Key facts about Eugénie Elise Lurette
- Lurette was born in northern France in 1852 and preferred to be called Élise.
- She spent more than thirty years as maid and companion to the Spencer family and travelled widely with them.
- She boarded Titanic at Cherbourg on the Spencer party’s ticket and occupied first-class cabin B80.
- After the collision she put a coat over her nightdress, helped Marie-Eugénie Spencer to the Boat Deck and survived beside her.
- The precise lifeboat used by Lurette and Mrs Spencer is not securely established.
- She later searched unsuccessfully for William Spencer’s body and returned to a long life in France and Switzerland.
A French maid who spent decades with the Spencer family
Eugénie Elise Lurette was born in Hermonville, France, on November 16, 1852, the youngest of three daughters of Nicolas Lurette and Marie Gervais. Family research records that she disliked the name Eugénie and preferred Élise, the name by which she was generally known later in life.
Élise became a live-in maid and companion to Marie-Eugénie Spencer and remained with the Spencer household for more than thirty years. The family lived principally in Paris and also spent time in Switzerland and New York. Lurette travelled widely with them and could converse in English, although French remained her first language.
Cabin B80 and a first-class crossing from Cherbourg
Lurette boarded Titanic at Cherbourg on April 10, 1912 with Marie-Eugénie Spencer and her husband William Augustus Spencer. She travelled on the Spencer party’s ticket, number 17569, and occupied cabin B80 near her employers.
A postcard Lurette sent from Queenstown praised Titanic’s luxury and comfort. The surviving note is a striking reminder that the maiden voyage still felt like an exceptional travel experience only a few days before the disaster.
She left her cabin wearing a coat over her nightdress
Lurette later recalled being in her cabin when crew members came through the first-class accommodation warning passengers. She pulled a coat over her nightdress and went with Mrs Spencer toward the Boat Deck. A first-class accommodation plan, a menu and a five-dollar coin were still in her coat afterward, small objects that survived because she had dressed so quickly.
William Spencer did not enter the boat with the two women. He remained aboard Titanic and died in the sinking. His body was never identified.
Her lifeboat number is uncertain
Lurette and Mrs Spencer reached a port-side lifeboat, but the surviving evidence does not securely identify which numbered boat carried them. Rather than assigning them to a boat from later guesswork, the site leaves that field uncertain.
Lurette remembered rowing during the night and hearing the cries after Titanic disappeared. Her account also describes the fear that an already loaded boat could be swamped if people in the water tried to climb aboard. Those memories are difficult, but they show how quickly survival decisions became immediate and personal once the ship was gone.
Carpathia, the search for William Spencer and later life
Aboard Carpathia, Lurette sent a wireless message to New York saying that Mrs Spencer was safe but that there was no information about William. When the recovery ship Mackay-Bennett later reached Halifax with recovered victims, Lurette searched unsuccessfully for him.
In later years she divided her time between Paris and relatives in Switzerland. She received a pension connected with the Spencer family. From 1938 she lived in care at Fontenay-aux-Roses, France, and died on January 31, 1940, aged 87.
Sources used for this biography
The specialist Lurette biography preserves family research, her cabin and ticket details, the Queenstown postcard, her evacuation recollections and later life.
- Encyclopedia Titanica: Eugénie Elise Lurette Detailed family history, service with the Spencers, cabin B80, surviving objects, evacuation account and later life.
- TitanicSurvivors.com: Marie-Eugénie Spencer Companion biography for Lurette’s employer and fellow survivor.
- TitanicSurvivors.com: Carpathia rescue Context for the rescue ship that carried Lurette and Mrs Spencer to New York.
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Frequently asked questions
Who was Eugénie Elise Lurette?
She was a French maid and companion who had served the Spencer family for more than thirty years before travelling with them on Titanic.
Which cabin did Élise Lurette occupy?
She occupied first-class cabin B80.
Which lifeboat did Eugénie Elise Lurette survive in?
The exact lifeboat is uncertain. She survived alongside Marie-Eugénie Spencer, but the surviving evidence does not securely identify their boat number.
What happened to William Augustus Spencer?
He remained aboard Titanic and died in the sinking. His body was not identified.