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Henry Aldridge & Son The Devizes Auctioneers
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World Records Shattered at Titanic Auction
On April 12th at The British Titanic Society annual convention in Southampton, Henry Aldridge & Son, the only auctioneers to hold dedicated Titanic and Ocean Liner Auctions held the first of their bi-annual sales of Titanic and White Star Line memorabilia. Television, radio and newspaper crews gathered from around the world at the auction to report on one of the successful and important auctions of Titanic and White Star Line items ever held. Just one collection of items sold selling for in excess of £125000.
John William Gill was a second class passenger on board the Titanic. In 1908 he moved from his home in Somerset to Wisconsin to become a chauffeur. He returned to Britain to marry his childhood sweetheart Sarah Hodder on St Valentines Day 1912. He had hoped to start a new life in America with his bride and had bought tickets for them both to travel on board the Titanic at a cost of £13 each. But due to a last minute family problem Mrs Gill could not travel, so John Gill travelled to America alone. One of the items sold from the Gill archive was a postcard of Titanic that Mr Gill wrote on the morning of the 10th April from Southampton, the day Titanic set sail. In it he comments that he has not seen such a big boat before, this single card, although not having been on the Titanic sold for £7700.
Mr Gill drowned on the morning of the 15th April 1912, in the cold dark waters of the North Atlantic along with 1522 other poor souls. Other major parts of the Gill archive included a collection of letters from the White Star Line to his widow. One particularly controversial piece, written on the 3rd May 1912. from the Passenger Department of the White Star Line and one paragraph reads "We regret that we do not see our way to bring home the bodies of those recovered free of expense, and in cases where it is desired for this to be done it can only be carried out provided the body was in a fit state to be returned, and upon receiving a deposit of £20 on account of the expenses".
But while the letter later adds that the White Stat Line offers "Profound sympathy" for the "Terrible calamity" the company "cannot be hold responsible for the results of the unfortunate accident". Andrew Aldridge of Henry Aldridge & Son comments that it is incredible that a company of the size and reputation of the White Star Line would write such a callous letter to the widow of a victim of the disaster. Ironically a letter written on the 20th May from the Line says that Mr Gill has already been buried at sea on the 24th April 1912. This letter sold for £5500, a further interesting letter written on 5th June confirming Mr Gill's death sold for £11000.
Alan Ruffman, world renowned Titanic expert and author of Titanic Remembered - The Unsinkable Ship and Halifax said "It is appalling that they would say to widows and other members of the family: If you want your loved ones body back it is going to cost you £20". Brian Ticehurst editor of the British Titanic Society's newsletter The Atlantic Daily Bulletin adds that Wallace Hartley the Titanic's bandmaster's body, was brought back and they never charged his family, I have never heard of this before"
Another amazing lot offered on the 12th April was John Gill's pocket watch. This was with him on the 14th April when the Titanic hit the iceberg. It was a gold plated Waltham watch with an engraved J on the case. The hands frozen in time at 3.21. Witness reports of the disaster reported that the stern of the ship disappeared from view at around 2.20am, but because the liner had sailed into a different time zone during the night, Mr Gill did not have a chance to put his watch back an hour. This watch sold to a private collector for £19800. Further interesting lots from the Gill archive were a small canvas bag with a 155 stencilled onto it and the brown paper packaging that it was sent with. The number 155 was Mr Gill's recovery number which was used to identify all of his personal belongings. Both were sold to a collector from the USA, the bag selling for £15000 and the packaging for £4400.
Another highly important lot was a menu from dinner on April 10th 1912. This was sent by 1st class Titanic steward, Charles Casswill to his wife Hilda. Although now broken in two pieces, it realised a world record sum of £27000. This figure emphasised the importance of selling important items through a specialist saleroom as only four weeks earlier a Titanic menu was sold by an auctioneer in the Midlands for £8900. The menu showed the delights that Passengers including John Jacob Astor the richest man on board, J.Bruce Ismay the President of the White Star Line and Captain Edward Smith would have dined upon on the 10th April 1912 such as Turbot, Whitebait, Mutton, Duckling and Veal.
Other very important items relating directly to the Titanic included a very rare letter written on the Carpathia by Captain Arthur Rostron. The Carpathia was the vessel that picked up the survivors of the Titanic on the morning of the 15th April 1912. This piece written on board on the 15th May 1912 referred to the Titanic inquiry and this reference took the bidding to just over the top estimate at £3100, it was purchased by an American collector.
Three years ago Henry Aldridge & Son sold the Clear Cameron archive of letters for £60000. Clear Cameron was a second class passenger on Titanic, a small photograph taken of Clear before she left for America sold to a private buyer for £7700 against fierce competition from bidders in the room and on the telephone. |
