Bertha Mayne lived an average life as a singer in Paris, but she held onto one secret, her experience aboard the RMS Titanic. In 1911, she had met a young hockey player, Quigg Baxter, and they fell in love. Wanting to accompany him back to Montreal, she joined him aboard the world-class Titanic. She was 25 years old at the time.
In order to keep things proper and avoid any suspicion, Baxter got Mayne a first-class stateroom under the name “Mme. De Villiers”. The night of the sinking, he persuaded Bertha to get in lifeboat 6, along with his mother and sister. The three of them survived while Quigg Baxter presumably drowned. After the tragedy, she spent several months with the Baxter family before returning to her life and career in Paris.
Bertha never shared her experience with anyone until she was much older. She told her nephew she had been aboard the Titanic with a rich Canadian man, but no one believed her story. It wasn’t until after her death that her family found photographs and letters to support her story.