Discover Alberta Ancestors

DICK, Vera Gillespie (1894-1973)

Vera Gillespie Dick

Survivor of the sinking of the Titanic

Vera DickBorn: 12 June 1894 at Calgary, Alberta
Married: 31 May 1911 to Albert Adrian Dick at Calgary, Alberta
Died:
7 Oct 1973 (age 62) at Calgary, Alberta
Buried:
Union Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, plot L:01:004
Contributor: Jim Benedict

Her Early Years

Vera was born in Calgary to Frederick William Gillespie and Annie Eliza Crane.

Albert Adrian Dick was a prominent Calgary real estate investor who made his fortune during the land boom of 1908 to 1912.  He married Vera Gillespie, who at the time was only 16 years old.  They were married, ironically on 31 May 1911, the day that Titanic was launched.

For their honeymoon, they took an extended  trip to Israel and then across Europe. Their last stop was London, England. There they bought lots of antiques for their new tudor-styled house in Calgary. To get back to Canada, they traveled to Southampton, and there they saw the Titanic for the first time.

The Titanic Disaster

The newlyweds boarded the ill-fated Titanic on April 10, 1912 as First Class passengers. Seventeen year-old Vera enjoyed her time on the ship, even having dinner with Thomas Andrews, the ship’s designer. Her husband, a wealthy realter, had given her a heart shaped ruby gem, which unfortunately went down with the ship. The lifeboat carrying Vera and Bert was one of the last to leave the sinking ship.

Vera was the inspiration for the storyline of the character “Rose” in James Cameron’s movie “Titanic”, according to historian Wyn Craig Wade.

Vera and her husband survived the Titanic disaster. She and her husband returned to Calgary where they lived until Vera’s death in 1973. For many years, Albert was rumoured to have snuck aboard the life raft with Vera, despite witnesses saying that he assisted families escaping to the life rafts, and only joined in at the insistence of an officer on a partially loaded craft.

Vera and her husband survived the Titanic disaster. She and her husband returned to Calgary where they lived until Vera’s death in 1973. Vera and Bert Dick are buried in Calgary’s Union Cemetery at Section L Row 1 Plot 4.

Discover Alberta Ancestors