Liz Leclerc
W3 Track:
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Kate McGowan
Mrs. Widener
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Miss Catherine (Kate) McGowan
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Was born in 1869 in Massbrook, Lahardane, Co Mayo, Ireland, one of multiple children to a pair of farmers
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Catherine, like several of her siblings, left Ireland while young. She left around 1888 and resided in Cleveland before settling in Chicago
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She returned to Ireland in late 1911 preparing to take her niece and over a dozen other third-class passengers (known as the Addergoole Fourteen)
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They boarded at Queenstown with a ticket costing about £7 (£1,000, $1,250 today)
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Catherine McGowan died in the sinking. Her niece Annie was among the rescued.
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While there were 3 Kates who stayed in the same cabin aboard the Titanic, Kate Murphey, Kate Mullin, and Kate Gilnagh were their names, Kate McGowan was in a different area.
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Kate McGowin was also from Ireland and got to know James Farrell (played by Grant Pace) throughout the journey
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The girls in her cabin were instructed to dress and they headed upstairs, James Farrell would eventually help get Kate up towards the lifeboats and she managed to escape in Lifeboat 16.
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While the character in the musical is directly based on Catherine (Kate) McGowan, much inspiration was likely taken from Kate Gilnagh’s life
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Eleanor Widener (originally Elkins)
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Born on September 21st, 1861 in Philadelphia, PA
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She and her husband George Widener (played by Matty Palmer), their son Harry, manservant Edwin Keeping, and her maid Amalie Gieger boarded at Cherbourg
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They occupied cabins C-80/82 with a ticket costing £211 (£30,800, $47,000 today)
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Mrs Widener was helped into Lifeboat 4 while her husband and son stood by to await their fate
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After the disaster, Mrs Widener devoted herself to charitable work and she died in Paris on July 13th, 1937
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