Fermina Oliva Y Ocaña

Fermina Oliva Y Ocaña was a First Class passenger and one of the ten Spanish passengers who boarded the famous liner RMS *Titanic* in April 1912, being the maid of the youngly wed couple Penasco Y Castellana-de Satode. She was born on October 12 1872 in Uclés, Cuenca, Spain.

When she was very young, Fermina left her hometown and went to Madrid, to help her family. There, she established herself as a dressmaker and was later offered to be the companion of the Peñasco couple, during their honeymoon. The Peñascos married in 1910 and wanted to have a luxurious honeymoon that would last more than two years.

Fermina boarded the *Titanic* at Cherbourg. with her mistress Mrs María Josefa Perez de Soto y Vallejo and Víctor Peñasco Y Castellana at She occupied cabin C-109, with the couple in C-65. Fermina was 39 years old at the time.

## On the fateful night

On the Sunday evening of April 14, after their evening meal, Maria Josefa de Soto and her husband chatted with their friends José Pedro Carrau and Francisco from Argentina and Uruguay before they returned to their cabin to rest. Fermina was working on a corset before retiring. After completing her tasks, she was she stretched out on her bed, and felt an unusual vibration. Her concerns were increased when a few minutes later the ship stopped with the engines shutting down. She decided to knock the door of her mistress' cabin. María was already asleep and Víctor was unbuttoning his jacket. There were four night shift room stewards on duty and very few people in the passageway. The staff ensured them that there was nothing to worry about but Fermina and María, now awaken, were anxious so Víctor decided to go up on deck to investigate.

He returned after seeing lifeboats were being uncovered and believed something was wrong, telling the women they should come upstairs. Stewards were on their way too and were now also ordering passengers to go upstairs.

Fermina recounted that she took her picture of Saint Joseph and placed it under her life jacket. They ascended the Grand Staircase in the increasing throng of passengers, passing through the First Class Foyer and arriving directly in front of lifeboat 8. They were right next to the ship's band who were playing upbeat music having just moved from the First Class Dining Room to the Boat Deck. Victor then had to return to retrieve jewellery they had forgotten. However when he returned, they stood there aimlessly, not knowing what to do since neither the couple or Fermina knew any English. The Countess of Rothes noticed them and aided in translating, and after understanding Victor took the two women to boat 8 and remained onboard, much to the grievance of his young bride.

Fermina suddenly realised she was alone. She frantically called for Víctor and as she does so Captain Smith called out for any more women to board the lifeboat. With no response forthcoming, the descent began. Fermina returned and seeing the boat already descending, she started screaming frantically. The men on the deck threw her a meter down, 'like a sack of straw' she remembered.

As if things were not horrendous enough for the grieving María, it became apparent that without a body, her husband could not be declared officially dead for another twenty years. This would not allow her to claim her husband's inheritance or remarry until she was 43. The Peñasco family made the extraordinary decision to purchase a corpse. Fermina 'identified' one of the bodies that had been recovered and Halifax in Canada issued a death certificate.

## Later life

Right after the sinking, she returned to her life as a seamstress, in her house on Calle Regueros in Madrid, which she would later turn into a boarding house and continued working for the widow of Víctor Peñasco for a few more years. She was always single and had no children.

During her later life, Fermina Oliva preferred not to talk about the disaster. However, in November 1959, she was in Spain at the premiere in of the British film about the sinking of the Titanic, 'A Night to Remember'. She gave a brief interview for the ABC newspaper, briefly recounting her distorted memories of the shipwreck that occurred 47 years ago. She was 87 years old already.

She died on Wednesday the 28th of March 1969 at the age of 96 and was buried in the La Almudena Cemetery.