Mary Fortune and her daughters survived the sinking of the titanic but the cost was immeasurable

During a walk through the mausoleum at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto, I visited the crypt of Mary Fortune, a survivor of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912.

Mary, née McDougald, married Mark Fortune, a prominent Manitoban who amassed his wealth through land speculation. Together, they had four children. In 1912, the family embarked on a whirlwind vacation to Europe and were returning home to Manitoba when they boarded the Titanic as First Class passengers in Southampton, England on April 10, 1912.

Four days later, disaster struck. The supposedly unsinkable Titanic collided with an iceberg, sustaining fatal damage. In the early hours of April 15, evacuation orders were given. Mary and her three daughters were able to secure places on Lifeboat 10. Mary later recounted that one of the occupants of her lifeboat was a man disguised in women’s clothing, a desperate attempt to escape as women and children were given priority.

Before departing, Mary and her daughters left their money and jewelry with Mark and their nineteen-year-old son, Charles, believing they would reunite once the crisis had passed. Tragically, that reunion never occurred. At 2:20 a.m., the Titanic sank beneath the Atlantic, claiming the lives of both Mark Fortune and Charles.

The family home in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Mary and her daughters eventually returned to Winnipeg, but life was forever altered by their profound loss. Mary never remarried. In later years, she moved to Toronto to be near her daughter Ethel, where she spent the remainder of her life.

1851-1929