Eva Hart
| Eva Miriam Hart | |
|---|---|
| 280x220px | |
| Born |
31 January 1905 Ilford, London, England, UK |
| Died |
14 February 1996 (aged 91) Chadwell Heath, London, England, UK |
| Parents | Benjamin Hart and Esther Bloomfield |
Eva Miriam Hart MBE (January 31, 1905 – February 14, 1996) was one of the last remaining survivors of the sinking of the RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912.
Contents
Early life
Eva Miriam Hart was born on January 31, 1905 in Ilford, London, England to Benjamin Hart and Esther Bloomfield. In early 1912, Benjamin decided to take his family and emigrate to Winnipeg, Manitoba, where he planned to open a tobacco store.
Aboard Titanic
Eva was seven years old when she and her parents, Benjamin and Esther, boarded the Titanic as second-class passengers on April 10, 1912 at Southampton, England. Almost instantly, Eva's mother felt uneasy about the ship and feared that some catastrophe will happen. To call a ship unsinkable was, in her mother's mind, flying in the face of God. [1] With such fear, Esther slept only during the day and stayed awake in her cabin at night fully dressed.[2]
Eva was sleeping when the Titanic struck the iceberg at 11:40 pm on April 14. Eva's father rushed into her cabin to alert his Eva and her mother, and after wrapping Eva in a blanket, he carried her to the boat's deck. He placed his wife and daughter in Lifeboat No. 14 and told Eva to 'hold Mummy's hand and be a good girl.'[1] It was the last thing her father ever said to her, and the last time she ever saw him.
Eva and her mother were picked up by the rescue ship RMS Carpathia and arrived in New York, New York on April 18. Eva's father perished and his body, if recovered, was never identified.
Soon after arriving in New York, Eva and her mother returned to England and her mother remarried. Eva was plagued with nightmares and upon the death of her mother when Eva was 23, Eva confronted her fears head on by returning to the sea and locking herself in a cabin for four straight days until the nightmares went away.[1]
Memories of Titanic
Being seven years old at the time of the Titanic, Eva maintained several vivid memories.
"We went on the day on the boat train. I was 7, I had never seen a ship before. It looked very big. Everybody was very excited, we went down to the cabin and that's when my mother said to my father that she had made up her mind quite firmly that she would not go to bed in that ship, she would sit up at night. She decided that she wouldn't go to bed at night, and she didn't!"
"I saw that ship sink," she said in a 1993 interview. "I never closed my eyes. I didn't sleep at all. I saw it, I heard it, and nobody could possibly forget it."
"I can remember the colors, the sounds, everything," she said. "The worst thing I can remember are the screams."
"It seemed as if once everybody had gone, drowned, finished, the whole world was standing still. There was nothing, just this deathly, terrible silence in the dark night with the stars overhead."[1]
Career
Throughout Eva's life, she worked several jobs. She was a professional singer in Australia, a Conservative Party organizer, and also served as a magistrate in England.[1]
Outspoken criticism
Eva was one of the most outspoken survivors concerning the Titanic's lack of sufficient lifeboats and of any salvage attempts of the Titanic after its discovery in 1985.
She commonly criticised the White Star Line for failing to provide enough lifeboats for all aboard Titanic. "If a ship is torpedoed, that's war," she once said. "If it strikes a rock in a storm, that's nature. But just to die because there weren't enough lifeboats, that's ridiculous."[1]
When salvaging efforts began in 1987, Eva was quick to note that the Titanic is a gravesite and should be treated as such. She often decried the "insensitivity and greed" and labelled the salvors "fortune hunters, vultures, pirates, and grave robbers."[3]
Later life
Eva maintained active in Titanic-related activities well into her 80s. In 1982, Eva returned to the United States and joined several other survivors at a Titanic Historical Society convention commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Titanic sinking. She participated in three more conventions in 1987, 1988, and in 1992. In 1994, Eva wrote an autobiography, 'Shadow of the Titanic - A Survivor's Story', in which she described her experiences aboard the ship and the lasting implications of its sinking. On April 15, 1995, the 83rd anniversary of the disaster, Eva and fellow second-class Titanic survivor Edith Brown, dedicated a memorial garden plaque on the grounds of the National Maritime Museum in London.[4]
Death
Eva died on February 14, 1996 at her home in Chadwell Heath at the age of 91.[1] Her death left eight remaining survivors. In her memory, a Wetherspoon's Pub in Chadwell Heath is named 'The Eva Hart'.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Eva Hart, 91, a Last Survivor With Memory of Titanic, Dies, New York Times, February 16, 1996
- ↑ Biography, Encyclopedia Titanica
- ↑ Elia, Ricardo. Titanic in the Courts, Archaeological Institute of America
- ↑ That Fateful Night, Euronet
External links
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