I did a talk for the Friends of Cheltenham & Regional Cemeteries (FOCRC) in July 2026 on four people buried at the Cheltenham Memorial Park. One of the people we looked at was Frederick Horace Crafter (1891-1960) (1). Around ten years ago, the FOCRC found out that Frederick was a survivor of the sinking of the Titanic. This information came from Titanic researcher Trevor Baxter who contacted the group from England. Trevor has been researching Titanic survivors for many years and contributes to the Encyclopedia Titanica website, here.
Frederick later moved to Victoria, where he married Edith Ferris. This post is about Edith and her sister Frances and their parents Charles and Rebecca.
EnglandCharles Henry Ferris was born in Hockworthy in Devon, England in 1854 to John Ferris and Elizabeth (nee Lucas) Ferris. He was the eldest of their nine children and he was trained as a blacksmith. His mother died in 1866 and his father remarried and started another family. Thus, in the 1871 Census, 16 year-old Charles and his three surviving full siblings - Silvenus (aged 15), Frances (aged 14) and Frederick (aged 6) are living together in Hockworthy, separate from their father and step-mother. (2)
Mangere, New Zealand
At some time, but certainly by July 1887, Charles moved to New Zealand and he is listed there in the electoral roll as a blacksmith, living at Mangere, near Auckand. (3)
By 1891, Charles and Rebecca had moved to Victoria, where they operated a dairy farm on 18 acres, opposite the Pascoe Vale Railway Station, which is on the corner of Gaffney and Burgundy Streets. Charles advertised his milk for sale noting that it was pure and well cooled and that up to 100 quarts were available daily. (5)
Their two daughters were born when they were living in Pascoe Vale – Frances Elizabeth Alice on May 12, 1893, named after Charles' sister; and Edith Eliza on January 27, 1895. (6)
In December 1901, Charles held a clearing sale, owing to the expiration of his lease, and 50 head of cattle, all equipment and all the household furniture were sold. (7) The family moved to England, presumably soon after the clearing sale.
Southampton, England
In the 1911 English Census, the Ferris family were operating a boarding house at 143 Albert Road, Southampton. (8) One of their boarders was the aforementioned Frederick Crafter, who on April 4, 1912, signed-on to the Titanic. He was a first-class saloon steward, and his previous ship had been the Olympic, the sister-ship of the Titanic. (9) Frederick survived the sinking of the Titanic, served in the Great War in the 2nd Life Guards Division and the Guards Machine Gun Regiment (10) and around 1920 moved to Melbourne. There he met up again with the Ferris family, who had also left England and who now lived at 16 Horne Street, Elsternwick (11).
Back to Victoria
The 1921 electoral roll shows Frederick living with the Ferris family; his occupation was a chauffeur, but he later became a storeman. (12) Perhaps the impetus for Frederick moving to Victoria was Edith Ferris, the younger daughter of Charles and Rebecca, for on October 4, 1924 they were married at the Christ Church Anglican Church in Ormond. By this time, the Ferris' family and Frederick had moved to 16 Nicholson Street in Bentleigh. (13)
Charles and Rebecca’s elder daughter, Frances had married 31-year old labourer, Charles Thomas Walton, on June 16, 1923 at St Clement’s Church of England in Elsternwick. (14) Charles had also served in the First World War, enlisting in August 1914 and serving in the 6th Battalion. (15) Frances and Charles moved to 19 Wheatley Road, in Bentleigh, and after their wedding in 1924, Edith and Frederick moved next door to 21 Wheatley Road, Bentleigh, in what were newly built houses.(16)
Edith and Frederick had one child, Jack Frederick born on February 3, 1929. Jack contracted poliomyelitis at around the age of 2, and was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life; he became a tax agent. (17)
Sadly, on November 19, 1924 Rebecca Ferris died - only six weeks after her daughter was married. Rebecca was only 58 years old and she was buried the next day in the Church of England section at the Brighton Cemetery. (18) Charles Ferris then moved from the Nicholson Street home to live with Frances and Charles in Wheatley Road. (19)
Charles Ferris died on February 29, 1936 at the age of 81 and was buried on March 2, in the same grave as his wife Rebecca. (20) Interestingly, his occupation in the electoral rolls in the 1920s and 1930s was a labourer, but his death certificate noted his occupation as a farmer. (21)
Also buried at the Brighton Cemetery is their daughter Frances Walton, who died on April 3, 1970. Frances’ husband, Charles, had died on September 21, 1961 and was cremated at Springvale Cemetery. They did not have any children and Frances' sister Edith Crafter was her executor. (22)
Our Titanic survivor, Frederick, had an unusual hobby - weaving. In 1949 Frederick was noted as an outstanding exhibitor in the weaving classes and awarded equal first prize and two third prizes for his exhibits at the Royal Melbourne Show. In 1951 he was awarded second prize in the Hand Weaving Fine Wool on Loom Section. (23)
Frederick passed away at the age of 68 on July 7, 1960 at the Heatherton Sanatorium from a heart attack; he had also suffered from tuberculosis and emphysema for many years. His wife Edith, passed away on May 31, 1971 at the age of 76 and was buried with her husband at the Cheltenham Memorial Park. Their son Jack died July 22, 2006 and was cremated at Springvale. (24)
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Charles and Rebecca Ferris represent the propensity with which many families moved around the British Empire in past – from England to New Zealand to Victoria back to England and finally back to Victoria. They were a close-knit family and, through their son-in-law Frederick Crafter, had a connection to one of the most iconic events on the twentieth century - the sinking of the Titanic.
Acknowledgement -
The basic information about Frederick Crafter's Titanic service and connection to the Ferris family comes from his entry on the Encyclopedia Titanica website
