Quigg Edmond Baxter – A First Class Passenger Who Gave Up His Place
Quigg Edmond Baxter was born in Montreal, Canada, on 13 July 1887, the son of banker James Baxter and his wife, Hélène de Lanaudière Chaput. Educated by Jesuits at Loyola College, he became a star athlete in his teens, playing football and hockey for the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association and later for the Montreal Shamrocks — until a stick blow to the eye in a 1907 game cost him the sight in it and ended his playing career. He went on to coach and is credited with organising one of the first international ice hockey tournaments ever held, in Paris.
In 1911, having left his first year of Applied Sciences at McGill University, Quigg travelled to Europe with his mother and her companion, Mrs. Douglas. While in Brussels he fell in love with Berthe Mayné, a 24-year-old cabaret singer, and was determined to bring her back to Montreal with him. He booked her a stateroom of her own aboard the Titanic, C-90, under the assumed name „Mme DeVilliers“ — the same voyage on which he and his mother, Hélène Baxter, travelled First Class from Cherbourg on ticket PC 17558.
On the night of the sinking, Quigg was in his cabin, B-60, when his mother asked him why the ship had stopped. Stepping outside just before midnight to investigate, he encountered Captain Smith speaking with Bruce Ismay, who told him: „There’s been an accident, Baxter, but it is all right.“ As Smith hurried to the bridge, Ismay urged Quigg to get his mother and sister into the lifeboats.
Quigg carried his mother up the grand staircase to Lifeboat 6, handing her a sterling silver flask of brandy as she climbed aboard. Calm to the end, he bid her farewell in French — „Etes vous bien, maman? Au revoir, bon espoir vous-autres“ („Are you alright, mother? Goodbye, and keep your spirits up, everyone.“) Berthe Mayné was reluctant to leave without him, but Margaret „Molly“ Brown persuaded her into the boat. Quigg Baxter waved them away and went down with the ship; his body, if recovered, was never identified.
He is remembered on his mother’s grave at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery in Montreal. Both his mother, Hélène Baxter, and Berthe Mayné survived the disaster.
Source: Encyclopedia Titanica, „Quigg Edmond Baxter“.
