Amy Zillah Elsie Stanley
By: Kaitlin Parker

Amy Zillah Elsie Stanley was born on January 4^th, 1888 in England to Eliza and Thomas Stanley.  She was baptized March 16^th, 1888 at a church in Oxfordshire.  Amy also had five brothers that she lived with in her home.

Amy helped out at her parents’ grocery store until she was old enough to have a paid job.  Then, she became a dressmaker in Oxford, England.  When she turned twenty-four, she decided that she would move to New Haven, Connecticut to become a children’s maid.  She originally was leaving earlier to Connecticut, but because of the coal strike, the Titanic had to leave later.  Amy boarded the Titanic in Southampton, England as a third class passenger, and almost missed the ship.

On board the Titanic, Amy roomed with a nurse named Virginia Ethel Emanuel, and an eleven year child named Elizabeth Dowdell.  They both survived the Titanic disaster and were reunited with Amy on the Carpathia.

After the Titanic crashed into the iceberg, the engines were stopped.  Amy came up to the deck to ask why the engines had been stopped and was told that the ship was stopping for the night.  However, Amy stayed on the deck and got into the Collapsible C lifeboat to survive.  While she was in the lifeboat, she took care of a baby that had lost its mother.  Amy also kept everyone’s spirits up on the lifeboat.

Once Amy was feeling better from the cold she got because of lack of heat in the lifeboat, she continued moving on to her new life.  On November 1, 1918, Amy got married to Eugene Sheldon Tanner.  He was a naval veteran from World War I.  Later, Amy had two sons named Alfred and Eugene Jr.  Amy lived with her family in Providence, Rhode Island until her death on April 21, 1955.  She is buried in Oakland Cemetery, which is in Providence, Rhode Island.

Citations:

Eaton, John. Titanic: Triumph and Tragedy. 1. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1995

"Miss Amy Zillah Elsie Stanley." Encyclopedia Titanica. 2007. 22 Apr 2008 <http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org>.

Snoot, Jen. "Titanic Survivors and Victims." www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSvcid=1013&GRid=11144324&. 25June2005. 22 Apr 2008 <http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSvcid=1013&GRid=11144324&>.