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= Ellen Bird =

Ellen Bird Beattie (née Bird; April 8, 1881 – 11 September 1949) was the personal maid to Rosalie Ida Straus, the wife of Macy’s department store co-owner Isidor Straus. She survived the sinking of the Titanic and was a main witness in the last moments lived by her employers.

Early Life
Ellen Bird was born at Old Buckenham, Norfolk, England on April 8, 1881 to Samuel Bird (b.1842) and his wife Mary Ann Clarke (b.1842). Her father worked as a farmer and shepherd and married her mother in early 1864. They went on to have 11 children, including Ellen.

Ellen went out to work at an early age and had been living in London when she was employed by Ida Straus, just before they returned to New York. In a letter from Ida to her children, she expressed her wish that Ellen’s employment would work out.

Surviving the Titanic
Ellen boarded the Titanic at Southampton with the Strauses on April 10, 1912. She occupied cabin C-97 (ticket number PC 17483). Also travelling in their party was John Farthing, the Staus’ English manservant.

On the night of the sinking, Ellen stood with Ida Straus near Lifeboat No.8. The officer in charge was willing to allow Isidor Straus to board the lifeboat with the women, however Isidor refused to do so while women and children still remained on the ship. He urged Ida to board but she gave Ellen her fur coat and said she would not be needing it, choosing instead to stay behind with her husband. Encouraged by her employers Ellen Bird boarded the lifeboat and was saved. Mr and Mrs Straus remained and went down with the Titanic, as did their valet John Farthing.

Ellen disembarked the Carpathia in New York on April 18, 1912. Along with fellow survivor Mauritz Håkan Björnström-Steffansson, Ellen testified to the last moments lived by Mr and Mrs Straus. After her rescue, she attempted to return the coat to the Straus' eldest daughter, Sara Straus Hess. However, Sara told Ellen that as Ida had given her the coat she should keep it and treat it as a gift.

After the Titanic
After the Titanic, Ellen went to work for the Frederic Spedden family of Tuxedo Park, New York. The Speddens had also survived the Titanic, and coincidentally had travelled to Europe in January 1912, aboard the same ship as Isidor and Ida Straus. Ellen remained under their employment until her marriage on June 3, 1914 to Julian Edward Beattie (b. August 30, 1881), a London-born hotelier. They went on to have just one child, a daughter named Gwendolyn, who was born in New York on June 29, 1915. The child died on September 8, 1917. Ellen and Edward had no further children.

Both Ellen and her husband were listed on the 1920 census as living in Morris, New Jersey under the employ of Mr Peter Hood Ballantine Frelinghuysen and his family. They were listed on the 1930 and 1940 censuses as living in Boston. Mr Beattie was described as a proprietor on the latter record, still associated with the hospitality trade. Ellen reportedly worked for several prominent families in Newport, Rhode Island, having moved there from New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Death
Ellen Bird Beattie became a naturalised US citizen in 1938 and died in a rest home in Newport, Rhode Island on September 11, 1949. She was buried in Acushnet Cemetery in Bristol County, Massachusetts. Her husband Edward outlived her by over a decade, passing on September 21, 1963. He was buried in Acushnet Cemetery with his wife.

Related Articles

 * Ida Straus
 * Isidor Straus
 * Sinking of the Titanic
 * Mauritz Håkan Björnström-Steffansson