It was sad to read the news yesterday that Millvina Dean has died. She was the last survivor of the sinking of RMS Titanic. I grew up in Southampton which is rich in maritime history and it is especially famous for its links with the Titanic. When I was at school I took part in a drama production called 'The Titanic Experience'. It was a bit of a success and we did three versions of it over the years and we eventually ended up performing it at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. I remember the show fondly and it was so wonderful to be part of it.
Millvina lived in Southampton and she came to see the show a couple of times. She was a lovely lady and very interesting to talk to. She was only a small baby when she was on board the Titanic. Millvina was placed in a sack and passed to her mother who was waiting in a lifeboat. Her father went down with the ship. So sad.
The 1994 newspaper photo above shows me and some other members of the cast with Millvina. Yes, that's a sixteen year old me on the right. I would have loved to have been wearing Andrea's swanky costume but alas, I played the part of Third Class Passenger Narrator. If you click the photo you can read the article that went with it.
It is always sad when living links to history die. It's a little bit ironic, though, that both Millvina and her brother died on Titanic anniversaries.
ReplyDeleteGreat picture by the way!
How awesome that you got to do the show and meet her...its sad that she passed...
ReplyDeleteI watched this item on Breakfast TV this am and having been interested in the Titanic histories was also very moved by Millvina's account - there was a clip of an interview with her, did you see it? She was 9 weeks old when the ship went down but I exect you know that as you were involved in what seems to have been a marvellous production and you actually met her! How cool is that!
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What a great picture and a great post. Millvina had a pretty amazing story. Thanks for sharing Laura!
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