This small Portland stone memorial, comprising a central pillar originally containing a drinking fountain surrounded by six outer columns supporting a canopy, is situated on Western Esplanade near the south-west angle of the town walls. It commemorates Mary Ann Rogers, a stewardess on the passenger ship Stella which sank in 1899 off the Channel Islands with the loss of 105 people. Many of the survivors praised the heroism of Mary Ann who made sure that all the women and children were placed in the lifeboats. She refused a place in the boats herself and gave her lifejacket to a young girl. She remained on board and was one of those drowned when the ship sank. Her heroism caught the public imagination and funds were raised by public subscription for a monument. It was designed by Herbert Bryans and unveiled by Lady Emma Crichton in 1901. The monument, also known as the Stella Memorial, is Grade II listed.

The ship was sailing from Southampton to Guernsey and it is likely that many Southampton people were aboard. Jake Simpson's article on the disaster gives the addresses of the passengers who survived.

Rogers Memorial

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Further reading:
Southampton Memorials of Care for Man and Beast, by A. G. K. Leonard, p41-47. (HS/k)
Buildings of England: Hampshire and the I.O.W., by Nikolaus Pevsner and David Lloyd, p541. (H/i)
Building Stones of Southampton, by Anthony Wadham, p58. (HS/i)
‘Mrs Mary Ann Rogers: Heroic Stewardess of the S.S. Stella Wrecked 100 Years Ago’, by A. G. K. Leonard, in Hampshire, Vol. 39, No. 5, March 1999, p40-42. (HS/y)


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