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Mary Delia Burns (15 September 1896 - 15 April 1912) was a Third Class passenger on the Titanic. She traveled with two friends from her area, Margaret Bedelia Devaney and Kate Hargadon. She did not survive the sinking.

Life[]


Mary Delia Burns was born on September 15th, 1896, in Kilmacowen, Ireland. She was the oldest child of Thomas Burns (b. 8 October 1868), a farmer, and Annie Kemmit (b. 1870). They married on 20 February 1895. Her siblings were Michael Joseph (b. 19 March 1900), Annie Mary (b. 30 October 1901), Margaret Ellen (b. 19 June 1903), Elizabeth "Lizzie" Josephine (b. 14 March 1905), Catherine (b. 26 November 1906), Gertrude Patricia (b. 1 March 1909) and Thomas (b. 24 January 1911).

The family lived at house 20, in Kilmacowen, Ireland according to the 1901 census. The family was then living at house 15 in Kilmacowen in the 1911 census. Mary was still in school at the time.

At the young age of 15, she decided she wanted to emigrate to America. Once she was there she hoped she would find a job for a family as a maid. She was going to to live with her aunt Mary Sheridan who lived at 942 Kent Avenue in Brooklyn, New York with her husband Peter. Mrs. Sheridan (née Burns?) emigrated to the United States in 1889.

The RMS Titanic[]


Mary had enough money to travel in Second Class on the Titanic, however, she decided to stay with her friends Margaret Devaney and Kate Hargadon in Third Class. She bought ticket number 330963, costing her £7, 17s, 7d. The three of them boarded in Queenstown, Ireland. They 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 women.

Aboard the Titanic, Mary befriended a man Henry Hart.

On the night of the sinking, the three girls were all asleep in their bunks. However at some point after midnight, someone was knocking on their cabin door for them to wake up. This person is believed to be Henry Hart. There are two versions of what happened next, both versions came from the only survivor of the three of them, Margaret. One of the versions (which was printed in the Irish World newspaper on 4 May 1912) 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."

In the other version of events, Margaret explained that Kate Hargadon had a bad case of seasickness and did not think she could climb a ladder to get to the higher decks.

Margaret said that Kate remained in the Third Class area (they were possibly at the Aft Well Deck) with Mary tending to her.

Fate[]


Either way, Mary died in the sinking of the Titanic. Her body was not recovered.

After the disaster, confusion arose about Mary's fate because the last name Burn was on the list of survivors. However, they later figured out that the surviving Burns was First Class passenger Elizabeth Margaret Burns. Even with this information, Mary's aunt continued to search everywhere for her young niece.

After the disaster, her parents received £25 from the Mansion House Titanic Relief Fund.

Her father and mother later had two more children, the first one arriving on 12 June 1913. They named her Mary Delia Veronica in honor of their late daughter. Their second child, Norah Teresa came on 24 February 1915.

Mary's mother died on 31 March 1949 from heart failure. Her father died from similar circumstances on 2 March 1952.

Today, she is remembered on a memorial plaque in Silgo Cemetery, Co. Sligo, and on a family grave in Ballisdare, Co. Sligo.