We promised in this the third of a series on the sinking of the Furness Liner Fort Victoria on the eve of Christmas 80 years ago to relate how Mrs. Writa Johnson, now in her 105th year, happened to be one of the two known living survivors of that sensational event in Bermuda's history.

And more significantly, we wanted to reveal how Writa happened to have been in the United States in the first instance.

The only other surviving Bermudian is Hamilton businessman Warren Brown. As we reported last week, he was a three-month-old baby when Fort Victoria's captain ordered the 269 other passengers plus crew to abandon their sinking ship.

His rescue and photograph made front page of a special extra Sunday special edition of the New York Daily News. It told of how he was taken from his mother's arms tossed over the side of the sinking liner and was caught by a member of the crew in a lifeboat below.

Mrs. Johnson was on her honeymoon trip from New York to her native Bermuda when she and her young American husband were rescued from Fort Victoria just before it sank on the high seas. It had been rammed in a fog storm by another ship, The Algonquin. Those were the days before the invention of radar and other measures put into place to cut down on such nautical disasters.

During the early years of the 20th Century, wealthy Americans who considered Bermuda their playground, went to great lengths to engage the services of bright young Bermudians, both male and female, because of their charm and industry to work in their homes and enterprises. Writa became the envy of her peers, who considered her lucky when she took advantage of such an opportunity at age 16 to go to Newport, Rhode Island to be a mother's helper.

In her early 20s, she met and married a Rhode Islander, Al Burton. Their intention was to spend Christmas in Bermuda in 1929, and to meet her family for the first time. They traveled to New York and set out aboard Fort Victoria on December 19, burdened with their Yuletide goodies. It was the liner's last voyage before the holiday season, and it too was loaded with much anticipated cargo that ended up on the ocean's floor. Luckily all of the passengers escaped unhurt, with only the clothes they were wearing.

The honeymooners were taken back to New York and returned to their homes in Rhode Island. It was a year or two before they eventually got to Bermuda as a couple, although Writa had visited before by herself. In fact Burton died in 1934 of a job related illness. In 1942 she married a second time to New Yorker, Ervin Johnson. He was an avid golfer and a frequent visitor. They made New York their home base, and became leading figures in the affairs of the influential Bermuda Benevolent Association, Inc. That marriage lasted nearly 30 years before he passed away.

Writa was born in Paget, near the Horizon Hotel, on February 12, 1906. She was the eldest of the ten children of Arthur and Bertha Knight. Her father, who lived to be 103 years old, was a pilot in the Dockyard and one of the founders of the Somerset Brigade Band. Eventually the Knight family moved to a home he built in Somerset.

Mrs. Johnson was undeterred by her harrowing experiences aboard the Fort Victoria. She became a world traveller, by sea and air, even organising a ladies' travel club.

Twenty-five years ago she decided to escape the rat race of New York and its bitter winters and returned to the Island to settle down.

A very independent woman, friendly and frank, she lived alone, and despite her ripe old age, still keeps fully abreast of current events. Two years ago she yielded to family urgings and moved into the security of Lefroy Home for Seniors at Ireland Island.

Mrs. Johnson has only one surviving sibling, brother Harold Knight. For many years Harold and his wife Amy owned and operated a motor lunch counter in Pembroke and Devonshire. When they retired they moved to Virginia where a daughter has a home and family.

Deceased siblings were Gwendolyn, Gladys, Ismay, Audrey and Enid, and brothers Albert and Arnold. When she reached her 100th birthday, a host of nieces and nephews, seen above, along with other family and friends clubbed together to entertain their aunt.

Among those attending were the then Premier, the Hon. Alex Scott and his wife Olga, who brought a special greeting from the Queen.

Also present were Mrs. Johnson's only surviving sibling, Harold Knight, who is in his early 90s, and wife Amy. They returned especially from their adopted home in Virginia for the celebrations.