Barbara West

Barbara died on 16 October 2007 in Truro, Cornwall, at the age of 96. Her funeral was held on 5 November at Truro Cathedral. To avoid unwanted attention and maintain privacy, Barbara insisted that her funeral take place before any public announcement of her death. With her death, 95-year-old Millvina Dean of Southampton, England, became the last living Titanic survivor; Dean died 19 months later.

Her mother, Ada, died on 20 April 1953, aged 74, while her elder sister, Constance, died on 12 September 1963, aged 56. Barbara's sister, Edwyna, married a British diplomat and resided in England and the Bahamas.

In the 1950s, Barbara taught at a school in Truro, and she later became deputy head of physical education at Plymstock School until 1972.

In 1938, Barbara married Stanley Winder, a rugby player. The two were married for 13 years before Stanley died of a heart attack in 1951. Barbara was married to her second husband, William Ernest Barrel Dainton, from 1952 until his death in 1990.

As a child, Barbara attended the Worshipful Boarding School in Purley, England, and went on to attend the Truro High School all-girls school and St. Luke's College in Exeter. After college, Barbara became a governess to a Cornish family and moved with them to Spain until the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936. After returning to England, Barbara taught at a high school in Guildford.

Barbara, her parents, and older sister, Constance, boarded the Titanic on 10 April 1912 at Southampton, England, as second-class passengers. Barbara was just ten months and eighteen days old. making her the eighth-youngest passenger on board the ship. In an interview, Barbara said that she could still recall the screams heard from the sinking ship; she also said that she remembers her father taking her to the boat deck and placing her in the boat, saying his farewell, the last time she would ever see him, and crying.

When the Titanic collided with an iceberg at 11:40 p.m, on 14 April 1912, Barbara was asleep in her cabin. Her mother, Ada, later recalled:

Barbara Joyce Dainton (née West, 24 May 1911 – 16 October 2007) was the penultimate remaining survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic on 14 April 1912 after hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage. She was the last living survivor who travelled second-class on the ship.

Barbara Joyce West was born in Bournemouth, Hampshire (now Dorset), England, on 24 May 1911 to Edwy Arthur West and Ada Mary Worth. Ada had given birth to a daughter, Constance, in 1907, and was pregnant with a third child when she boarded the Titanic.