In a remarkable twist of history, the only lifejacket ever attributed to a Titanic survivor to be sold at auction found a new owner today in England. This artifact, worn by a passenger aboard the fortunate Lifeboat No. 1, fetched an astonishing $717,772.
The Titanic, on what was meant to be a triumphant maiden voyage, met its tragic end after colliding with an iceberg shortly before midnight on April 14, 1912. The disaster remains etched in history as the world’s most infamous maritime catastrophe.
During an auction held on April 18 by Henry Aldridge & Son Ltd., an auction house in Wiltshire, the haunting relics of that fateful night were offered to the highest bidder.
At the heart of this auction was a lifejacket that once belonged to Laura Mabel Francatelli, a first-class passenger who, at the age of 22, survived the catastrophe by securing a spot on Lifeboat No. 1. This boat, later dubbed the “money boat,” was embroiled in controversy for its actions—or lack thereof—during the disaster.
Infamously accused of abandoning those left to perish in the icy Atlantic waters, the occupants of Lifeboat No. 1 decided it was too perilous to turn back, fearing they would be overwhelmed. Adding to the controversy, while the lifeboat had a capacity for 40 people, it was launched with merely 12 aboard.
Even more horrifying, the boat was built for 40 people, yet launched with just 12 passengers aboard.
Francatelli was traveling as a secretary to fashion designer Lady Lucy Duff Gordon and her husband, Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon.
It was later rumored Sir Cosmo had paid crew members in advance to reserve a place in the lifeboat for his wife and her assistant.
Francatelli later recalled being told not to worry as she was helped into the life preserver.
She and fellow Lifeboat No. 1 passengers signed the souvenir and took a photograph together after they were safely aboard the RMS Carpathia, a Cunard steamship that came to the rescue of 705 Titanic passengers.
“It represents a pinnacle of Titanic memorabilia,” Andrew Aldridge, managing director of the firm, told The Post. It possesses “exceptional provenance, rarity, and was onboard the ship.
“There has been interest from around the world in the auction, the stories of the Titanic’s passengers and crew are told through these items, names that would have long since forgotten are kept alive by this memorabilia.”
A canvas cushion from Lifeboat No. 1, complete with the original White Star Line flag was another star in the latest Titanic show.
The amazing piece of history went for 310,000 pounds or $419,244.
Another item on the block was a small, rare ticket from the ship’s luxury bathhouse, once used by first-class passenger Abraham Lincoln Salomon, another survivor from Lifeboat No. 1.
Titanic’s luxurious Turkish Bath was located on F Deck. For a fee of four shillings, or one dollar, First Class passengers could treat themselves to a steam room, hot room, temperate room, shampooing room and a cooling room.
The ticket sold for 10,000 pounds or $13,524.
An 18-carat gold pocket watch that belonged to passenger Frederick Sutton also featured in the auction. Sutton did not survive the disaster. His body was later recovered by a cable ship, the MacKay Bennett, and his family later claimed his body and belongs in Nova Scotia.
The watch remained in the family since 1912 and has never been publicly seen before.
It sold for a whopping 140,000 pounds or $189,336.
Another of the auction’s most fascinating items was a ship ticket, that had belonged to Titanic survivor Richard May, who didn’t let the disaster scare him from returning to sea in 1923 on the SS Orvieto on a voyage from London to Australia.
He did book passage on the White Star Line’s competition, the Cunard Line .
White Star Line went out of business in 1934, while Cunard is still very much in operation and now owned by the Carnival Corporation.
May’s ticket went for 60 pounds or $82.00.
Behind every Titanic object was a life changed forever by the disastrous voyage.
Francatelli’s story, unlike hundreds of her fellow shipmates, carried on. She married, moved to New York City and built a life in the hotel industry before eventually returning to Britain, where she died in 1967.
But for collectors — the artifacts are more than memorabilia. They’re fragments of a single night when ordinary objects became a part of one of the most enduring tragedies ever told.
