Henry Aldridge & Son

The Devizes Auctioneers

Press Release RMS Titanic April 21^st 2007

Henry Aldridge and Son, the leading auctioneers of Titanic memorabilia in the world hold their latest auction on April 21^st in their Devizes salerooms. Highlights of the 373 lot auction include the Rowe archive which includes two letters written onboard the ship, the keys from Titanic’s postroom recovered from Postal Clerk Oscar Woody and another archive of material from a college of Mr Woody, William Gwinn.

Alfred Rowe was a First Class Passenger on Titanic, a very successful business man of the era, he used the Transatlantic liners to visit his business in Texas. He founded the RO ranch in 1878/79 and by the time it was sold by his family in 1917 for $595,113 it measured around 72000 acres, a tribute in itself to the acumen and drive shown by Mr Rowe in its creation.

The Rowe family were overseas pioneers for several generations which started with Alfred’s father James who was born in Jamaica in 1817 and was a partner in the Graham, Rowe and Company, a shipping line based in Liverpool. 

Alfred worked for the family business for two years before studying at the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester. After graduating he heard rumours that there were opportunities in America and decided to try his hand in this new promised land, he set sail with a budget of £500. By early 1879 he had settled at Glenwood Creek in the Texas Panhandle. A little over ten years later and the RO ranch had grown to around 200,000 acres. In 1901 Alfred married his wife Constance and in 1902 a daughter named Constance was born, followed by Charles Alfred in 1904 and Henry in 1905. The town of Rowe was named after Alfred and was a thriving community until 1907 when it moved to a site now known as Hedley.

Alfred Rowe moved back to Liverpool after the birth of his daughter Ethel Margaret in 1910 but he returned to the ranch at least twice a year. The reason he had bought a ticket on Titanic was for one his trips to the ranch. Although a strong swimmer he did not survive the icy waters of the North Atlantic after the Titanic foundered. The Rowe archive due to its depth of material is a highly significant one, offering a fascinating snap shot into the life of a prominent businessman on the era and the effects of the loss of Mr Rowe on his wife Constance who was four months pregnant at the time.

He wrote two letters from the Titanic, the first to his wife is especially interesting as he describes Titanic as too big and being a positive danger to other shipping, which can be seen in the following transcript from a letter written by Alfred onboard Titanic, this is estimated at £15000-£20000.

"MY DEAREST GIRL, SHE IS TOO BIG, YOU CAN'T FIND YOUR WAY ABOUT, AND IT TAKES YOU TOO LONG TO GET ANYWHERE; SHE HAS NO EXCESSIVE SPEED TO COMPENSATE FOR ALL THIS AND IS A POSITIVE DANGER TO ALL OTHER SHIPPING IN PORT. THE MAURETANIA AND LUSITANIA ARE QUITE GOOD ENOUGH AND BIG ENOUGH FOR ME. WE HAD THE NARROWEST POSSIBLE ESCAPE OF HAVING A HOLE KNOCKED IN US”

AU REVOIR BIENTOT,

YOUR LOVING HUSBAND

ALFRED ROWE

HAVE A LARGE AND COMFORTABLE STATEROOM ALL TO MYSELF".

The archive itself consists of letters, telegrams and photographs of Mr Rowe together with one of his funeral, with his coffin adorned with flowers. One particularly emotive lot is Constance’s personal diary for 1912. In it she describes how at 9.45am on the 10^th April she and the children go to see Alfred off on Titanic, later entries give an insight into her mindset after finding out the terrible news of her husbands death.

APRIL 10th. "ALFRED LEFT A 9.45. I AND BOYS WENT TO SEE HIM OFF, SAILED ON TITANIC"

MONDAY 15th. "HAD THE MOST TERRIBLE NEWS THAT TITANIC HAD COLLIDED WITH ICEBERG, NEWS IN EVENING FROM WHITE STAR".

TUESDAY 16th. "LOOKED AT PAPER, ALL OF MY HOPES OF ALFRED'S POSSIBLE SAFETY CRUSHED, NO NEWS".

THURSDAY 18th. "AWFUL DAY WITH NO NEWS".

FRIDAY 19th. "DR SEWELL CAME AFTER TWO LETTING ME KNOW MY DEAR BOY HAD GONE".

SATURDAY 20th. "SUCH A PERFECT DAY BUT SUCH A MISERABLE ONE, CANNOT BELIEVE NEWS"

WEDNESDAY 8th MAY. "ONE MONTH HENCE MY DARLING BOY LEFT US".

SATURDAY 11th MAY. WENT WITH MY DARLINGS BODY TO SOUTHFIELD CEMETERY AND SAW HIS DEAR FACE.                                       

TUESDAY 14th MAY. "AT 2 O'CLOCK MY DARLING ONE WAS LAID TO REST IN THE FAMILY VAULT".

In the Victorian and Edwardian era it was seen as a tradition to cut a lock of hair from a loved one and keep it as a token of love, they are sometimes mounted in gold and known as mourning brooches. On the 11^th May 1912 prior to Alfred’s funeral, Constance removed two such locks of hair and these are among the items being sold. The provenance on the collection is via direct descent and it is estimated to realise between £40000-£60000.

Perhaps it was because of King Edward VII's fondness for travel that the Edwardian Era was marked by an enthusiasm for travel aboard transatlantic ocean liners well beyond the king's reign. It is of no surprise that the peak of international sea post service was realized during this time. Many shipping lines which obtained contracts to carry mail to and from Europe relied upon the revenues generated by these contracts. The highly skilled sea post clerks, charged with sorting, canceling and processing extremely large quantities of mail at sea, were dedicated workers determined to get the job done and willing to spend long periods away from their homes and families to do it.

Given the demand of the job, sea post service was reserved for the best of the best, and a position in a transatlantic post office was highly sought after. Often, these clerks were selected from their posts on the railway postal service or from other positions in the foreign mail division. Life as a sea post clerk was a busy and rewarding one, but also a precarious one. The mail was considered precious cargo and the clerks were expected to protect it at all costs--even with their lives if necessary.

Of Titanic's five postal clerks, two were British and three were American. None survived. During the sinking they were seen working feverishly to protect the mail from the rising water, probably giving little thought to their own safety. Oscar S. Woody was one of the American clerks. He had previously worked for the Railway Mail Service and, on April 1, 1912, was directed to join Titanic as a sea post clerk for her maiden voyage from Southampton. April 15, 1912, the day Titanic was lost, marked Woody's 44th birthday.

Woody's body was recovered by the cable ship Mackay-Bennett and assigned body No. 167. Due to its condition, Woody was buried at sea. In Halifax, an inventory was made of Woody's personal effects. They included a quantity of postal facing slips. These slips were used for bundles of mail being delivered to the same location. Also recovered were keys and a chain. These effects, along with some others, were placed into a stenciled bag and returned to Woody's widow in America.

Woody had been a member of the Freemasons and his effects were bequeathed by his estate to that society to raise money for philanthropic purposes. The keys and chain were exhibited by the Smithsonian Institution's National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C. The exhibition, entitled "Posted Aboard R.M.S. Titanic", it can now be visited online at www.postalmuseum.si.edu/titanic.         

Offered for auction on the 21^st April are the keys and chain recovered from Oscar Woody's body. The chain is approximately 24" long starting with a belt buckle loop containing a small clasp inscribed "U.S." The chain ends with a ring holding three keys. The loop and ring are connected by 43 identical links.

The largest of the keys was manufactured by the Eagle Lock Company of Terryville, Connecticut USA and was used to open a special mailbag padlock. One side of the key is stamped "U.S. MAIL 19". Stamped on the obverse is "SEA POST 101". It is believed that the No. 101 referred to ships of the White Star Line, with No. 100 belonging to ships of the Cunard Line.  The small two-lever barrel key with a round head was likely intended for lever locks installed on furniture of the period, such as a desk drawer. In such a locker or drawer could be kept rubber name stamps such as the one Woody used for his facing slips, as well as cancellation stamps, etc. The small lever lock barrel key with the oval head matches stock barrel keys of the era used on items such as steamer trunks. This key was likely for Woody's personal luggage.

The keys and chain exhibit a light coating of rust owing to their submersion in salt water and could probably be restored to brilliance if one were inclined to do so. In their current state all the markings are discernible.

The only other Titanic postal clerk to be recovered was American John Starr March, but no keys were recovered from his body. The keys and chain offered in this lot are arguably among the most historically significant Titanic and philatelic artifacts ever to come to market, supported by extraordinary provenance. This may represent the only opportunity one will ever have to acquire the only known keys to Titanic's on-board post office; and the only keys recovered directly from the body of one of her postal clerks and are estimated at £30000-£50000.

But the Oscar Woody Keys and Alfred Rowe archive only account for a very small percentage of the auction. Another stunning collection on offer relates to William Gwinn. Like his colleague Oscar Woody, Gwinn was a seasoned veteran of the Trans Atlantic postal service. Part one of this stunning archive offers Titanic collectors the opportunity to acquire a letter written by Gwinn to his wife Florence prior to the sinking and also offered is one of only two photographs known of Gwinn in existence. This emotive collection gives the reader of any of these letters a snapshot into the long distance relationship between Gwinn and his wife. Further lots included are photographs from Stanley May showing Titanic at Southampton, a very rare First Class menu for a luncheon onboard Olympic on the 20^th September 1911, the day of the collision with HMS Hawke, publicity material relating to Titanic maiden voyage, material from 3^rd Officer Herbert Pitman, over 50 lots of rare and unusual postcards of Titanic, a silver Benson pocket watch given by the Countess of Rothes to Bedroom Steward Alfred Crawford shortly after the sinking.

The principal lots in the auction will be on show at Titanic Made in Belfast from 7^th – 14^th April and in Devizes on April 20^th and the morning of the sale. Alan Aldridge will also be holding a lecture called Titanic at auction in aid the Youth Action for Wiltshire “Kev’s Van Appeal” on the 20^th April at 2pm. All proceeds of the lecture will go to the appeal and those visiting will also have the opportunity to view items relating to the Titanic in an exhibition that will run alongside the auction items. The appeal itself is about raising money to buy a new van to help Youth Action Wiltshire. The charity supports youth groups throughout the county and Kevin Whitehorn provides an invaluable service by taking play equipment out to the rural areas.

Henry Aldridge are the leading auctioneers of Titanic and White Star Line memorabilia and are now accepting entries for their next auction of this genre on September 22^nd. Please contact either Alan Aldridge Principal or Andrew Aldridge BA Hons MRICS for further details.