Titanic's Aussie romance
Julian Fellows: There are certain periods of disaster or drama that latch on to us. And the 'Titanic' seems to be one of them. They were so proud and they were so sure this was one of the greatest ships ever built and it was the maiden voyage and it was the smartest people of the world and it was also full of the energy of that period. Whoever you are, there is someone on that ship you can relate to and you can connect with and it doesn't matter who you are.
RAHNI SADLER: It's 100 years since the 'Titanic' sailed on its maiden voyage.
Onboard were five Australians. Only one would survive - an adventurous 28-year-old called Evelyn whose skills as a rower would help save many lives as the 'Titanic' sank.
Emily Jateff: She got into one of the life boats and she helped row herself and the rest of the boat to safety.
RAHNI SADLER: So she's a bit of an unknown Australian hero?
Emily Jateff: She is a bit of unknown Australian hero, absolutely. We should be very proud of our Evelyn Marsden.
RAHNI SADLER: For almost a century, Evelyn Marsden's heroism has gone unrecognised. Uncovering her story begins in an unlikely place - Port Adelaide - where Emily Jateff is curator of South Australia's Maritime Museum.
Emily Jateff: Hey, Rahni, look what we've got here.
RAHNI SADLER: She first became aware of Australia's sole survivor last year.
Emily Jateff: She was listed as a spinster. She was busy off seeing the world. Prefer to think of her as a career girl myself.
RAHNI SADLER: Emily has her own link to the 'Titanic'. Seven years ago, she was part of an expedition which revealed the 'Titanic's watery grave. You've seen 'Titanic'?
Emily Jateff: Yeah, in 2005, yes. And it's just absolutely stunning. The grand staircase is actually the point of entry into the wreck because the dome popped off and floated away. It's the safest and largest point of entry for the little ROV's to go down. You know immediately what you're looking at.
You say "That's the grand staircase "and holy moley, we're actually here."
RAHNI SADLER: Into this grand world, came an Australian country girl. Emily's father was a station master who, when she was 15, moved their family to the remote South Australian town of Hoyleton. As a teenager, Evelyn spent her holidays at Murray Bridge, outside Adelaide, and it was here she would learn skills that would one day help to save her life.
Emily Jateff: She was taught to row on the river and by all accounts, taught to row against the tide. And, as someone who's tried their hand at rowing, that would be a very difficult, very difficult activity to undertake.
Petrea Hann: All her life, I think she had this love of the sea. She didn't want to be on land, nursing, she just wanted to be part of the sea and seeing the world.
RAHNI SADLER: She was the original Aussie backpacker?
Petrea Hann: Yeah. In those years, it is not something that you would imagine a woman of her age doing so it would've taken a lot of guts, I think, to do that. It's now that fate steps in.
RAHNI SADLER: On her voyage to England, Evelyn, who'd trained as a nurse, fell in love with the ship's doctor, a young man called William James.
Emily Jateff: Oh, I think he's kind of a fox. Yeah. Evelyn did quite well there.
RAHNI SADLER: He was working for 'Titanic's makers, the White Star Line, so she joined the company as a stewardess to be with him. But just before 'Titanic's maiden voyage, William was transferred off and Evelyn was left to sail alone.
Julian Fellows: Well, I think we have her character actually - I think that is the character of Annie Desmond. I think that she is a hardworking, optimistic, middle-class girl working as a stewardess in second class and also with some duties for the servants in first.
RAHNI SADLER: Julian Fellowes is the writer of the soon-to-be released mini-series 'Titanic'. Onboard in 1912 were over 2,200 people from all walks of life.
Julian Fellows: It's sort of the perfect disaster. It's got every element, you know - the first class with the movie stars and the countesses and the bankers. And then the people in third with everything they owned and possessed on their way to try and make a better life. I mean, there is something very haunting about it.
Actor: I have never seen such a clear sky or a calmer sea. I think we can make a little headway without frightening the horses.
Julian Fellows: There was a feeling as, you know, that it was unsinkable and I think someone said, "A man might sink us, nature can't." You know, that was the problem.
RAHNI SADLER: Just before midnight on 14 April, the 'Titanic' struck an iceberg.
Actor: We have 2 hours, 2.5 if we're lucky. She can't sink! She can't float!
Will you all please stay calm? You'll be taken up on deck very soon. There is no danger.
Petrea Hann: The doctor supposedly came into their cabin, she shared a cabin
with Miss Mary Sloan, and gave them a fortifying glass of whiskey and water
to calm their nerves before they had to do what was to happen and to try and survive and get onboard lifeboats, whoever they could get onboard.
RAHNI SADLER: There were too many people and too few lifeboats - only 20 on the ship.
Julian Fellows: The reason there weren't enough lifeboats is that the received wisdom at that time was that if a liner ever sank, which, of course, was very rare, it was always because of a collision. And an ordinary collision, which is quite contained, meant that the liner took an enormous amount of time to sink and by which time, there were many boats all around and the lifeboats were just ferries to take them onto the other boats.
RAHNI SADLER: Evelyn assisted in getting as many passengers to safety as a possible.
Petrea Hann: It's said that she was one of the last to board lifeboat 16 which I think was about 1:35am in the morning. She wanted to make sure everybody else was on there before she was. In the end, I think they had to sort of give her a bit of a helping hand, you know, "It's your turn to get in the lifeboat "and get out of here".
Emily Jateff: We do know that she got into one of the lifeboats and even though it was bitterly cold, she helped row herself and the rest of the boat to safety.
RAHNI SADLER: Among the many tragedies that night was the fateful decision by the 'Titanic's second officer.....Charles Lightoller to only partially fill the lifeboats.
Julian Fellows: He got it into his head that the boats might split. So his idea was to put the women and children in the boats, but not fill them, lower it to sea and then the men would swim out. Well, A, they couldn't get down to the sea. B, they couldn't live longer than 5 or 10 minutes when they were in it for the most part. And C, the boats, fearing the suction when the ship went down, which never, in fact, happened, rowed away so the whole plan was flawed. And in the end, about 400 or 500 people more died than need have done which is, you know, terrible.
Petrea Hann: I find it hard to even comprehend what must have been going through her mind when she was in that lifeboat and watching all those people that had died. And it's just something that I just keep thinking about.
MAN: Is there anyone alive out there?!
Actor: Make a noise if you can!
RAHNI SADLER: Evelyn rowed for 2.5 hours until they were rescued by the ship 'Carpathia'.
Emily Jateff: One of her descendants notes that her hands were rubbed raw from rowing, rowing all night, until they were rescued.
RAHNI SADLER: So really, her rowing experience here in Australia...?
Emily Jateff: Would have done her some very, very much good, yes.
RAHNI SADLER: Helped save her life.
Emily Jateff: Helped saved her life and helped bring her onto the next phase.
RAHNI SADLER: With the rest of the survivors, she was taken to America, her family still in the dark about her fate.
Petrea Hann: So they had no idea that she'd even survived. They were just obviously thinking, "Evelyn's not made it. "We've heard nothing, she's not made it." But once she got to New York and sent a telegram to them, it is said that her father ran through the streets of Hoyleton screaming, "Evelyn's alive! Evelyn's alive!"
RAHNI SADLER: When she returned to England, her fiancee wasted no time.
Petrea Hann: She was reunited with William and in July of that year they were married in Southampton. They're both buried in Waverley Cemetery. She passed away in August 30, 1938 and he passed away seven days later. Both together now, overlooking the sea.
Julian Fellows: Of course, if he hadn't been taken off the 'Titanic', he would've died because the highest death rate was among second-class men, almost all of whom died, and the doctor would have been travelling in second class.
RAHNI SADLER: So this really is a remarkable love story?
Julian Fellows: It's remarkable, it's remarkable that she survived and he was transferred.
RAHNI SADLER: This was a couple that were meant to be together.
