
Jessie Leitch sitting in the Harper family's guarden.
Jessie Wills Leitch was a passenger on the RMS Titanic.
Early life[]
Jessie Wills Leitch was born in Renfrewshire, Scotland on November 8th, 1880 and was the daughter of John Leitch and Jessie Gillespie Bell.
Jessie Leitch was the niece of Annie Lecker Bell, the wife of Reverend John Harper. When Annie, who had given birth to her daughter Annie Jessie Harper five days prior, died from the complications following the childbirth, Jessie Leitch took it upon herself to look after Nana, as Annie Jessie was often called. From 1906 onwards she looked after the 3 year old girl as father John had to do his work and preach throughout Britain and Ireland.
Titanic[]
On Wednesday April 10, 1912, Jessie boarded the Titanic in Southampton and had tickets to travel Second Class along with John and Annie. She was 31 years old at the time. Their destiny was Chicago, as Mr. Harper had an appointment to preach at a church there.
On April 14, at late night, Titanic struck an iceberg. The impact hadn’t woken up Nana and Jessie, but Johan had noticed it and came to their cabin to prepare them for evacuation.
While the Titanic sank, Jessie and Annie survived in lifeboat 11. John Harper however was lost when he went down with the ship. He had chosen to stay behind and comfort people as well as blessing them with God's grace in the hours of distress.
Later life[]
She got married to Alexander Anderson from Wales.
Alexander died in 1928.
Jessie Wills Leitch passed away on 6 February 1963 in the Memorial Hospital in Dol-llys near Llanidloes, Powys, Wales. She reached the age of 82 years.