A WOMAN whose father saved Titanic passengers’ lives has celebrated her 100th birthday on the anniversary of the day the ill-fated ship set sail for New York.

At the same time the ‘unsinkable’ vessel was setting sail from Southampton for its doomed maiden voyage on April 10, 1912, Ellen Anderson, from Farndon, was being born in Liverpool.

Her father, a seaman, was away at the time, working on the Carpathia ship, which just four days later, was sent out to rescue survivors of Titanic after it struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic.

One of seven children, Ellen Burns grew up in Liverpool, and developed a lifelong love of the arts, playing all over Liverpool with a jazz group.

She faced hardship when her father died in 1921 and her mother lost her sight in a failed eye operation, forcing her to learn housekeeping and cooking skills at a young age.

She later married Ronald Anderson, the ‘Brad Pitt’ of her neighbourhood, and when war took him into the RAF, she secured a job at Napier, manufacturing aircraft parts where she would be locked in a top secret cage as she inspected and stamped engine parts for Typhoon jets, working in between the births of her two children David and Helen.

In 1980 during her recovery from cancer treatment, Ellen discovered a love of painting and since then produced many watercolours, providing an escape to the devastation she felt after the deaths of Ronald in 1992 and son David in 2002.

And remarkably, though she has lived for 100 years, Ellen has never once had a grey hair and has retained her natural brown colour without ever dyeing it.

"Mum is absolutely amazing, to look at her you’d never guess she was 100," said daughter Helen, an artist.

"She looks after herself well, is self-sufficient and she still comes on holiday with us – her favourite place is the French Riviera because of its connection with her favourite author, F Scott Fitzgerald.

"She has had quite a few falls recently but is still bouncing back, and long may she continue to do so."