Cathleen Matthews (née MacNamara)

## Cathleen Matthews - 1884 - 2002

Cathleen Matthews was a fictional 1st Class Passenger onboard the RMS Titanic during it's maiden voyage, she was married to Benjamin Douglas Matthews up until Benjamins' death in 1989, and passed away herself in 2002.

She was present during Titanic Voyage 2021, and was played by a user who would rather not be named outside of the TVRPG community discord server.

### Early Life

Cathleen MacNamara was born to Esther O'Quinn and Perry MacNamara on August 18th, 1884 in Dublin, Ireland. Her mother was unemployed while her father was a fisherman in Dublin Harbour. She was always shy in school due to how her neighbourhood was, but she would always work her hardest to get through her school years. After leaving school, her mother decided to homeschool her as a teen, and years later, began to work as a hotel maid due to an incredible stroke of luck, however 4 years into working there, she walked out, upset at her pay not being good enough to sustain her through her constant harassment by drunks, causing her to gain a distaste for drunkards.

### Death in the Family

Cathleen's father was chosen to sail with Captain Robert Falcon Scott for his Antarctic expedition in 1910, Perry bid his wife and daughter farewell, and set off in the journey, however weeks after arriving in Antarctica, Perry was injured white repairing the mast, and lost his grip, falling to the deck bellow, he did not survive the fall. The family was given insurance money, as Perry had paid for insurance that was covered by the expeditions bank, however Cathleen would never fully recover from the tragedy.

### Meeting Benjamin

Cathleen travelled down to the Dublin Flea Market in 1911 to get food for dinner, while she was down there, she bumped into a rich man named Benjamin Matthews, both of them were in awe at each other, but all Benjamin could do was get her name before he had to leave, the next day, Benjamin headed out to find Cathleen again, and succeeded. Benjamin then began to court her, introducing eachother to their families, and on Christmas Day 1911, Benjamin proposed, and Cathleen excitedly accepted, they were now engaged.

They got married on April 5th 1912, and planned the construction of a country home on the South West coast of Ireland, where they would live for the rest of their lives.

### The Titanic Voyage

Benjamin boarded in Southampton alone as Cathleens' mother was having nightmares a few days prior, Cathleen would board in Queenstown on the 11th, she headed down from Dublin at 5 AM to catch the morning train, and spent the night in Queenstown. The next morning, she talked to a man who was searching for his father, as he had gone missing during the morning, and hours later, Cathleen headed down ot Heartbreak Pier, where he noticed the man had found his father.

She boarded the Paddlesteamer "Ireland", and sailed out to board the RMS Titanic, where Benjamin was waiting. After boarding they travelled to their cabin, B-43 on the starboard side. During the voyage, Cathleen met new people and got close to them, and during the evenings, would head out to the raised roof to take part in the stargazing session. On April 14th, she was introduced to Stan and Jessica Arnett, both Benjamin and Cathleen became friends with them, and attended deck games with them. During the sunset, Cathleen and Benjamin watched from the compass tower, and as the sun dipped, a sudden chill filled the air. Cathleen was mesmorized by "tiny snowflakes hovering around the decklights".

### The Sinking

Cathleen and Benjamin headed into the Lounge to warm themselves up when a man came in, saying there were icebergs surrounding them, everyone laughed it off nervously, and Cathleen noticed ice building on the windows. At 11:31 PM, Cathleen and Benjamin decided to go for one last walk on the promenade, and as the clock hit 11:38, they heard a bell sound, 2 minutes later, and ice berg passed by them, Cathleen told Benjamin to get back as the ice passed, she looked over the bulwark and saw the berg fading into the distance.

Cathleen and Benjamin headed back into the Lounge as conversations were running rampant of what just happened. Minutes later the engines started back up, and the ship was on the move again, however 10 minutes later, the engines stopped again, for the last time. 20 miutes later, people began wandering in wearing lifebelts, catching Benjamin and Cathleen off guard. Both of them headed back to their cabin to don life vests, and in the grand staircase, Benjamin asked Thomas Andrews what was going on.

After giving Benjamin the bad and terrifying news, Mr Andrews rushed off to other matters, Benjamin told Cathleen what Thomas told him, and both of them went out onto boat deck. It was a crowded deck, however it was getting more crowded by the minute, at about 12:45 AM, the first lifeboat departed, then later on the next boat, Cathleen and Benjamin split up to try and get to boats on their own, but were unable.

### The Lifeboats and Carpathia

Cathleen and Benjamin reunied by Boat 6, and travelled aft as panic continued to build, With a stroke of luck, Cathleen Managed to get a place in Lifeboat 9, which olny lowered with 45 people onboard. Cathleen sat in the lifeboat nervously, and watched as the bow sank bellow the waves, she recalled hearing Nearer my god to thee play shortly before the screams got their loudest, describing in an interview shortly before her death: "*I could never listen to that damn song ever again after that night, no matter what the situation was, i just couldn't bear to hear it again.*"

The Carpathia arrived at 4 AM that morning, and Cathleen reunited with Benjamin in an emotional moment that would hold their relationship together. The crossing onboard Carpathia was rough for her, but she and Benjamin both made it to New York, and were assisted with the help of Neville Feldberg.

### Later Years

Cathleen and Benjamin returned home after a year of councelling, taking the South American route home, and finally settled into their new country home, however in 1914, World War One broke out, and Cathleen secretly volunteed for the Voluntary Aid Department, and in 1916, she was stationed on the HMHS Britannic during her final voyage, she survived the sinking by jumping into a lifeboat as it began to lower, but never told Benjamin about it until the 1950s.

Despite being in a short rumor about an affair with Captain Bartlett that had no solid proof, her and Benjamin stayed happily married. Together, they pushed funding into improving their estate, eventually creating a horse stable, golf course, sea wall and steam yacht and dock, the Estate also boosted the economy of a nearby fishing town, improving property value, bringing more people to the area.

As both of them grew old, Cathleen relized she may have to start making herself memorable, and finished a song she had started many years ago on piano. Her daughter was given permission to play it in a town hall on Christmas 1952. Cathleen was invited to view the set for A night to remember, and cautiously accepted the request, she was surprised they managed to get a good looking set, and was happy to view the preimere with Benjamin, who was now fine with seeing Titanic Again.

In 1985, Cathleen saw a report that the Titanic was found, and showed Benjamin, both of them were stunned and shocked, then hugged eachother. Years later Benjamin would pass away, and Cathleens' final viewing of Titanic Media, was the 1997 movie.

Cathleen passed away in 2002 at the age of 114, marking her as the oldest Titanic Survivor