Avis Gertrude Dolphin (24 August 1902 in
Rotherham
Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...
,
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
, England – 5 February 1996 in
Meirionydd
Meirionnydd is a coastal and mountainous region of Wales. It has been a kingdom, a cantref, a district and, as Merionethshire, a county.
Kingdom
Meirionnydd (Meirion, with -''ydd'' as a Welsh suffix of land, literally ''Land adjoined to Meirio ...
, Wales) was a survivor of the 7 May 1915 sinking of .
Biography
Dolphin was on her way to England, where she was to live with her grandparents and attend school, when she befriended author and professor
Ian Holbourn
Ian Holbourn (5 November 1872 – 14 September 1935), born John Bernard Stoughton Holbourn, was laird of Foula, a professor and lecturer for the University of Oxford, and a writer.
Education and career
Holbourn was educated at the Slade Sch ...
. She was in a second-class stateroom during the voyage. She had just eaten lunch and coffee was being served when the torpedo attack occurred. The resulting list was so sudden and violent that dishes crashed off the tables; but she recalled the scene as one of "absolute calm".
Holbourn was able to get Avis and the two nurses traveling with her into lifebelts, onto the deck, and into a lifeboat. However, the lifeboat capsized when two men attempted to jump into it. She was rescued from the ocean, but her two nurses, Sarah Smith and Hilda Ellis, were not. The bodies of Smith and Ellis were never recovered.
Following her recovery in
Queenstown, she regularly visited Holbourn, who was suffering from
exposure. She continued her friendship with Holbourn up until the end of his life in 1935. Dolphin even once suggested to Holbourn that books specifically written for girls were too boring. In response, Holbourn authored the bestseller ''The Child of the Moat, A Story for Girls, 1557 A.D.'' in 1916.
Personal life
Dolphin was introduced to journalist Thomas Foley during a visit to Holbourn's home, and the two wed in 1926. She lived the remainder of her life in
Snowdonia
Snowdonia or Eryri (), is a mountainous region in northwestern Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three national parks in Wales, in 1951.
Name and extent
It was a commonly held belief that the na ...
, Wales; dying of
natural causes in Meirionydd at the age of 93 on 5 February 1996.
In popular culture
For many years, Dolphin contributed her account of the sinking of ''Lusitania'' to several journalists and documentary crews. For example:
* She is a contributor to the ''
In Search of
IN, In or in may refer to:
Places
* India (country code IN)
* Indiana, United States (postal code IN)
* Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN)
* In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast
Businesses and organizations
* Indepe ...
'' episode "Lusitania" (16 May 1981)
* She is credited as a contributor in the
National Geographic documentary ''Last Voyage of the Lusitania'' (1994).
* Her younger self, about age 12, is depicted in a BBC movie of the ''Lusitania'' sinking: ''
Lusitania: Murder in the Atlantic'' (2007), in which she is played by Madeleine Garrood.
References
Further reading
*
External links
* Internet Archive (please sign up to view sources and footnotes)
''Link''''Miss Avis Gertrude Dolphin''at rmslusitania.info
* ''The Child of the Moat, A Story for Girls. 1557 A.D.''
''Link''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dolphin, Avis
1902 births
1996 deaths
People from Rotherham
People from St. Thomas, Ontario
RMS Lusitania
Shipwreck survivors