Lillian Bentham's Letter to Geoffry G. Martin

There was eleven in my party, returning from England and only three of us saved. One died several years ago and the other lady died July 8th, Miss Emily Rugg of Wilmington, Delaware. We were in Lifeboat No. 12 and it has quite a record. We saved several men who were on an upturned boat – I had the privilege of helping to pull the men in our boat. If you recall, it was a whistle that saved the lives of the men and I have the honor of being the proud possessor of the whistle [and] also five pieces of silver taken from the pocket of a man who died in our boat (given to me by a steward).

Curator's note: This transcription is an excerpt from the full letter that is preserved in the archive of the collections of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. This transcription has been lightly edited for readability. Line breaks, punctuation, grammar, and capitalization have been adjusted to conform to modern conventions. These changes have been made solely to enhance clarity, and the original intent, tone, and content of the letter have been carefully preserved.