Kate Hargadon was a Third Class passenger on the Titanic. She was traveling with two friends, Mary Delia Burns and Margaret Bedelia Devaney. She did not survive the sinking.
Life[]
Kate Hargadon was born on June 15th, 1894 in Carrownamaddoo, Ireland. Her parents were Patrick Hargadon (b. 1864) and Mary Creighan (b. 1855). Her parents married on 13 February 1888; both of them were illiterate. She had four sisters, twins Mary Anne and Bridget "Bee" (b. 28 May 1889), Kate (b. 1890-1891) and Margaret (b. 29 February 1892). Her sister who had the same name as her died at only three months old on 26 March 1891. The Hargadons followed the Roman Catholic faith.
On the 1901 census, they were listed as residing at 12 Carrownamaddoo, Ballintogherl, Ireland. Her father, Patrick, was a farmer. Sixteen-year-old Kate was still living with her family, now down the road at 6 Carrownamaddoo, when the 1911 census was taken. At the time, she was working as a domestic cook.
Titanic[]
Kate was traveling with her two friends to America. One of her friends, Mary Burns, had enough money to travel in Second Class but stayed in Third Class with Margaret and Kate. Miss Hargadon bought ticket number 30631, which cost £7 14s 8d. However, she didn't pay for the ticket herself. Instead, one of her older sisters, either Mary Anne or Bee, who was already living in America, made the purchase. She was going to 133 West 136th Street, Manhattan, where one of her elder twin sisters lived. She boarded the Titanic in Queenstown, Ireland. The three ladies stayed in the stern of the ship on either the E, F, or G Decks with the rest of the women who were traveling by themselves, or with other female companions.
During the voyage, they met and befriended a man named Henry Hart.
On the night of the sinking, they were all asleep in their bunks. However, at around midnight, they were woken up by a man knocking on their door for them to wake them. It is believed that this was Henry Hart. There are two different versions of what happened to the girls next, both versions came from the only survivor of the group, Margaret. The first version was printed in the Irish World newspaper on 4 May 1912. It said;
"We were all on deck, not thinking that it was serious, when a boy comes along and said, ‘You girls had better get into a boat.’ Then held out his hand saying, ‘I hope we'll meet again.’ . . . I got into the boat, but Mary Burns and Kitty Hargadon held back, thinking it was safer to remain on the ship, I never saw them again."
Margaret's second version of events explained that Kate had a bad case of seasickness and that she didn't think she could climb a ladder to get to higher decks. Margaret said that Kate remained in the Third Class area, they were possibly at the Aft Well Deck. Mary decided to stay with Kate to tend to her.
Either way, both Kate and Mary died in the sinking of the Titanic. On the other hand, Margaret survived, however, which lifeboat she escaped remains somewhat elusive, though it is speculated Collapsible C. Kate's body was never recovered from sea.
Ten years later, in May of 1922, Miss Hargadon's younger sister, Margaret, would emigrate to America.