Biography

Annie MacQUAID

Burial register ID: 17730
Surname: MacQUAID
First name: Annie
Middle names:
Gender: Female
Age: Unknown
Cause of death: Unknown
Burial type: Memorial only
Date of death: 29-Oct-1894
Date of burial: 01-Jan-1970

Block: 26
Plot: 1A
Inscription:

In Memory of

Charlotte McDonald,

Annie MacQuaid

& Lizzie Crinrod,

stewardesses who were drowned in the wreck of

S.S. Wairarapa,

Gt Barrier Island, 29th October 1894.

Erected by the stewardesses in the U.S.S. Coy’s service.

Bio contributor: Researched by Jane Davidson

Miss Annie MacQuaid

This site is a memorial only

Mrs Charlotte McDonald (Chief stewardess), Miss Annie MacQuaid (Assistant stewardess) and Miss Elizabeth Crinrod (Assistant stewardess) were from Dunedin and all employed by the Union Steamship Company as crew on the Australasian run. At the time of the tragedy, the three women were on their way back to New Zealand from Australia on board the S.S. Wairarapa when it crashed into the cliffs at Great Barrier Island.

Annie MacQuaid was awarded a posthumous medal for bravery. An assistant stewardess, she tried to save a child by giving her the only remaining lifebelt, leaving none for herself. Neither of the two survived. An account by one of the passengers said:

“Miss MacQuaid had served out all the lifebelts. She had reserved one for herself. As she stood steadying herself by clinging to a raft, a little girl in a nightdress made her way to her and in her terror hid her head in Miss MacQuaid’s dress. Stooping down as best she could, Miss MacQuaid tried to soothe her, then taking off her own lifebelt, put it around the child. Both were swept off by the next wave and drowned, the little one not being able to take advantage of that which had been given with such forgetfulness of self.”



Source:

There are 3 Interments in this grave:

Surname First names Age Date of death Date of burial
CRINROD LIZZIE Unknown 29-Oct-1894 01-Jan-1970
MacQUAID Annie Unknown 29-Oct-1894 01-Jan-1970
McDONALD Charlotte Unknown 29-Oct-1894 01-Jan-1970