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.