Lucy Christiana, Lady Duff Gordon(circa 1916 or earlier by Arnold Genthe) Photo:Public Domain (Arnold Genthe Collection,US Library of Congress digital id agc.7a15137)
Titanic survivors Lady Duff Gordon and her husband Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon were criticized when it was learned the lifeboat they were in had only twelve people. There were unsubstantiated allegations they had bribed the crew not to go back and get survivors. It was disproved in the British inquiry.
George Beauchamp was a lucky man. As fireman stoker on Titanic, he survived and testified at the British inquiry. Then he signed on Lusitania which was torpedoed by a German U-boat in 1915. After that, his family says, he had enough of big ships. He worked on trawlers and other ships after that. His family is paying tribute to him 75 years after he died.
“His great granddaughter, Susan Norton, said she’s proud of him and the “part he played in saving the lives of some passengers.”
Lucy Christiana, Lady Duff Gordon(circa 1916 or earlier by Arnold Genthe) Photo:Public Domain (Arnold Genthe Collection,US Library of Congress digital id agc.7a15137)
A handwritten letter by Titanic survivor Lady Duff-Gordon was auctioned off by RR Auction in Boston for $11,875. In the letter Duff-Gordon wrote:
According to the way we’ve been treated by England on our return we didn’t seem to have done the right thing in being saved at all!!!! Isn’t it disgraceful?
The name of the buyer was not revealed in the news report. A cup and saucer from Titanic fetched more at $13,750.
Lucy Christiana, Lady Duff-Gordon(circa 1916 or earlier by Arnold Genthe) Photo:Public Domain (Arnold Genthe Collection,US Library of Congress digital id agc.7a15137)
RR Auction of Amherst, NH has put up for auction a letter written by Titanic survivor Lady Duff-Gordon. The letter is dated 27 May 1912 and sent to a friend. In the letter she writes “According to the way we’ve been treated by England on our return we didn’t seem to have done the right thing in being saved at all!!!! Isn’t it disgraceful.” The letter was written during the time of the British inquiry in which both she and her husband Sir Cosmo were questioned about being on a lifeboat (lifeboat #1)with so few people aboard it. The minimum bid is $300 and you can view the letter and details by clicking here.
1. Robert Ballard has been elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences according to University of Rhode Island(URI). Ballard is a oceanography professor at URI and founder of Ocean Exploration Trust. He is among 204 chosen in 2014 for American Academy. Induction ceremony will take place in October at the Cambridge, Mass., headquarters.
Source: Famed Ocean Explorer Ballard, Who Discovered Titanic Wreck, Elected Member Of American Academy(23 April 2014,Star Tribune)
Operators aboard ADF Ocean Shield move U.S. Navy’s Bluefin-21 into position for deployment, April 14, 2014, searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Photo:Public Domain (U.S. Navy ID 140414-N-OV358-036)
2. Sky News reports that a sonar tracking system similar to what was used to locate Titanic may be used in the hunt for the missing Malaysian flight MH370. Bluefin 21, an autonomous underwater vehicle, has done 80% of the work so far but has a limitation of 4500 meters. So they plan to deploy a side-scan sonar device that will go deeper. The U.S. Navy Orion-towed search systems is available and offers real-time date unlike Bluefin 21. Also the REMUS 6000 autonomous underwater vehicle is being considered for use as well.
Source: Titanic Boost In Search For MH370(23 April 2014, Sky News)
Jack George Phillips, Titanic Wireless Operator Photo: Public Domain
3. A postcard sent by Titanic wireless operator Jack Phillips will be auctioned off in the United States disappointing historians who want it brought back to England. The postcard, bearing the image of Titanic, was sent on 6 April 1914 to his sister Elsie reads: “Thanks very much for your letter. Having glorious weather, went to Cowes yesterday. Will write later before we sail.” Alison Pattison of the Godalming Museum says:”The story of Jack Phillips is one which gains a lot of interest locally and of course if money was no object we would be absolutely delighted to have it here in Godalming. However, we simply don’t have the budget for things like this, so purchases have to be made using grants, or more usually we receive items donated from collectors.”
Source: Titanic Hero’s Postcard ‘Should Be Returned To Godalming(25 April 2014,Get Surrey)
1. MLB TV has had problems this season. Due to technical problems caused by a third party, watching on Roku has become a guessing game. Will the home or away feed be the one not working right, both, or should one just listen to the game instead? MLB is promising to fix the problem.
2. A Titanic exhibition in Estonia that recently ended broke attendance records for the museum. The Baltic Course reports that 220,000 people visited the “Titanic: story, findings, legends” exhibition that ran from November 2013 to March 2014. “Such a high visitors’ number at our museum landscape is undoubtedly extraordinary and exceeding or even repeating that would be rather complicated. The number of guests of the Titanic exhibition is proof and acknowledgement that we have offered to the public a world class museum experience,” said Maritime Museum director Urmas Dresen.
Source:Titanic Exhibition Breaks Estonian Museum Visitation Record(2 April 2014,The Baltic Course)
3. A letter written by the mother of Titanic survivor Eva Hart will be auctioned off next month reports the BBC. The letter is written on Titanic stationery was addressed to her mother in Chadwell Heath, England. The letter was found inside her husband’s jacket after they were rescued. Henry Aldridge & Son are the auctioneers for the letter and is perhaps the only one of its type to have survived.
Source: Titanic Last Letter To Be Auctioned(1 April 2014,BBC)
4. Since opening two years ago, the Titanic Belfast Visitors Center has been visited by 1.45 million people reports Irish Times. It has drawn people from all over the world and broke all projections for attendance. 650,000 people passed through last year showing interest in Titanic has not slowed down. Needless to say, Titanic Belfast is “delighted” with the news.
Source:Titanic Centre Visited By 1.45M People Since Opening In 2012(2 April 2014, Irish News)
5. Hungarians @ The Titanic Film Festival(3 April 2014,Xpatloop.com) This year’s Titanic Festival – running between 4-12th April – will also present the works of Hungarian film makers too. Erik Novák’s brand-new action-thriller and black comedy mixture Black Soup will have its premiere screening at the festival. Simon Szabó’s short film Wall that won the main award at the Tampere Short Film Festival, and Réka Bucsi’s animation short Symphony no. 42 that competed in the Berlinale can also be watched at Titanic. The original score for the Turkish movie The Long Way Home was written by Mihály Víg, and a special film selection and a round table-discussion will commemorate the recently deceased Miklós Jancsó.
6. Irish Titanic Survivors Featured At Irish-American Cultural Society Monthly Meeting(4 April 2014,The Current) A journalist will provide a multi-media presentation about Irish-American Titanic survivors and the lives they lived out in the United States during the next monthly meeting of the Irish-American Cultural Society. Jim Curley, a journalist with personal ties to the story, will present a multi media talk on a County May village that sent a group of young women off for better opportunities across the Atlantic Ocean. Curley will give his presentation during the next meeting of the Irish-American Cultural Society at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 15 at the American Legion Hall, New Jersey Avenue and Mill Road, Absecon, NJ.
7. Rostron Cup Part Of Online Auction
Boston based RR Auction will be putting the Roston Cup and other Titanic artifacts up for auction online from April 17-24. Letters photos and other memorabilia will be up for auction and the Roston Cup will likely be the big ticket item for this auction. For details and information about the auction, go to rrauction.com.
Source: Online Auction For 240 Titanic Artifacts(4 April 2014,Business Standard)
Correction: In both this post and a previous one, I referenced the Simpson letter. However while RR Auction lists this as part of the December auction, the letter was bought earlier this year by Titanic Foundation and brought to Belfast for exhibition. In fact, it was exhibited during the summer. In short, I got it wrong. I kick myself for not checking my own news archive about this.
—-
At the recent RR Auction the top bid for Titanic iceberg photo was $21,000. Not all items were sold and a third auction is being considered next April. So far, there is no report that the Simpson letter was sold.
RR Auction will be auctioning the photo and other Titanic memorabilia at a live auction on 16 December.
Included in the many live auction lots along with will be an original Titanic deck chair — one of only seven complete deck chairs known to exist — and an amazing and extremely rare vintage photo of the “blueberg” iceberg just two days before it struck and sank the Titanic. Amazing and extremely rare original 9.75 x 8 photo of a uniquely-shaped ‘blueberg’ photographed by the captain of the Leyland Line steamer S. S. Etonian two days before Titanic collided with it. The photo shows a massive iceberg with a very distinctive elliptical shape, and is captioned in black ink by the captain, “Copyright. Blueberg taken by Captain W. F. Wood S. S. Etonian on 12/4/12 in Lat 41° 50 W Long 49° 50 N.”
Pre auction bidding begins on 8 Dec with the live auction on 16 Dec. The auction will take place at Crowne-Plaza Hotel in Nashua, NH. Further details are at RR Auction.
