Victor Robbins (March 29th, 1867 - April 15th, 1912) was the manservant of John Jacob Astor IV, travelling aboard the Titanic as a First Class passenger. He died in the sinking.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Victor Robbins was born on 29 March 1867 in Westminster, London, England.
He was the son of Arthur John Robins (b. 1844), a stonemason, and Mary Ann Forbes (b. 1847) who were married in mid-1866. Victor had six known siblings (from a reported total of eight): Oliver (b. 1871), Arthur (b. 1873), Philip (b. 1875), Eleanor Elizabeth (b. 1878), William (b. 1880) and Lillian (b. 1884).
He emigrated from England and arrived in New York on 28 June 1890 and settled in New York where he worked as a butler. He had made a return home to England in June 1897.
His father died on 26 October 1907 whilst his mother passed away in 1938 in Surrey.
Marriage[]
Victor later was married to a French-born woman named Louisa De Loye 2 (b. 26 October 1861) in New York, US and their only child, named George Victor was born on 26 May 1894. The family settled in Manhattan and they appeared there on the 1905 census as residents of East 53rd Street. He became a naturalised citizen on 25 April 1906; described as a butler, his then current address was 840 Fifth Avenue, New York City.
Serving John Jacob Astor IV[]
It is not clear when Victor was in the employ of John Jacob Astor as a butler and valet; he was described as "Astor valet" on a westbound voyage aboard Kaiser Wilhelm Der Grosse in December 1909 and in June 1911 accompanied Astor on a voyage aboard La Provence.
Aboard the Titanic[]
He boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg on 10 April 1912 along with Colonel Astor and his new wife Madeleine, her maid Rosalie Bidois (traveling on joint ticket number 17757 which cost £247, 10s, 6d) and Madeleine's prenatal nurse Caroline Louise Endres. The Astors had been on their honeymoon in Europe following a high profile marriage. Victor stayed in cabin C-122.
Fate[]
Victor Robbins, along with his employer Colonel Astor, died in the sinking and his body, if recovered, was never identified.
His widow Louisa never remarried and continued to live in Manhattan with her son George whom she was also fated to outlive. George became an electrical engineer and later married a woman named Catherine Maroney (b. 1898), a nurse from Maryland, but had no children. They settled in Queens, New York and George lived there untill his death on 6 February 1945.
In popular culture[]
Titanic (1943)[]
- Main article: Hopkins (1943 Titanic Film)
In the 1943 film, character Hopkins is based on him with the difference that Hopkins survives while Victor did not.
Titanic (1997)[]
Victor Robbins in Titanic (1997)
In the 1997 film, he only appears once briefly, during the boarding at Cherbourg, where he walks along near the elevators, with his party. However, his actor was uncredited.