Violet Constance Jessop (2 October 1887 – 5 May 1971) was an Irish-Argentine-born British ocean liner stewardess and Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse during World War I. She is notable for having survived the sinking of both in 1912 and sister ship in 1916, as well as having been aboard the eldest of the three ships of that class, , when it collided with the British warship in 1911.
Early life
Born in the Pampas on 2 October 1887, near Bahía Blanca, Argentina, Violet Constance Jessop was the eldest daughter of Irish immigrants Katherine (née Kelly) and William Jessop, a sheep farmer. She was the first of nine children, six of whom survived.<!-- At age 21, her first stewardess position was with Royal Mail Line aboard Orinoco in 1908. Olympic was a luxury ship that was the largest civilian liner at that time. Jessop described in her memoirs how she was ordered up on deck to serve as an example of how to behave for the non-English speakers who could not follow the instructions given to them. Britannic sank within 55 minutes, killing 30 of the 1,066 people aboard.<!-- In her memoirs, she described the scene she witnessed as Britannic went under: "The white pride of the ocean's medical world ... dipped her head a little, then a little lower and still lower. All the deck machinery fell into the sea like a child's toys. Then she took a fearful plunge, her stern rearing hundreds of feet into the air until with a final roar, she disappeared into the depths." so he could not have 'phoned Jessop two decades later.
Jessop died of congestive heart failure in 1971 at the age of 83.
In media
In the 1958 film A Night To Remember, a scene depicts naval architect Thomas Andrews (played by Michael Goodliffe) instructing a stewardess to be seen wearing her life jacket as an example to the other passengers. Several scenes from this film inspired later depictions of the sinking; in James Cameron's later 1997 blockbuster Titanic, a similar encounter takes place involving Andrews and a stewardess named Lucy, who is also told to wear her life jacket in order to convince the passengers to do the same.
In the 1979 television movie S.O.S. Titanic, Jessop is depicted as an elderly stewardess played by Madge Ryan.
In 2006, "Shadow Divers" John Chatterton and Richie Kohler led an expedition to dive HMHS Britannic. The dive team needed to accomplish a number of tasks including reviewing the expansion joints. The team was looking for evidence that would change the thinking on RMS Titanics sinking. During the expedition, Rosemary E. Lunn played the role of Violet Jessop, re-enacting her jumping into the water, from her lifeboat which was being drawn into Britannics still turning propellers.
The character of Jessop is featured in the Chris Burgess stage play Iceberg – Right Ahead!, staged for the first time Upstairs at the Gatehouse in Highgate, March 2012, to commemorate the centenary of the sinking of Titanic. Jessop's role was played by Amy-Joyce Hastings.
Jessop was played by Vicky Allen in Titanic Sinks Tonight , a 2025 BBC 4-part drama-documentary series.
See also
- Arthur Priest, a stoker who also survived the sinking of Titanic and Britannic and was on Olympic during the collision with HMS Hawke, as well as other shipwrecks
- Archie Jewell, lookout and sailor who survived Titanic and Britannic but died in the sinking of .
- Wenman Wykeham-Musgrave, a British sailor who survived three consecutive sinkings in the action of 22 September 1914.
- Helen Repa, heroic nurse who saved lives during the SS Eastland Disaster.
- Mary McCann, heroic nurse from the burning of the PS General Slocum.