EVELYN MARSDEN DESERVES RECOGNITION AT WAVERLEY CEMETERY

Australian history is being forgotten in our own backyard.

Buried at Waverley Cemetery in Sydney lies a woman whose story connects Australia to one of the most studied, most documented, most globally significant maritime disasters in human history. - The Sinking of the RMS Titanic. Her survival represents an extraordinary chapter in our national narrative - yet the overwhelming majority of Australians remain entirely unaware of her existence.

Her name is Evelyn Marsden.

She is Australia's only female Titanic survivor.

The Woman Behind the Story.

Evelyn was born on October 15, 1883, in Stockyard Creek, South Australia - a remote railway settlement in the colony's harsh interior.  If you go looking for it today, you will find nothing but ruins and red dust. The town has been swallowed by the desert. Evelyn's parents, Walter Marsden and Annie Bradshaw, had emigrated from Derbyshire, England, in 1877, leaving everything behind in pursuit of a better life. Economic opportunity drew them to the Australian colonies, but survival in the unforgiving landscape demanded extraordinary resilience.

As a youth, Evelyn learned to row on the Murray River, her arms mastering the rhythm of the oars against the current. She grew up riding horses fast across the scrubland - becoming such an accomplished equestrian that local newspapers celebrated her as one of the district's most skilled horsewomen. But Evelyn's passions extended far beyond the saddle, she trained as a probationer nurse at Adelaide Hospital (now known as The Royal Adelaide Hospital), proving herself exceptional in medical care.

Yet something else burned within her: wanderlust - An insatiable hunger for horizons beyond Australia's shores. 

The ocean whispered to Evelyn in a language the land could never speak.

On January 21 1908, at 24 years old, Evelyn stepped off the SS Persic onto British soil in London, having sailed across the entire world. - alone - pursuing a future she had determined for herself. At a time when Edwardian society demanded that respectable women remain anchored to family and domesticity.

She joined the White Star Line as a stewardess and nurse, working First Class aboard the era's most prestigious ocean liners.

While serving aboard the RMS Olympic, Evelyn met Dr. William Abel James, a Welsh ship's surgeon.

They fell deeply in love.

On September 20 1911, the Olympic collided with the HMS Hawke in the Solent, sustaining massive damage that required extensive repairs in Belfast. It was Evelyn's first brush with disaster at sea. Crew members, including Evelyn, were to be reassigned to the Olympic's sister ship preparing for her maiden voyage: RMS Titanic.

By early 1912, Evelyn and William were engaged, planning their wedding for later that year. William was scheduled to sail on Titanic with Evelyn, but a last-minute roster change placed him on a different ship - a twist of fate that saved his life.

On April 6, 1912, Evelyn signed Titanic's crew articles as stewardess and nurse in First Class. 

On April 10, the RMS Titanic departed Southampton on her maiden voyage to New York.

For four days aboard Titanic, Evelyn moved through usual her routines - attending to First Class passengers, making beds, serving tea, providing care. 

On April 14 at 11:40 pm Titanic hit an iceberg tearing a series of deadly punctures along 300 feet of her hull. Within hours, Titanic would be sitting 12,500 ft at the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean.

Evelyn was placed in Lifeboat 16, launched at approximately 1:20 AM. What happened next reveals the true character of this heroic Australian woman.

For hours in the freezing Atlantic, Evelyn rowed. Her hands - trained on the Murray River as a youth - pulled the wooden oars until they blistered, bled, and tore apart. Her rowing kept the lifeboat moving, kept people alive who could not save themselves. Through the night Evelyn tended to a baby - cradling the child, keeping it warm, using every skill she had learned to protect the most helpless life among them.

This is who Evelyn Marsden was. Not just a survivor fighting for her own life, but a protector. Even in the midst of such unimaginable horror, she reached out to comfort and care for the most vulnerable.

When dawn broke and RMS Carpathia arrived to rescue the survivors, 712 people out of 2,208 remained alive.

Evelyn Marsden was one of only two Australians who survived the disaster.

The Courage to Keep Living

On July 27, 1912 - just three months after the sinking - Evelyn married William Abel James.. 

Then she made a choice that embodies the true Australian spirit: she and William crossed the Atlantic again. The ocean had nearly killed her but she refused to let fear dictate her life.

This is who we are as Australians. We get knocked down. We get back up. We keep going.

Evelyn came home to Australia as a celebrated heroine.

Evelyn and William eventually settled in the Sydney suburb of Bondi, they always remained close to the water. The couple never had children, but the life they created - marked by love and resilience - was extraordinary.

A Heartbreaking End

On August 30, 1938, Evelyn tragically passed away from pneumonia at just 54 years old. Seven days later, her despondent husband followed her.

They were laid to rest together at Waverley Cemetery, in Sydney on a clifftop overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

And Then We Forgot Her

For 62 years, Evelyn's grave bore no headstone. No marker. No name carved in stone. Just earth and grass and the sound of waves breaking against the cliffs below.

This is heartbreaking beyond measure.

It wasn't until 2000, when an article in The Australian Women's Weekly brought her story back to light, that historians fought to raise funds for a memorial marker.

We're Still Failing Her

Even now - 26 years after her headstone was erected - Evelyn Marsden remains invisible at Waverley Cemetery.

Waverley Cemetery is one of Sydney's most significant heritage sites. Operating continuously for almost 150 years and the final resting place for over 100,000 people, the cemetery proudly showcases notable individuals buried there - poets like Henry Lawson, Olympic athletes, politicians, cultural icons whose contributions shaped our nation. On the Waverley Cemetery website, these notable people are featured with photographs and biographies celebrating their lives and legacies.

Evelyn Marsden - Australia's only female Titanic survivor - is not listed among them.

She doesn't appear on the cemetery's heritage maps. There's no directional signage. At her grave, there's no interpretive plaque with her photograph, no account of what she survived, no acknowledgment of who she was. She has been systematically excluded from every form of recognition that other notable Australians receive.

Meanwhile, the cemetery maintains detailed heritage infrastructure for others: interpretive plaques with photographs and biographies, prominent placement on heritage maps, clear directional signage, and prominent website features.

But not for Evelyn.

Why Evelyn's Story Matters

Most Australians have no idea that any Australians were aboard the Titanic. This connection to one of history's most significant disasters is right here in Sydney - and we've systematically hidden it.

Evelyn Marsden survived one of history's greatest maritime disasters. She represents courage, resilience, and the Australian spirit of pursuing dreams against all odds - the spirit that defines us as a nation, that connects us to our pioneering heritage, that reminds us what Australians are capable of when faced with the impossible.

She deserves the same recognition given to every other notable person at Waverley Cemetery.

This Is Our Fight

Evelyn's story has been invisible for too long. This is unacceptable. And together, we have the power to change it.

We cannot allow this injustice to continue.

What I Am Asking

By signing this petition, you are calling on Waverley Council to recognize the profound importance of preserving Evelyn Marsden's story and ensuring that Australians can connect with this vital piece of our Australian history.

We petition Waverley Council to undertake the following measures:

1. Add Evelyn Marsden to all cemetery heritage infrastructure - including physical directional signage throughout the grounds and the digital interactive mapping system, and the Waverley Cemetery website's 'Notable People' section with her photograph and biography. Visitors seeking to honour Australia's only female Titanic survivor should be able to locate her grave and be given the opportunity to connect with her legacy.

2. Install interpretive heritage signage at her gravesite - featuring her photograph, biographical narrative, and the story of her Titanic survival. This signage should tell her story with the dignity, precision, and respect it warrants, employing the same standard of recognition given to other notable Australians buried at Waverley.

These measures represent more than administrative updates to cemetery infrastructure. They are about honouring a woman who embodied the best of the Australian spirit - courage, determination, and an unbreakable will to survive and thrive despite overwhelming adversity. They are about making Australian history accessible to Australians who deserve to know it exists.

The stories we preserve, the names we honour, the legacies we protect - these things shape who we are and who we become.

Sign this petition to demand that Evelyn Marsden receives the recognition she has always deserved.