Peter Dennis Daly was a passenger on Titanic.
Biography[]
Peter was born in Liscard, Wallasey, England, on July the 17th, 1860. He was the son of John and Isabel Daly. In his childhood he lived outside Liverpool by the river Mersey.
Peter Daly was a multilingual man. He could speak English, German, Italian, Spanish, French, Greek and even Latin. Not at all suprising then, that he graduated from Cambridge University, with special honors no less. He wanted to see more of the world and needed a vacation, and from his father John he got a ticket and he went to South America. In Peru he fell in love with Maria Rosalba Ramos. She was born in Peru and had Spanish blood. On 9 July 1887 they pledged their vows to eachother.
After graduating from Cambridge University with honours, his father John gave him a ticket to South America. There he met the beautiful Rosalba Ramos, born in Peru of Spanish descent. They fell in love and married on 9 July 1887. By this time Isabel Charon, his mother, had passed away, leaving John Daly a widower. While in Lima, Peru to attend his son's wedding, John met a Ms. Arbulu, whom he later married. Both father and son therefore began new families simultaneously in Peru. It is uncertain if this was his first wife, as he was listed somewhere in 1881 to have already married as a 20-year old. It’s likely an error as it has been disputed as sources amongst his descendents claimed that Mrs Ramos was his first and only love.
Sadly his marriage had been struck with bad news because his mother had passed away around that time. The now widowed Johan Daly had attended the wedding but he settled in Peru as well when he found new love too. Peter Dennis and his wife Rosalba Ramos had 10 children, 5 boys: Nicanor, Alejandro, Ricardo, Enrique (died in his early teens) Miguel and then 5 girls of whom 4 survived to adulthood: Ines, Rosa, Isabel, and Maria (Mary). Two of the boys later moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina. He worked for London firm Haes & Sons and as a the representive of the branch in Lima, this included attending to business in London. He visited his friend Henry Hammond while in London.
Titanic[]
The story, certainly apochryphal, that is passed down is that Henry Hammond begged Daly not to board the Titanic on her Maiden Voyage because of the book 'Futility', published 14 years prior. This book is about a ship named Titan sinks during her Maiden Voyage.
Mr Peter Dennis Daly began his voyage aboard Titanic as part of his journey home to Lima, getting on the ship in Southampton on 10th April 1912. He occupied cabin E-17, just forward of the Grand Staircase on E-Deck.
According to his grandson Albert Daly, Ricardo's son, and his granddaughter Elvira (Billie) Daly de Sarria, Alejandro's daughter, on the night of the disaster he had changed from his dinner clothes to warm clothes and boots, including an overcoat. He also was wearing a money belt around his waist, where he placed his passport, cash, and his silver cigarette case, which contained a Holy Stamp of an "Our Mother of Perpetual Help."
During the final moments on the ship at around 1:50-2:00 A.M, Peter was standing amidships throwing deck chairs overboard from the First Class Open Promenade on that deck another man who was assisting him. Around this time, Peter heard ‘several shots’ coming from the forward end of the ship and stopped what he was doing. He began to walk over, but saw nothing. He began to hear the ship's musicians playing up until the very end of the sinking, stationed just outside the First Class Gymnasium. He began to stride forwards to the empty davits of the starboard lifeboats where one of them was being pulled to the davits to be lowered away, but became snagged on a cord.
It was now 2:05-2:10 A.M. The band now began to play their last song. By now, water had already reached the Boat Deck and the electricity was very dim while the lights glowed a hellish colour of red while the forward trim was large. Daly stood by the bulwark of the Promenade, adjacent to the Lounge Casing, having thrown off nearly every deck chair aboard. An unnamed woman came up to Daly around this time and the two had a small conversation before they began to hear screams and shouts. Looking forward, a massive wave surged up the Boat Deck towards them, and the two climbed on the gunwale, jumping overboard together. The woman, later identified as First Class Passenger Annie Elizabeth Isham, was never seen again, but Daly was soon able to get aboard Collapsible A which had floated off the ship earlier. Daly had seen this lifeboat sitting on the deck as he was about to jump off.
He was not in a great shape when rescued by RMS Carpathia at nearly 5:00 A.M in the morning. Nicanor, his eldest son, was at the time living and working in New York City and was the one who traced Peter Dennis at a New York Hospital. He had suffered hypothermia and his legs had to endure a lot of pain caused by the icy water. Later, after the disaster, in an interview conducted after the disaster, Daly claimed to have been told that an officer had killed himself while he was still on board the Titanic, as he only picked up the sound of a gun.
Later life[]
Daly returned to his family in Lima, Peru after his recovery in New York. His granddaughter, Rosalba Daly, recalls how every winter he suffered from pain in his legs due to the hypothermia suffered in the icy waters of the Atlantic. He took baths in hot springs to alleviate his pain.
Peter Dennis was a quiet man who spent long hours in his vegetable garden. He loved to eat red radishes dipped in salt. He was possessed of infinite patience, which he demonstrated by playing chess via the mail with overseas opponents from overseas. The mail from overseas in those days was delivered by ship only. He enjoyed playing cards, especially solitaire, which he taught his granddaughter Rosalba Daly. Rosalba was born on the same day of the sinking of the Titanic in 1921. She currently works as an artist and a teacher in Lima, Peru. When she was seven, Peter Dennis allowed her to eat at his dinner table. To Rosalba, this was a sign that she had finally learned to behave like a lady. Another of his granddaughters, Elvira (Billie) Daly de Sarria, keeps a collection of photographs of Peter and family from the late 1800's and the early 1900's she lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico with her son Miguel Sarria Daly.
Peter Dennis Daly died of old age in in Lima on 24th December 1932.