Robert Triggs was born around 1871 and little is known of his life. It is not known if he ever married or had children.

Merchant seamen records describe him as 5' 10" tall with brown hair, grey eyes and a dark complexion and he sported  numerous tattoos: an anchor and woman on his left forearm, a woman and a  dagger on his right forearm and an anchor and star on his right hand.

He survived the sinking, although it is not clear which lifeboat he was on, many researchers point to 3. He was not called to either inquiry and he joined the Army Service Corps and was sent to France for the First World War. He survived the conflict and returned to working at sea through to the early 1930s.

Triggs departed his final ship British Enterprise due to illness in 1931 and died at the Tynemouth Infirmary in Northumberland. It is not known if he had any survivng relatives.