boat decks. They agreed that Ian would keep his lifebelt
if he could find a boat for Avis, Sarah, and Hilda. Ian attempted to
get them away in a portside lifeboat, but they saw one smashed in launching.
They saw another launched empty, and some men stripped and swam for
it.
Sensing that the starboard side was their only hope, the group moved
forward and Professor Holbourn placed Avis, Sarah, and Hilda in a starboard
lifeboat (possibly #17). He kissed Avis, and fearing that he
would not survive told Avis to "find his wife and children and kiss
them goodbye for him" (Holbourn, 248). As Avis' lifeboat
was being lowered, it capsized when two men tried to jump into the boat
from the deck while the boat was still being lowered. Avis swam
clear of the boat towards a raft, where two men pulled her up. She
was not able to find Sarah or Hilda.
Hoehling/Hoehling does not make it clear which ship she was
rescued by, just saying that the boat had a stove and some blankets,
and that later on land she was given a glass of warm milk and tucked into
bed.
Avis' physical recovery was rapid, and during her time at Queenstown
he looked after Professor Holbourn, who was still under the weather from
his prolonged exposure in the water. On the way to the main island
of Britain, Ian continued to take care of Avis, providing rooms for her
at a Dublin hotel in Sackville Street. Ian and his wife, Marion, who
met Avis at the Birmingham railway station, accompanied Avis to her grandparents
in Worcester. Avis' grandfather admitted that he had a premonition
of the Lusitania's torpedoing, as did Marion. He had seen Avis'
lifeboat capsize, but when she resurfaced he said, "Depend on it, that's
our Avis!"
Ian and Avis continued to be life-long friends. One day
when Avis complained about how boring girls' books were, Ian promised to
write her an adventure story that would be as thrilling as any that book
that was written for boys. Thus, The Child of the Moat was
born. When published in 1916, the book sold out immediately. Before
a second edition could be published, however, the publisher folded.
Following her school years, Avis Dolphin moved to Edinburgh, close to
the Holbourns. During one visit to Holbourn's house (Penkaeth Castle?)
she met journalist Thomas Foley. Avis and Thomas married in 1926.
Avis lived out her remaining years in Wales. She passed
on 5 February 1996.
Contributors:
Rob Bets
Michael Poirier
Judith Tavares
Hildo Thiel
References:
Ballard, Dr. Robert D. with Spencer Dunmore. Exploring
the Lusitania. Warner Books, Inc., 1995.
Hickey, Des and Gus Smith. Seven
Days to Disaster. G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1981.
Hoehling, A. A. and Mary Hoehling. The Last Voyage of the
Lusitania. Madison Books, 1956.
Holbourn, Ian B. Stoughton. The Isle of
Foula and "Memoir" by Marion C. Holbourn. Johnson & Greig,
1938. Reprinted, Birlinn Books, 2001.
Preston, Diana. Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy.
Berkeley Books, 2002.
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