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Annie Margaret Hold (March 7th, 1883 - March 1st, 1960) was a Second Class passenger on the RMS Titanic. She was traveling with her husband, Stephen Hold. Annie survived the sinking of the Titanic.

Early Life[]


Annie Margaret Hold, born Margaret Annie Hill, she always went by Annie, was born on March 7th, 1883, in Portoustock, England. She was the illegitimate child of Augusta Lavina Hill (b. 1858-November 8th, 1930), a cook. The identity of Annie's father is not known. At two months and 16 days, Annie was baptized at the nearby village of St. Keverne.

At age three, Annie's mother married a man named William Oliver Gregory (b. 1858-November 1930), her step-father, on August 19th, 1886. William was from Appledore, England, and worked as a mariner. With their marriage, Annie would gain four half-siblings: William James (b. 1889-1900), Sarah Hannah (b. 1890-1975), Percival John (b. 1894-1959), and James Douglas (b. 1901-1970). By the 1891 census, Annie was eight years old and was described as a scholar: she attended school at the nearby village of St. Keverne. It was also said that she was active at church and often sang in the choir. However, she was not living with her mother, step-father, and half-siblings William and Sarah. They were living in Appledore, England. Instead, she lived with her grandparents, who seemed to have raised her, in Portoustock. Her grandfather was James (b. 1825-March 23rd, 1919), 56, who was said to be a farmer, fisherman, and a coxswain. Her grandmother was Margaret Ann (b. 1834-1902), 57. Her grandparents were well-known and highly respected in the Portoustock area. Also living at her grandparents' house was her unmarried aunt, Jessie (b. 1861-1935), and her uncle, William (b. 1868), a sailor.

A decade later, the 1901 census lists Annie living with her grandparents. By then, her 66-year-old grandfather seemed to have retired from being a coxswain and fishing and was only focusing on farming as he was listed as a farmer on the record, with her grandmother, 67, being recorded as a farmer's wife. Annie, 17, was no longer in school at the time of the 1901 census and was instead listed as an assistant housekeeper. Also living with her was, once again, her aunt Jessie, who was working as a housekeeper. There’s a possibility that Annie was Jessie's assistant as they both had their occupations listed as housekeepers. A year after the census was recorded Annie's grandmother, Margaret, passed away aged either 68 or 69 years old. Annie's actions for the next few years are unknown, though she may have kept working as a housekeeper.

On October 18th, 1909, Annie married an English-born American citizen man named Stephen Hold (b. January 24th, 1868-April 15th, 1912), a chauffeur. At the time of their marriage, Annie was 26 while Stephen was 41; he was 15 years her senior. With their marriage, Annie would take his last name of Hold. Stephen was also born in Portoustock, but had moved to the American state of California in the mid-1870s. In America, he worked as a chauffeur. Stephen had returned to England in July of 1909, implying that Annie and Stephen had previously planned to be married and had been in contact beforehand even though they lived on separate continents.

After their marriage, the newlyweds would leave their home country of England aboard the Teutonic for America. They boarded the ship on November 17th, 1909, and likely arrived in America around a week later. Once in America, Annie and Stephen would go to Sacramento, California, where Stephen was living before his trip to England. They lived at 630 M Street, Sacramento. The 1910 American census listed the pair living in Sacramento, California. Also living at their address were two male lodgers; Frederick Bathe, 42, and Tennie Wickersham, 32. Stephen was listed as a garage chauffeur, and Annie had no recorded occupation.

The following year Annie and Stephen decided to leave Sacramento to go to England to visit their relatives. However, newspaper reports from the time had conflicting information that Annie or a family member in England was ill. Either way, the couple departed from California in November of 1911 for  Southampton, England aboard the RMS Olympic. Around a month later on the 16th of December, they made it safely to Southampton. Around half of their time in England was spent at 31 St Georges Terrace, Stockport, England. This was the home of Stephen's older sister, Henrietta Anstey (b. 1866), and his mother, Anna Maria Hold (b. 1845). The two also stayed with Annie's mother and stepfather, both of whom were then either 53 or 54, at 99 Irsha Street in Appledore. For the remainder of their time in England, the two spent time in their hometown of Portoustock. In Portoustock, they spent time with Annie's grandfather, her uncles, aunts, and cousins. They would have also likely visited any family members Stephen may have had left in the area. Annie's and Stephen's vacation was cut short when Stephen got a postcard from his employers telling him to return to Sacramento shortly. The postcard bore a Liverpool stamp, which made it possible that the Hold's had, at first, planned to travel back to America aboard another, unknown ship. However, due to the coal strikes in England at the time, Annie and Stephen were to sail aboard the RMS Titanic instead.

Aboard the Titanic[]


In Southampton, England, the place where Annie and Stephen had arrived in England a few months earlier, the Hold's boarded the RMS Titanic on the morning of April 10th, 1912. The couple held Second Class ticket 26707, which cost them £26. Aboard the luxurious ship, Annie and Stephen would have had a cabin on either D, E, or F Decks, which they likely had to themselves. On the Titanic, Mrs. Hold could have walked and mingled with other passengers on the Second Class promenades, read, write, and relax in the library, and eat meals in the dining saloon on D Deck, among more. Sailing on the Titanic was likely enjoyable for the two, as it was for many passengers on the ship.

When the Titanic hit the iceberg at 11:40 P.M. on April 14th, Annie and Stephen were in their cabin. It is not known if the two were asleep, though it is likely. Mr. and Mrs. Hold would notice something was wrong eventually, but the nature of how they found out is also unknown. Potentially they found out from their bedroom steward, though it is also a possibility that they would have figured out the situation from another crew member, passenger, or in another way. Annie and Stephen would make it up to the Boat Deck where Annie was put into Lifeboat 10, but Stephen was not permitted to join her, leaving him aboard the sinking ship. Lifeboat 10 was lowered between 1:45 and 1:50 in the morning and was one of the later boats to escape the Titanic. When the boat was launched, around 40 of the 65 seats were occupied by passengers and crew members. The lifeboat would successfully row away from the Titanic. Boat 10 would never return to the scene of the sinking to pick up any survivors in the freezing water of the Atlantic, though they would be one of the boats Lifeboat 14 distributed passengers and crew to so that 14 could return to the area where the ship when down.

Lifeboat 10 and its occupants were rescued by the RMS Carpathia of the Cunard Line around 7:05 in the morning. The Carpathia made it to New York on 18 April with the survivors. Stephen would not survive the sinking of the Titanic, as most Second Class men wouldn't. Of the Second Class men, 146 would die during the disaster. Stephen's body was never recovered.

Later Life and Death[]


Once the survivors made it to New York, Annie, widowed at 29, proceeded to her home in Sacramento, California. Around that time she would give an interview with the Western Morning News about her experience during the sinking. She would report the following:

"It felt as if something had tried to prevent the passage of the steamship and not succeeded and was holding it back as much as it could. I immediately threw some wraps around me and looked out the door. The sight that met my eyes caused me to start for the staircase without further delay. Everywhere people were running, many of them scantily clad. Reaching the staircase I joined the mass of people frantically making their way to the deck. All that I can remember from the time I reached the deck is that I was suddenly grabbed and placed in a lifeboat. The next thing I remember was finding myself in a boat a good distance from the Titanic. I could see it gradually sink into the water. Men and women could be seen along the rails. Many were jumping overboard. Nearly all I could see wore lifebelts. It was only a short time after this that I saw the ship lurch forward a little and sink deeper. Suddenly it disappeared. After this, I forgot everything until I realized I was on board another ship, the Carpathia."

For some reason, Annie's late husband, Stephen, was never mentioned in her account. Along with that, her report seems to be dramatized as it is likely there were not many, if any, people running around screaming in the hallways in Second Class, along with more. It is a possibility that she did exit her cabin for the last time in little clothes, though it cannot be assured due to some of her claims.

It is believed that Annie would only spend a few months after the sinking in Sacramento. She likely took that time to pack up all her possessions and sell her and Stephen's house before moving back to England. Annie would be the recipient of 4,000 U.S. dollars in her late husband's will. She would arrive in England in mid-to-late 1912 aboard an unknown ship. In England, she would return to Porthoustock and began to work as a bookkeeper.

After three years of being a widow, Annie would re-marry on July 27th, 1915, in St. Keverne, England, to Joseph Northern Bailey (b. January 7th, 1893-April 21st, 1979), who worked as a mariner. Joseph's exact job title is unknown though it is known he worked with ships and the sea, just like her step-father. Mr. Bailey, who was 9 years younger than Annie, was a native of Hayle, England, which was about a 7-hour walking distance away from Porthoustock. They would live together in Hayle.

In 1920 Annie's first and only child would be born; a boy named James. James was named after Annie's grandfather, who died a year earlier in 1919, aged 84. After Annie's second marriage and the birth of her son James, not much else is known about the middle to late stages of her life. What is known is they remained in Hayle for a few decades where they raised their son and Joseph continued to work as a mariner. In November of 1930, both her mother and step-father would pass away. Both of them were between the ages of 71 and 72 years old. They would die one day each other.

After the death of one of Annie's aunts in 1952, she inherited her late aunt's house at Wellsworth Lane, Rowlands Castle, England. She and Joseph would leave Hayle, England, after living there together for over three decades to live at Wellsworth Lane. In Annie's last years, she suffered from severe rheumatism, which sitting in a lifeboat on the cold night of April 15th, 1912, years previously in, possibly, only her nightdress.

Annie would pass away on March 1st, 1960, at the age of 76; he 77th birthday was less than a week away. She died of natural causes, though her rheumatism may have to do with her death. Her passing would appear in the local newspaper. Annie's body would be taken to St. Keverne, England. There, she was buried at St. Keverne Churchyard. In the same cemetery, there was a plaque for Titanic victim John Richard Jago Smith, one of the ship's postal workers. At the time of her death, her estate was worth a total of £22,894, 6d, 11d, which all went to her widowed husband, Joseph.

Joseph would later leave Rowlands Castle after the death of Annie. He would go to Shepperton, England, to go live with their son, James, and his wife. Joseph would die on April 21st, 1979, aged 86 in Wall, England. He would be buried with Annie in St. Keverne. Their son James would die on July 26th, 1994, in Poole, England, aged 73 to 74 years old.

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