Name
Lifeboat from Titanic
Lifeboat to Carpathia
Confidence Level
McLaren, Mrs Harriet
5 5 3.06

 


The April 30, 1912 edition of The Daily Mail, in a long article including information on many crew
(reprinted in Paul Lee's Titanic: The Homecoming), makes the following statement:
    "Mrs. McLaren was another stewardess whom Mr. Ismay put in a boat."

In the Boston Post on April 20, 1912, Edwin Kimball said two stewardesses were in his boat, which is #5.

Strabane Chronicle for April 5, 1912 (this date cannot be correct) states:
    “Mrs. McLaren was another stewardess whom Mr. Ismay put in a boat. When Mr. Ismay told them to get in the boat, they said, “We are not passengers; we are members of the crew. ‘It doesn’t matter,’ Mr. Ismay replied. ‘You are women, and I wish you to get in.’”


American Inquiry
Testimony of Henry Etches, pages 816-817
    Senator SMITH.  Then you proceeded to boat No. 5?
    Mr. ETCHES.  Yes sir. The next boat on the same side.

    Senator SMITH.  Who was the quartermaster?
    Mr. ETCHES.  Mr. Olliver, sir.
    Senator SMITH.  Did he survive?
    Mr. ETCHES.  Yes, sir.
    Senator SMITH.  And two others?
    Mr. ETCHES. Two other stewards. I have not seen then since, sir.
    Senator SMITH.  Was the same course taken with that boat?
    Mr. ETCHES. That was the same, sir. After getting all the women that were there they called out three times - Mr. Ismay called out twice, I know, in a loud voice - "Are there any more women before this boat goes," and there was no answer. Mr. Murdoch called out; and at that moment a female came up whom I did not recognize. Mr. Ismay said: "Come along; jump in." She said: "I am only a stewardess." He said: "Never mind, you are a woman, take your place." That was the last woman I saw get into No. 5 boat, sir.

The stewardesses were interviewed as a group in Plymouth, and many newspapers made use of their responses. Gold and Martin had the most to say, but others chimed in and while it is difficult to be precise about who said what, an Irish paper, likely the Starbane Chronicle above, took its coverage directly from the Daily Mail and that particular quote seems most likely to have come from McLaren rather than Gold/Martin. Also the wording and context suggests that McLaren was talking about a different boat from that described elsewhere in the same article by Gold. McLaren and Mabel Bennett seem to have worked together on the same deck and shared the same cabin. I believe they probably ended up in the same lifeboat too, and we all voted 5 for Bennett in boat 5.

We believe Mrs McLaren entered #5 with her cabin mate Mrs.Bennett, though we have no definite proof of it.