'Rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic' can be quite lucrative, apparently

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

You may have heard the expression - and it doesn't detract from the fact that over 1,500 people died - but here's an interesting link, right back to that tragic event over 100 years ago.

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Titanic deckchair sells for ^85,000 at auction


The Nantucket wooden chair was on the first class promenade deck of the luxury liner

One of a handful of deckchairs recovered from the Titanic has sold for ^85,000 at auction in Wiltshire.

The Nantucket wooden chair was on the first class promenade deck of the luxury liner when it sank in 1912.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said he was "delighted" with the sale, which highlighted "one of the rarest types of Titanic collectable".

The chair, which is for decorative use only, came with extensive paperwork to prove its provenance.

Mr Aldridge said: "The sale price reflected not only the importance of the deckchair as a relic from the Titanic but also the ongoing interest in the liner 103 years after her demise. The winning bidder is a UK^▸ (United Kingdom)-based collector of iconic pieces of history."

The deckchair was picked up by the crew of the Mackay-Bennett which was sent to recover the bodies of the victims after the Titanic sank. According to the ship's log records, it was one of six or seven taken back to port in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Mr Aldridge said it was probably given to French cable ship captain Julien Lemarteleur by a crew member of the Mackay-Bennett, along with the piece of cork from a Titanic lifejacket. "The in-depth provenance documentation confirms the chain of custody of the deckchair through from Capt Lemarteleur in 1912 through to the present day," he said.

The previous owner, an English Titanic collector, had kept it for 15 years.

About 1,500 people died when the Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg on 14 April during its maiden voyage to New York from Southampton.

The auction took place at Henry Aldridge and Son in Devizes.


The deckchair was recovered from the Atlantic by the crew of the Mackay Bennett ship sent in the rescue mission

[bobm]

Hardly a month goes by when that particular auctioneer is not mentioned on the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page).  They seem to attract a succession of noteworthy lots.

As for deckchairs, it seems as a child all ours came from Green Shield Stamps.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Nothing at all to do with deck chairs, but the auction lot I would have liked to snap up (if I'd had the odd ^23,500) would have been this, from one of my boyhood heroes - again, from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page). 

However, I console myself with the knowledge that I have, hanging on the wall in my study, a watercolour print of two Spitfires, signed by Sir Douglas Bader and Johnnie Johnson. 

[bobm]

I was lucky enough to meet him, although sadly I was not of an age to appreciate his place in history.  My late father sat on a number of local committees with his widow before their village became more famous as the place where the parents-in-law of Prince William live.