Robert Spedden
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Robert Douglas Spedden (1905 - 1915)

Robert Douglas Spedden
Born in New York City, New York, USAmap
Ancestors ancestors
Died at age 9 in Grindstone Neck, Winter Harbor, Hancock County, Maine, USAmap
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Profile last modified | Created 6 May 2014
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The RMS Titanic.
Robert Spedden was a passenger on the RMS Titanic.
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Titanic Passenger and Crew Summary:

  • Name: Master Robert Douglas Spedden - Titanic Survivor
  • Born: Sunday 19th November 1905
  • Age: 6 years (Male)
  • Last Residence: in Tuxedo Park New York United States
  • 1st Class Passengers
  • First Embarked: Cherbourg on Wednesday 10th April 1912
  • Ticket No. 16966 , £134 10s
  • Cabin No.: E40
  • Destination: Tuxedo Park New York United States
  • Rescued (boat 3)
  • Disembarked Carpathia: New York City on Thursday 18th April 1912
  • Died: Sunday 8th August 1915
  • Cause of Death: Road Traffic Accident-Concussion of brain, was struck by car
  • Buried: Tuxedo Park New York United States

Travelling Companions (on same ticket):


Biography

Master Robert Douglas Spedden was born in New York City on 19 November 1905, the only child of Frederic Oakley Spedden and Daisy Spedden. The family lived in Tuxedo Park, NY.

In late 1911, Douglas accompanied his parents when they sailed for Algiers on the Caronia. He was attended by his private nurse, Elizabeth Burns, whom he called "Muddie Boons," because he had trouble pronouncing her name. From Algiers the family moved on, first to Monte Carlo and later to Paris. In April 1912, at the end of their European holiday, the family and their servants boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg for the return home, Douglas, and presumably Muddie Boons, occupied cabin E-40.

Following the collision with the iceberg, Douglas was woken by Muddie who told him that they were taking a "trip to see the stars." The Spedden party made their way to the starboard side of the boat deck, where they boarded lifeboat 3. After all the available women and children had been loaded the men were then allowed to join their families. Douglas slept through the night. When he woke at dawn he saw the icebergs all around and exclaimed "Oh, Muddie, look at the beautiful North Pole with no Santa Claus on it." All survivors in Lifeboat 3 were rescued by the Carpathia.

In 1913, Daisy wrote and illustrated a storybook that she gave to Douglas for Christmas. "My Story" was told through the eyes of a toy bear, and describes the European travels, the sinking of the Titanic, and the subsequent rescue.

On August 6,1915, nine year old Douglas was struck by a car on Grindstone Neck, Winter Harbor, near the family's summer camp in Maine. It was one of the first recorded automobile accidents in the state. He died later from the concussion he sustained. He was buried in Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn.

References and Sources: State of Maine Record of a Death Colonel Archibald Gracie (1913) The Truth about the Titanic. New York, Mitchell Kennerley Daisy Spedden Polar, the Titanic Bear. Edited by Leighton H. Coleman III

Credits:

  • Dave Aldworth, USA
  • Leighton H. Coleman III, USA
  • Michael A. Findlay, USA
  • Phillip Gowan, USA



Sources



"New York, Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1924," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JXGS-HM6 : accessed 25 Jun 2014), Robert D Spedden, arrived at New York, 05 May 1907, on the Baltic; citing National Archives, Washington D.C.

"New York, Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1924," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JJRT-6JS : accessed 25 Jun 2014), Robert D. Spedden, arrived at New York, 18 Jun 1912, on the Carpathia and Titanic; citing National Archives, Washington D.C.

"New York, Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1924," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JN5B-44H : accessed 25 Jun 2014), Robert D. Spedden, arrived at New York, 10 Apr 1913, on the Arcadian; citing National Archives, Washington D.C.





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