Bertha Chambers was the wife of Norman Campbell Chambers and a First Class passenger onboard Titanic.
Early Life[]
She was born as Bertha Griggs, the child of Dr. Elma Call and Ira D. Griggs on October 10, 1879. Her father was a printer and her mother a physician. Bertha was conceived in Friendship, Allegany, New York.
Her mother separated from her husband later.
On 12 March 1906 she married Norman Campbell Chambers in Ithaca, New York. He was a mechanical engineer. They didn't have any children together.
Aboard Titanic[]
On the 10th of April, 1912 she boarded Titanic in Southampton with Norman. They had tickets for the cabin coded E-8, on E-Deck, in the vicinity of the service stairs that would lead to the Mail Room down below.
On the night of April 14, Titanic had grazed an iceberg and a small set of crevices appeared in her hull, leaving tons of water into the ship, which started to sink. After the collision, Bertha thought it be best if they would go check things out. They went back to their cabin, having been assured by a steward nothing of interest had happened. Her husband however, had witnessed floating bagage in the holds, but he laughed it off.
She wasn't as confident as her husband and felt something was off. She couldn't stay in her cabin and waited in the hallway to see if there were any developments. She had run into a passenger who had informed her and then she went back to Norman to tell him that there had been and order for them to evacuate and get lifebelts. Norman checked it with a steward and got confirmation. They went up, and there seemed no panic anywhere, on a higher Deck some passengers where gathered but it was nothing out of the ordinary.
They arrived of the Boat Deck, her husband making an amused chat with a deck steward and he gave them towels. They checked the port side, but there was no activity. They walked to the other side via the First Class Lounge. She wanted to board a lifeboat and did so but suggested to Norman that he should join her, which made him puzzle but did it anyway. They were saved from the disaster in lifeboat 5.
Later Life[]
On 24 November 1922, she lost her mother. She and her husband had paid her many visits during their busy life filled with voyages.
She passed away on Sunday, 18 October 1959. Norman remarried years later.