Inspire Me!!

This week's Inspire Me! post is dedicated to the last survivor of the Titanic disaster, Millvina Dean.

I am currently writing book 4 of the Pennington's series in which part of the novel takes place on the Titanic. Through my research, I have learned about many of the survivors of the tragedy but, at just 2 months old, Millvina was the youngest person aboard.

She and her family weren't supposed to be travelling on the Titanic but, due to the coal strike, their passage to America was transferred. The family's intention was to sail to Kansas to start a new life with her father's family who owned a tobacco shop.

When the Titanic struck the iceberg, it was women and children first and Millvina, her brother Bertram (almost 2 years old) and mother were thought to be the first third class passengers lifted into a lifeboat. Their father was lost, his body never found or identified.

Millvina never married or had children but lived a full life in the UK when her mother found she could not go on to fulfil her husband's dreams in the States. Millvina worked as a civil servant and was very active speaker about the disaster where she showed and auctioned memborilia.

The Titanic tragedy is a story that continues to fascinate, but was a disaster of unimaginable proportions, fuelled by the eclectic mix of class and characters aboard and the mistakes that never should have been made. A terrible event that took over 1,500 lives... the re-telling of this story should be founded in respect for those who died and the survivors lives that were changed forever.

Rachel x