Noël Rothes is best known as a heroine of the 1912 "Titanic" tragedy, helping to command her lifeboat, in concert with Able Seaman Thomas William (Tom) Jones. Noël handled the tiller of the boat, steering it clear of the sinking liner, and later assisted in rowing it to the rescue ship, all the while encouraging other survivors with her calm decisiveness and optimism. She embarked at Southampton on 10 April with her parents, Thomas and Clementina Dyer-Edwardes, her husband's cousin Gladys Cherry, and her maid Roberta Maioni. Her parents disembarked at Cherbourg, while the others continued, en route for New York and possibly Vancouver, British Columbia to meet the Earl of Rothes who was already visiting the U.S. and Canada on business. Before the "Titanic" left Southampton, Noël granted an interview to a London correspondent for "The New York Herald" in which she explained she was going to the U.S. to join her husband. She admitted they were also personally interested in purchasing an orange grove on the west coast. Asked by the reporter how she felt about "leaving London society for a California fruit farm," Noël replied, "I am full of joyful expectation."