People on board

BUTCHER, Edith Alice née Herring

Edith Alice Herring was born in Ealing, west London, in 1891 to Frederick William Herring and Emma Wiltshire. She was the youngest of their four children, three girls and a boy. Frederick was a Postman and the family were living in 68 Felix Road from at least 1901. In the 1911 census Edith, aged nineteen, was a ‘Toy Maker’, her brother Sidney was an Insurance Agent, her eldest sister Harriet was a ‘Restaurant Waitress’ and her other sister Beatrice was a ‘Domestic Housemaid’.

On Christmas Day 1917 Edith married Robert Butcher in St James Church, Ealing. Robert was a Company Sergeant Major, on leave from the King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment. In June his regiment moved to Dublin and Edith (possibly called Alice) went with him. The Ealing Gazette reported that “to escape the rigours of the Irish winter she was coming to live with her parents till Spring”. She was expected to travel on RMS Leinster on the 10th of October and when she failed to arrive at the train station her family thought that the boat was delayed. They later heard about the sinking and then Robert Butcher confirmed that he had identified her body.

Edith Alice Butcher’s body was returned to London and the funeral took place in Westminster Cemetery, Hanwell “in the presence of many sympathising friends”.