Life jacket used by Titanic survivor sells for £670,000 at auction

A life jacket worn by a survivor of the Titanic disaster has sold for £670,000 at auction.

First class passenger Laura Mabel Francatelli wore the vest aboard lifeboat number one and it is signed by eight fellow survivors, including firemen Charles Hendrickson and George Taylor, and able seaman James Horswill.

A watch recovered from the body of wealthy businessman who drowned in the sinking went for £180,000 at the same sale.

Its buyer was the Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and Branson, Missouri, and the seat is to go on exhibition, the auctioneer said.

Saturday’s auction at Henry Aldridge and Son in Devizes, Wiltshire, included 344 lots and the final sale prices include the buyer’s premium.

About 15 of the items were from the ill-fated ship itself and about half related to the vessel’s story more widely.

“Their memories are immortalised by these items of memorabilia.”

The lifejacket lot included a newspaper photograph of the lifeboat number one group who survived after the liner sank in April 1912, costing 1,500 lives.

Ms Francatelli was the secretary to fashion designer, Lady Lucy Duff Gordon, and was also accompanied on the trip by Lady Lucy’s husband, Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon.

The safety vest, which was made by Fosbery & Co, comprises 12 cork-filled pockets of canvas with shoulder rests and side straps.

Following the disaster, Miss Francatelli wrote at least two accounts of her experiences aboard the liner, but she was also a central character in what soon became one of the most talked about episodes of the entire tragedy.

Miss Francatelli and the Duff Gordons were among 12 people lowered into the North Atlantic on board the 40-capacity lifeboat.

Controversy arose when the occupants opted not to return to the spot where the ship had foundered in order to try to rescue at least some of the huge number of people floating in the icy sea.

It is heavily dented, with the face bearing the scars of the trauma of the sinking.

The hour and minute hands are missing but the second hand is present, frozen in time by the cold North Atlantic water.

The businessman was born in Suffolk and settled with his family in New Jersey and became wealthy from property.

He had travelled to England in March 1912 for health reasons and was returning to the US on the Titanic when he died.

His personal effects were collected by his family and have remained with his descendants ever since.

It was estimated to sell between £50,000 and £80,000.

The seat cushion was originally purchased by the friend of a London tea importer who drowned.

Richard William Smith was travelling on the Titanic to meet his friend and fellow tea importer, TG Matthews, in Brooklyn, New York.

Mr Matthews was so upset by the events that he bought the cushion when it was first put up for sale by Meyer-Forest Corporation, a prominent steamship supplies company.

The cushion, made of canvas, was taken from one of its 13 lifeboats that brought survivors to the rescue ship, the SS Carpathia.

It is complete with four brass eyelets in tact and was sold alongside an original length of rope from the ship and documents to verify its authenticity.