Noël Leslie, The Woman Who Steered Her Lifeboat To Safety
Wikimedia CommonsNoël Leslie, Lady Rothes, Titanic survivor.
A countess and philanthropist, Noël Leslie — better known as Lady Rothes — made perhaps her greatest mark on history when she took charge of one of the Titanic lifeboats and helped steer it to safety.
She manned the tiller on Lifeboat 8, rowed, and took the helm for more than an hour before stepping down to console a newlywed whose husband had been lost in the wreck. She gave her fellow passengers comfort, led them in songs, and saw them through one of the darkest nights of their lives.
She didn’t stop caring for the passengers even when they boarded the Carapathia; she looked after women and children, especially the poorest passengers, and sewed clothes for babies.
After making it back to shore, Lady Rothes shied away from the publicity that rightly touted her as one of the disaster’s great heroes.
She did, however, maintain a regular correspondence with Tom Jones, the crewman who had been put in charge of her lifeboat. She gave him a silver pocket watch, and in return he sent her the plaque from their lifeboat. She continued to exchange letters with him until her death in 1956.
