Marguerite Lucile ‘Rita’ Jolivet was born in Castletown, Richmond County, New York, in the United States of America, on the 25th September 1884, the daughter of Charles Eugene and Pauline Hélène Jolivet (née Vaillant). Both of her parents had been born in France, and her father was a businessman who owned vineyards in France, while her mother had been a talented musician, but had retired on marriage. Rita had an older sister named Inez Henrietta, and a younger brother named Alfred Eugene.
She was a renowned actress and a mover in the top social circles on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. On the 14th November 1908, she had married Alfred Charles Stern in London, but this marriage failed after a short period of time, and Rita reverted back to her original family name.
In the spring of 1915, she had been in New York, probably with her sister Inez, who was married to Englishman George Ley Vernon, who was a banker and spent a lot of his time in New York. Rita Jolivet and her brother-in-law decided to return to Europe together and having booked saloon passage for herself on the Lusitania, through agents Harrison G. Fiske Liebler & Co. of New York, Miss Jolivet arrived at the Cunard berth at Pier 54 in New York harbour on the morning of 1st May 1915 for what would become the liner’s last ever sailing.
Once on board, (with ticket number D1350), Rita Jolivet was escorted to her saloon accommodation, room D15, which was the personal responsibility of First Class Bedroom Steward William McLeod who came from Birkenhead, on the opposite side of the River Mersey from Liverpool. He was, in fact a long serving chief first class bedroom steward in the Cunard Steam Ship Company, but on the
Lusitania’s last voyage, he was serving in a lower capacity. George Ley Vernon occupied room E62.
The Lusitania’s sailing from the harbour was delayed, because she had to wait to embark passengers, cargo and some crew from the Anchor Lines steamer the S.S.
Cameronia, which had been requisitioned for war work by the British Admiralty. She finally left her moorings and slipped into the North River, just after mid-day.
The next six days were full of opulent living and parties for Rita Jolivet and George Ley Vernon, as they mixed with some of the richest people in the world at that time, and their closest circle of friends included Alfred Vanderbilt, Charles Frohman and Englishman Alick Scott. Miss Jolivet also spent a lot of time with fellow professional actress and saloon passenger Josephine Brandell.
In his book The Tragedy of the Lusitania, published just after the sinking, Captain Frederick D. Ellis told of the sinking through the words of Rita Jolivet: -
During the voyage, I was one of a party constantly associated, including Alfred Vanderbilt and Charles Frohman. We often discussed the chances of a submarine attacking us and all laughed at the idea, believing that with the Lusitania's speed, no submarine could even threaten us.
On Thursday night, I sat next to Mr. Vanderbilt and Mr. Frohman and all were in high spirits. When we rushed to the deck after the torpedo hit, Mr. Frohman, myself, my brother-in-law and Mr. Scott were standing together. Mr. Vanderbilt was also near. None of us had any fear.
Mr. Frohman was especially calm and magnificently courageous. He told all to keep still and when the second explosion came and the ship listed and everyone rushed to the deck when the first boat was being launched, he said to us: “Stay where you are. This is going to be a close call. We shall have more chances here than by rushing for the boats.” And then he went on just as calmly as though he were discussing some small after-dinner question.
“You know I have never feared death,” Mr. Frohman continued. “to my mind death is the most beautiful adventure which life can offer. The test for us at all times is to meet it as such.”
Miss Jolivet, Mr. Vanderbilt and Mr. Frohman, the three of them together with Q. D. S. Vernon, (sic)
Miss Jolivet's brother-in-law, and Mr. Scott, who had come all the way from Japan to enlist, joined hands and stood waiting to face death together.
We stood, said Miss Jolivet, talking about the Germans and the rumour which had gained currency to the effect that a man obviously of German origin had been arrested for tampering with the wireless. We determined not to enter the boats.
Another account states that this conversation concerned the arrest of German agents found on board - and this was actually correct! Miss Jolivet’s recollections continue: -
Just a minute or two before the end, Mr. Frohman said with a smile: “Why fear death? It is the most beautiful adventure that life gives us.”
Rita Jolivet recognized these words from the famous play Peter Pan, written by Charles Frohman’s friend J.M. Barrie. Her account continues: -
Mr. Scott fetched three lifebelts - one for Mr. Vanderbilt, one for Mr. Frohman and one for me. Mr. Scott said he was not going to wear one himself and my brother-in-law also refused to put one on. I hear that Mr. Vanderbilt gave his to a lady. Mr. Scott and I helped to put the lifebelt on Mr. Frohman.
He knew that his beautiful adventure was about to begin. He had hardly spoken when with a tremendous roar a great wave swept along the deck. We were all divided in a moment, and I have not seen any of those brave men alive since.
The force of the wave actually tore Miss Jolivet’s buttoned shoes from her feet as she was dragged down toward the bottom of the sea as the liner sank. Then, when she had reconciled herself to dying, the darkness around her brightened and she found herself being propelled to the surface again. Once there, she made for an upturned collapsible lifeboat which was also the perch of some thirty others. She then watched with increasing panic as the boat sank lower and lower in the water and she was forced to contemplate death for the second time, just when she thought she had survived!
As she clung on, however, another collapsible floated underneath the first and gave it the extra buoyancy that they all needed and she was able to take stock of her surroundings, and even smile at a few familiar faces!
Eventually, she and her enforced companions were rescued by the Greek steamer
Katerina, which was laden with sugar and inward bound from the Caribbean. After being landed at Queenstown, she eventually made it to England.
Some of her close companions on the voyage were not so fortunate, however. Charles Frohman, Alfred Vanderbilt and her brother-in-law George Ley Vernon all perished in the sinking, although Josephine Brandell and Alick Scott survived. Bedroom Steward McLeod who had looked after Rita Jolivet in room D15 also died and never saw his Birkenhead home again!
In June 1915, the Cunard office in Paris wrote to its counterpart in Liverpool seeking Rita Jolivet’s address in England as it had some mail to forward to her. As it happened, at that time, Miss Jolivet was appearing at the Shakespeare Theatre, in Fraser Street, Liverpool, and after Cunard had got in touch with her, she gave her future forwarding address as ‘Medmenham‘, Kew Gardens, London, which was the home of her parents. Her late brother-in-law’s address was stated as being at nearby 3, Ennerdale Road, Kew Gardens, Surrey.
On the 27th January 1916, Rita married a wealthy Venetian nobleman, Count Giuseppe de Cippico, in London. Rita became Countess Marguerite Lucile di Cippico as a result of the marriage. Two years after this, she and her husband made a Hollywood film named
Lest We Forget, in memory of Charles Frohman, and she followed this up with other films. She never really made the successful transition from the stage to the movies, however, and her career accordingly declined.
Her sister, Inez, meanwhile, had become another victim of the sinking of the
Lusitania - two months after the liner had gone down. Unable to cope with the loss of her husband, on 28th July 1915, she shot herself through the head whilst sitting, in full evening dress, in front of her dressing table in her New York apartment! Her body was cremated, and some years later Rita took her ashes to Queenstown for eventual burial in the same grave as her husband, George, in The Old Church Cemetery, just outside the town, where they both lie today!
At the beginning of the War, Rita’s brother, Arthur, had received a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Somerset Light Infantry, but was invalided out of the service in late 1917, presumably having suffered injuries or wounds while serving with his regiment. He was serving as a Captain when his service ended. In 1919, he married Mrs. Beatrice Witherbee, who was a divorcee, and also a survivor of the
Lusitania sinking. Beatrice had lost her mother, May Brown, and young son, Alfred Scott Witherbee, when the
Lusitania sank, and suffered greatly from their loss, which contributed in no small way to the breakdown of her marriage to her first husband.
The remains of young Alfred Scott Witherbee were recovered from the sea over a month after the sinking, and interred in a private grave in The Old Church Cemetery in Queenstown on the 16th June 1915. By a strange quirk of fate, his grave is next to the grave of George Ley Vernon, and his wife, Inez. Whereas there was no relationship between Mrs. & Mrs. Vernon and Alfred Scott Witherbee at the time of their deaths, the families became connected by the marriage of young Witherbee’s mother to Inez Jolivet’s brother!
After Rita and Count di Cippico divorced, Lady Allan, another Lusitania survivor, introduced her to her husband’s Scottish cousin, James “Jimmy” Bryce Allan, who was living at that time at “The Cliff”, Wemyss Bay, Renfrewshire, Scotland. The couple married at the Church of Scotland, in Paris, France, on the 26th April 1928, and took up residence at Ballinkinrain Castle, Stirlingshire, which Jimmy Bryce Allan had recently inherited. They resided there for a number of years, before selling the castle and its grounds and moving to Inch Castle, Saltash, Cornwall.
The couple threw lavish parties, with celebrities and royalty attending frequently, and also travelled regularly to Canada and the United States of America.
On the 12th May 1960, Jimmy Bryce Allan died in London, and sometime after this, Rita moved to Nice, in the south of France. She died in Nice on the 2nd March 1971, aged 84 years, from complications as a result of a fractured hip. It has been stated that she broke her hip while trying to demonstrate that she could still dance a jig!.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, London England Church of England Marriages and Banns 1754 – 1932, 1891 Census of England & Wales, 1911 Census of England & Wales, 1939 Register, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, Probate Records, Last Voyage of the Lusitania, Seven Days to Disaster, Tragedy of the Lusitania, UniLiv.D92/1/6, PRO 22/71, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.