Quigg Edmond Baxter was a young sportsman and First Class passenger of the Titanic.
Biography[]
He was born 13 July 1887 in Montréal, Quebec, Canada. He was a professional athlete, footballer and hockey player, but most notably, a Titanic victim. He was the son of James Baxter, a banker, and Helene de Lanaudiere Chaput, a descendant of the French-Canadian aristocracy. Quigg had one sibling, an older sister named Mary Hélène Jane "Suzette" who was conceived on 4 April 1885.
Quigg received his education in the prestigious Loyola Jesuit College, and enrolled in Applied Sciences at McGill University. However, sport was his true passion and he dropped out of school to pursue it. As a member of the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association, he played football. In 1907, he played for one season with the Montreal Shamrocks Hockey Club. He became a star. after an accident which cost him the loss of sight on one eye, However, he turned to coaching after an accident which cost him the loss of sight on one eye.
After a stint of coaching in Switzerland, he returned playing hockey in 1911. He played in an amateur hockey tournament in Chamonix, France, with Les Patineurs de Paris hockey club who won over the Oxford Canadians. After the tournament, he joined his mother and sister Helene Douglas, who was now married, for the trip back home. In Brussels, he met the love of his life, a cabaret singer of his age, named Berthe Mayné,
Titanic[]
The family boarded the Titanic in Cherbourg, France on April the 11th. They travelled in First Class and they had the most luxurious cabins booked, close to the famous Parlour Suites. Quigg slept in State Room B-60, which had a door to cabin B-58, occupied by his mother and sister. Quigg was 24 years old at the time. He didn’t tell his mother that his new-found crush, who he didn't want to leave behind, would also be part of the trip. He had secretly booked her on the ship under the assumed name of Mme De Villiers, with the intention of marrying her in Montreal. She was stationed in cabin C-90 in the Adam style.
On the night of April 14, Titanic had struck and iceberg and suddenly came to a standstill. At midnight, on April 15, 1912, Quigg inquired to know why the ship wasn't moving. After he was informed by Captain Smith of the collision, he returned to the cabin to get his mother, sister and lover to move up to the Boat Deck. He had to carry his mother. The three women were put into lifeboat 6. Up untill then it was unbeknowst to the rest of the family who Berthe Mayné was, but no his mother discovered the truth. After putting his mother in the lifeboat, he handed her his silver flask of brandy, and she jockingly complained about his alcohol habit. Berthe didn't want to leave him, but Margaret Brown advised her that it would be better if she did.
His last words were: "Are you alright, Mother? Goodbye and keep your spirits up, everyone."
His body was not recovered. His name is on the family monument, in Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery, Montreal.
Gallery[]
Popular Culture[]
Titanic (1997)[]
Quigg Baxter was a minor character in the 1997 film Titanic.
He only appeared at the end of the film during the Heaven Sequence where he and 1500 others clapped as Jack and Rose kissed for the first time in 84 years; reunited.
Curiosity: What Sank Titanic? (2011)[]
Quigg Edmond Baxter was portrayed by Oscar Pearce in 'Curiosity: What Sank Titanic?' and is a major character of the episode. This episode was later revamped for 'Inside the Titanic.' He first appears when Helene is worrying about the sinking, he then had to exit into the hall to talk to Mr. Ismay and is told to get his family in a boat. He then went to Berthe Mayne's cabin to tell her of the boat drill, and she became worried.
| “ |
Don't leave me! |
” |
—Berthe Mayne and Quigg Baxter | ||
He kissed her and the ship groaned, but he reassured her that it was just part of the drill, so he returned to his mother and sister at lifeboat 6. Later, Berthe is missing, having accidentally been locked in her flooding cabin by a steward. He asked where the key was, but it was missing. However this is entirely accurate as her cabin was in the aft part of the ship, and the flooding really didn't occur in a way that the water came through the washbins.
| “ |
Berthe!? |
” |
—Berthe Mayne and Quigg Baxter | ||
Quigg kicked open the door with a hat rack and saved her while the water was pouring down the stairs outside. On deck, they witnessed Murdoch pull a teenager from the lifeboat, before Quigg puts the three women into the boat. Later, during the ship's final plunge, he returned to his flooding cabin as the airpocket imploded and flooded; killing him instantly.