Henry Aldridge & Son

The Devizes Auctioneers

Press Release

Important Auction of Titanic Memorabilia

Breaks more Records.

Henry Aldridge and Son held their latest auction of Titanic and White Star Line memorabilia on April 18^th at their Devizes auction rooms. As is the norm with these auctions there was a significant level of worldwide press coverage. CNN ran a piece about the sale prior to the auction and it received around 300000 hits in one day. Despite the worldwide economic turmoil the demand for original memorabilia from the Titanic shows no signs of abating.

After the success of the October 18^th 2008 auction and the world record prices achieved which included £94000 for First Class Steward Edmund Stone’s pocket watch, the Second part of the Edmund Stone collection was offered for sale. Without doubt the star of the show was a small key with a key tag marked SERVICE FORd "E" Deck". This highly important artifact was a master service key for access to the forward portion of E Deck, which provided Stone access to the crew-only passage ways of the ship. The importance of this key lies in testimony given by another First Class Steward Henry Etches in the US Inquiry.

“"As I was going through the door I met a Bedroom Steward named Stone. He was the man my mate was supposed to relieve. He was Bedroom Steward on E deck. I said, "What is the time"?  He said, "Never mind about that; there is something else for you to do. I saw them pull up bags of mail, and the water running out of the bottom of them."

The forward portion of E Deck was above the post office and mail room located on G Deck and the Orlop Deck, respectively, below. Given Etches' testimony concerning Stone's order for him to do something about the mail situation.

It is reasonable to conclude that Stone's observations and participation in the attempted preservation of the ship's mail was a function of the access he would have gained from the use of this key. This small key helped its owner play a very important role in the final hours of the sinking and sold for a top estimate £60000. Other items in the Stone collection include a small mother of pearl pen knife that was recovered from Mr Stone’s body after the sinking and sold for £8200.

Henry Wilde was Titanic’s Chief Officer and second only to Captain Edward J. Smith in seniority onboard. He wrote a letter from Titanic on the 7^th April describing the scramble onboard to get everything ready for the maiden voyage three days later.

"I have been kept very busy onboard all day on Good Friday and again today Sunday with the crew getting the ship ready. She is very far behind to sail on Wednesday. Working at her night and day. She is an improvement on the Olympic in many respects and is a wonderful ship. The latest thing in ship building I would like you to see her".

This is the only known example of a letter written by such a senior officer on Titanic and is completely unique. It sold to a British investment buyer for £27000.

Adolphe Saalfeld was a First Class passenger on Titanic occupying cabin C-106. He was Chairman of a perfume company located in Manchester, and was married to Gertrude; they had no children. On April 10^th 1912 he penned a letter to his wife, in doing so he created a little bit of history in writing the first letter from the Titanic, the letter sold for £29000.

““I just had an hour's roaming about on this wonderful boat. I like my cabin very much-its like a bed-sitting room and rather large. I am the first man to write a letter on board. they are still busy to finish the last things on board”. 

The Cedric, sister ship to the R.M.S. Celtic, was launched on August 21, 1902 and at that time was the largest ocean-going vessel ever built. When Titanic foundered on April 15, 1912, the Cedric was docked at the White Star Line Pier 59 in New York. The surviving commanders of the Titanic sent wireless messages from Carpathia ordering the Cedric to remain in port until the Carpathia arrived on the evening of Thursday, 18 April, 1912 so that managing director Bruce Ismay and Titanic's crew could return immediately to England. On 17 April 1912, Harold Cottam, Carpathia's wireless operator, sent the following wireless message from Bruce Ismay to the White Star Line office in New York:

“Most desirable Titanic crew aboard Carpathia should be returned home earliest moment possible. Suggest you hold Cedric sailing her daylight Friday unless you see any reason contrary. Propose returning in her myself. Please send outfit of clothes including shoes for me to Cedric having nothing on my own. Please reply. Yamsi”

Yamsi was Bruce Ismay's code name. Interestingly, it was on 17 April, 1912 that Titanic was due to arrive at Pier 59. Had Titanic arrived as scheduled, she would have docked near the Cedric, while the Cedric most certainly would have sounded her whistles and bell to signal the arrival of the line's newest and most luxurious ship as it was about to complete her maiden voyage. Lot 221 in the April 18^th auction is the Cedric’s bell.

This is an important piece of history that was actually at Titanic's dock when she would have arrived on April 17, 1912 and which belonged to a ship Ismay and his Officers had hoped would play a central role in returning them home. This unique piece of the Titanic story sold for £7000.

Sir Cosmo and Lady Lucile Duff Gordon were two of the most controversial passengers on Titanic. This was due to them leaving on a lifeboat with only ten other people aboard. Shortly after the sinking Lady Duff Gordon passed on a postcard to her personal secretary, Laura Mabel Francatelli, it read: 'Lucile Duff Gordon saved from wreck S.S. Carpathia at 6am, 15th April". Lady Duff Gordon had further highlighted on the card, marked with an 'X' where she and her husband Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon, along with Laura Francatelli, two other American passengers, and seven crewmen were instructed to get into Lifeboat One by Officer Murdoch. This card sold to an English museum for £9300.

Fred Wright was Titanic’s Squash/Sports Instructor who was 24 at the time of the sinking; he was from Great Billing in London. On Thursday 11th April 1912 he wrote a letter home to his family.  "Must tell you land is home 11.15 what a blessing I didn't wait for 10o'clock. There were 18 in our carriage when we reached Willesden. One woman fainted, it was terrible" Mr Wright did not survive the sinking and his body was not recovered, this modest note sold for £9000.

Titanic was launched on May 31^st 1911 and a select group of people gained access to the VIP areas for the event by way of a ticket. Only a handful of these tickets used are in existence today and Lot 225 was one of them. Mr J. Cummins of St. Vincent Street, Belfast was Harland & Wolff employee and worked as a Timekeeper. This particular ticket was used by him and guaranteed him a grandstand view of the day's events. It sold for £23500.

Barbara Dainton-West was only ten months old when the Titanic sank and was one of the final survivors of the Titanic disaster when she passed away in October 2007.

She set sail onboard Titanic with her parents Edwy and Ada and sister Constance Joyce on April 10^th 1912. Hailing from Cornwall but living in Bournemouth, they were going to start a new life in the US.  This unique archive of letters has been kept in the family since 1912 and only now are the contents being revealed to the world at large.

The archive gave its reader a first person description of life onboard Titanic and culminates in the tragic aftermath. It narrates a roller coaster of human emotions from the anticipation and excitement of sailing on the Titanic to the feelings of bereavement and anger once the surviving members of the family arrived in New York.

Contained within the collection are numerous anecdotes and accounts that were previously unknown to historians and collectors alike which further define the importance of the collection.

The collection started with a handwritten letter from April 9^th 1912 with Ada West writing:

"We catch the 9.30am train from Christchurch & the 'h's' are going with us to Southampton. We have been hard at work nearly all the time packing & glad its done....”

Ironically they also receive a letter just before departing:

"Wishing you all a safe voyage & good luck. With much love and a kiss for Bobbie & Barbara".

Titanic is described in great detail with a letter on company stationery written by Barbara’s father Edwy on April 10^th 1912.

“Then we went aboard & found our cabin - its most beautifully fitted & the white paint shines like a mirror & the rest is mahogany with silver plated fittings. We have 2 hanging wardrobes - several drawers - infact plenty of space for everything. We went all over the ship with the H's & they seemed to think it grand. Both the youngsters come in to all meals with us so that's a blessing. Barbara appeared for dinner at 6 in all her glory - after a good long sleep, this afternoon”.

Only days after arriving in New York following their rescue by the Carpathia, Ada West wrote a six page letter which gives us a glimpse into the post traumatic stresses felt by survivors.

"My dear people, here's the end of my first awful week without my dear old boy. The experiences I have been through with all the other poor creatures have been enough for two life times. We were amongst the first to leave the ship - when I said 'goodbye' to dear Dad it was without a shadow of fear as to our ever seeing him again”.

“It was only when I saw the ship sink & heard the awful cries and groans from the poor drowning creatures that I felt the least bit of fear as to his safety. It was all too terrible!”

One particularly poignant item from the collection was a small thermos flask. This was cherished first by Ada West and later passed to Mrs Dainton West and kept with the collection. Ada was interviewed shortly after the sinking and described the events after the collision with the iceberg and the importance of this small item.

"We were all asleep when the collision took place, but were only jolted in our berths. My husband and children not even being awakened and it was only the hurrying of passengers outside the cabin that caused alarm. The steward bade us all get up and dress thoroughly with plenty of warm things. Arthur placed life belts upon the children then carried them onto the boat deck. I followed carrying my handbag. After seeing us safely into the lifeboat Arthur returned to the cabin for a thermos of hot milk, and finding the lifeboat let down he reached it by means of a rope, gave the flask to me, and, with a farewell returned to the deck of the ship".

However one of the most historically important documents within the collection is a narrative to the Board of Trade giving an in-depth account of the sinking and Mrs West’s viewpoint on the crew’s conduct. It also contains numerous anecdotes from their rescue and the aftermath

“The noise they made drowned all the cries & we gradually drew away from the scene of the wreck & did not turn back until some time after the Carpathia had appeared. I saw no signs of wreckage or bodies only icebergs - had no idea that the disaster had been so great. I might add that there were men in our boat who had concealed themselves under the ladies skirts & had to be asked to stop lighting cigarettes as there was a danger of the dresses becoming ignited”.

The Barbara Dainton West collection sold for £69000.

The sale also included a superb collection of personal memorabilia from Titanic’s Second Officer Charles Lightoller which includes photographs and letters which realised £9000. The last survivor of the Titanic Millvina Dean has also consigned a number of items to the auction to assist in paying for her nursing care. These included a canvas mailbag stencilled I.S. New York that she believed was used to carry the family’s belongings back from New York in 1912 after the Titanic disaster. Miss Dean’s items sold for £5500. There was a comprehensive selection of photographs relating to Titanic, her passengers and the aftermath of the sinking in the auction these ranged from £1000 to £9000 for a stunning image of the crew of the Minia prior to them leaving on their recovery mission. One particularly visual lot that sold to a museum was a very rare plan of First Class Accommodation of Titanic dating from December 1911 which sold for £10000.