Born Charlotte "Lottie" Wardle Drake in April 1854, the daughter of Leeds, England born textile entrepreneur Thomas Drake and his American wife Matilda McCheshney.

She married James Warburton Martinez Cardeza in 1874 and lived in a large mansion in Germantown, Pennsylvania. She boarded Titanic at Cherbourg with her son Thomas Cardeza, her maid Annie Ward and her son's valet Gustave Lesueur.  They occupied one of the most luxurious suites on the ship and they brought fourteen trunks, four suitcases and three crates of baggage. She would later provide a detailed claim of  £36,567 2s for their loss.

The party was rescued on board lifeboat 3.

Mrs. Cardeza died in 1939.