Henry Aldridge & Son

The Devizes Auctioneers

Further World Records at Titanic Auction of the Year

                                        Press Release

 

The Titanic will always be a word synonymous with the world’s worst shipwreck. When the "Unsinkable" Titanic foundered in the cold icy seas off Cape Wrath, Newfoundland on the 14^th April 1912 with the loss of more than 1500 passengers and crew, it sets its place in history for ever. However it is all too easy to forget that each and every one of the lost souls were individuals in their own right and not just some anonymous mass of people. It is only when a significant artefact re-emerges after years of obscurity languishing in a drawer, sideboard or bureau in which they had been lovingly placed decades before, and then forgotten, that the questions must begin to track down the humanity of the owner and their own personal story.

Henry Aldridge and Son, The Worlds leading auctioneers of Titanic and White Star Line memorabilia held their latest auction of Ocean Liner memorabilia on April 2^nd 2004.

As is usually the case with these auctions, there was media coverage from all over the globe with newspapers, radio and TV crews from as far afield as Australia, The Middle East, Russia, USA, Germany and the UK. The result of this was unprecedented interest in the star lots in the sale.

The star of the show was a 1^st Class Menu from April 2^nd 1912. The importance of this date was Titanic set sail on her sea trials. This menu was from the first meal served onboard the ship that same evening. This in itself made the menu a particularly rare article but the fact that it belonged to 5^th Officer Harold Lowe and had a hand written notation on its base made it unique. Numerous telephone bids had been lodged and against a pre sale estimate of £32000-£36000, the menu sold for a premium inclusive figure of £51000, a new World Record Price. This almost doubled the previous record price for an April 2nd menu that belonged to 2^nd Officer Charles Lightoller that was sold in London in December 2003.

The second highest price in the sale was 3^rd Class Stewards Badge owned by a young man from Scotland Thomas Mullin. This badge and a collection of other items belonging to Mr Mullin were sold by an auctioneer in Dumfries, Scotland for £102 in December of 2003. The importance of “The Mullen Collection” was simple, it is one of the only existing archives of items belonging to “The unsung hero’s of Titanic”. Those crewmen who served in the Thirds Class compartments in the underbelly of the leviathan Titanic. Thomas Mullen was one of these men, a Third Class Steward whose duties would have been to attend to the needs of the hundreds of men, women and children who were leaving to start new lives in America.

This badge would have been the form of identity that Mullen would have worn during his service and would have identified him from other crew members, against fierce competition from a collector in the auction room, a telephone bidder was the successful purchaser at a cost of £28000.

The auction itself had over 300 lots of memorabilia ranging from £10 upwards to cater for collectors of all tastes and budgets.

Other fascinating lots sold included the Fred Banfield collection. Mr Banfield was a second class passenger on Titanic, he trained as an engineer before boarding Titanic with the intention of going to America to join his brother and prepare the way for a new life with his young bride of a year.

Sadly he perished in the disaster and the Banfield collection comprised of paperwork belonging to him chronicling his trip to and on Titanic. A letter written onboard Titanic on April 10^th by him sold for £20000. A postcard written just before he boarded the liner sold to a Russian collector for £8000 together with a unusual mourning card which sold to the same gentleman for £3300. Further interesting items from Mr Banfield will be sold at a later date.

A Note let written by the chief engineer of the Titanic Joseph Bell before the ship set sail carried an interesting tale. Henry Stanton was an engineer in Liverpool and applied for a job with the White Star Line on Titanic. The letter in question although in a distressed condition is Mr Bell’s reply to his application which he turns down because he has not followed the correct procedure in his application. This decision without a doubt saved Stanton’s life as the vast majority of engineers on Titanic drowned on that fateful night in 1912. The letter sold to an English collector for a top estimate £9000.

When Titanic was being built in 1911, the four Whitley brothers worked for Harland and Wolff in Belfast on the ship. One of the brothers Johnnie wrote some notes on a rare plan of First Class Accommodation for the ship, the same plan having survived 93 years sold for £8900 to a British collector.

The next auction of Titanic and White Star Line memorabilia already promises to be an incredible sale with several unique onboard pieces consigned, please contact Andrew Aldridge MRICS for further details.