Edith Sowerbutt was one of a small but influential group of women who traveled the North Atlantic as a conductresses, She started working for the Red Star Line, which was owned by White Star, in 1925, and continued in that role for six years, when assisted immigration to Canada ceased and she was made redundant, although that was not the end of her maritime career. (page 118)
She had a great deal of practical experience of intercontinental travel, as well as fellow feeling for people who were prepared to travel to better their lives. Edith was also a natural champion of those who were discriminated against on the grounds or race, class, or gender. Her innate sense of justice made her a formidable advocate on behalf of the passengers in her care, and she was delighted to be taken on as a conductress by Red Star in 1925 (page 119)
While Edith was available to unaccompanied women in all classes, her primary role was looking after the interest of those in third class, and processing their immigration applications. She would introduce herself to each one, explain that she had a list of official questions, and record the answers by hand, then type up the details later. On each voyage Edith complied detailed lists of all unaccompanied women immigrants across all three classes for the Canadian authorities. To extract this information from each woman was often a race against time, because third class passengers were housed in the least stable section of the ship, and were therefore prone to seasickness....
(on the open Atlantic which was rougher) Edith relied on the services of interpreters, and was particularly fond of a remarkable character called Terps, an Orthodox Jew who spoke fourteen languages. (page 120)
