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Lots of great value in Titanic auction
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| A poster from A Night to Remember |
THE treasured possessions of
the last American survivor of
the Titanic disaster, including a
pocket watch found on the body
of her dead father, are expected
to fetch a world-record price at
auction next month.
Lillian Asplund was aged just five when the
Southampton liner struck an iceberg and
sank, killing her father and three brothers,
including her twin.
She was the last Titanic survivor with
actual memories of the sinking, but shunned
publicity and rarely talked about the tragedy
before she died aged 99 in 2006.
The never-before-seen Titanic artefacts,
which were found in a locked box
in her home, are expected to fetch more
than £120,000 when they go under the
hammer.
The vast collection - which includes a
rare emigration ticket, dozens of letters
and photographs and even her parents'
wedding rings - is a sad reminder of the
night of April 15, 1912.
The hands of Lilian's father's goldplated
pocket watch are frozen in time at
2.19am, a moment before Titanic was
lost beneath the North Atlantic.
According to an interview with
Lillian's mother, the Asplund family had
huddled together on Titanic's deck as
the ship went down.
They were preparing to die when
Lillian, her three-year-old brother Felix
and mother, Selma, were suddenly
thrown into one of the last lifeboats.
Lillian would forever be haunted by
the faces of her father and three brothers
peering over the rail onboard the doomed
ship as the lifeboat was lowered into the sea
below.
Only her father's body was recovered, while
her brothers, Filip, Clarence and Carl were
never found.
Because they lost all their possessions and
money, a fundraiser and benefit concert was
held for the devastated family.
Neither Lillian nor her brother ever
married and never had children, while their
mother died aged 91 on the 52nd anniversary
of the sinking.
Andrew Aldridge, of auctioneers Henry
Aldridge and Sons in Wiltshire, said the
collection was some of the most significant
Titanic memorabilia to ever go under the
hammer.
"She was an extraordinarily private person
who did not court publicity over the Titanic
at all," he said.
"This material was left to a direct relative
of hers and is generating a lot of excitement
within the Titanic community."
Another highly-valued item among the
hundreds of lots up for sale include the
original painting that was used for
the cover of Walter Lord's classic
account of the tragedy, A Night to
Remember.
AS part of Southampton City
Council's annual
Titanic
commemorations, Atlantic
Crossings Auctions will be holding
an auction of rare maritime
material.
A unique portrait lettercard saved
from the Titanic is expected to raise
£4,000 and has already generated
interest across the world.
The event takes place in the
former Magistrate Courts in
Havelock Road, Southampton from
10am until 4pm on Friday, April 11.
Entry costs £5 and the auction
starts at 2pm.
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