The Heartbreaking Goodbye Between the Cabaret Singer and the Hockey Player
Berthe Antonine Mayné was born on July 21, 1887, in the commune of Ixelles, southeast of Brussels, Belgium. Her father, Jean-Joseph Benjamin Mayné, was a metal worker, and her mother, Sidonie Filée, stayed home to care for their seven children.
Berthe soon showed talent as a cabaret singer. Attracted by the world of show business, she left her family and moved to Paris, where she appeared in theaters and cafes. At the height of the Belle Époque, Paris abounded in music halls and cabarets, which were frequented by a carefree and nonchalant fashionable society.
At the age of 22, Berthe thrived in this party atmosphere. She took the stage name Berthe De Villiers, and the family story goes that she probably chose this stage name as a nod to her love affair with Fernand De Villiers, a legionnaire who was sent to the Belgian Congo. Berthe quickly became a continental favorite and performed in France and Belgium.
Although there are no records of their first meeting, Berthe probably met the talented, dashing hockey player Quigg Edmond Baxter at the end of 1911. As the second of three children, this young Canadian was born just a week before her on July 13, 1887. Quigg came from a wealthy family in Montreal. He was an excellent ice hockey player and took part in several international tournaments. An injury in 1907 ended his career as a player, but he quickly transitioned to become a coach, traveling to France and Belgium with the Paris Skaters Club team. Berthe also frequently traveled between those two countries. It is believed the two met one night when Berthe was performing, and a romantic relationship ensued.
In April 1912, Quigg was returning to Canada with his sister, Mary-Hélène “Zette” Douglas, and their mother, Hélène Baxter, after spending a few months in Europe. Traveling from the Élysée Palace Hôtel in Paris, they boarded the Titanic in First Class on April 10, arriving in Cherbourg, France. The Baxters stayed in one of the more expensive suites, cabins B-58/60.
Unbeknownst to his family, Quigg persuaded Berthe to return to Montreal with him–some genealogical records indicate this was because they were to be married in Canada–and booked a separate First Class stateroom, C-90, under her stage name. Despite the separate cabins, for three days, the couple spent time together and enjoyed the bliss of each other’s company in the First Class trappings of Titanic.
Quigg Baxter kneels in a rowboat in Lac St-Louis, Quebec, in 1911. Public domain
A young Berthe Mayné holds un petit chien for the cover of Le Music Hall Illustré, a publication about cabaret entertainment. Note the stage name used here was “Bella Vielly.” Public domain
List of those missing from Titanic in May 1912. The body of Quigg Baxter was never recovered. The National Archives, London, England, via Ancestry.com
This tortoiseshell comb was originally one piece. It belonged to Berthe Mayné and was recovered in the 2000 RMS Titanic, Inc. expedition. This artifact is currently on view at TITANIC: The Artifact Exhibition in Las Vegas.
On the night of the disaster, however, their lover’s reverie came to an abrupt end. Quigg, Zette, Hélène, and Berthe responded to the news of the Ship’s collision and made their way to the Boat Deck. It was there that they all met for the first time. As Quigg secured his mother and sister in Lifeboat 6, he asked them to look after Berthe. At first, Berthe refused to board without him, but they eventually said their last goodbyes. Quigg was last seen on Titanic’s decks waving to his loved ones. His body was never recovered.
The women were rescued on Carpathia and arrived in New York on April 18, 1912. Berthe spent the next few months with the Baxters in Montreal before returning home to Belgium to resume her career in music.
Berthe never married and spent the last years of her life in Belgium. She died in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Brussels, on October 11, 1962, without anyone knowing the truth of the tragedy and her heartbreaking lost love. It was only after her relatives found newspaper clippings and personal documents in a small box that the mysterious identity of Madame De Villiers was finally revealed to the world.
In 2000, a woven bag was recovered from the wrecksite by RMS Titanic, Inc. It contained a number of items, including a leather wallet. Inside it was a small medallion, visiting cards, and an indecipherable piece of paper, damaged by the long period it had spent at the bottom of the ocean. After long and painstaking restoration, it revealed the printed letters of a receipt from the Nice, France municipal casino. Handwritten in ink that is barely legible today was the name “Mayné Villiers,” a lasting remnant of the once-vibrant cabaret ingenue.
