A commemorative wreath was laid yesterday at the Joseph Bell memorial gravestone, in remembrance of the 103rd anniversary of the sinking of R M S Titanic on the 15th April 1912. Joseph Bell the Chief Engineer, and all his heroic crew are remembered.
Barrie & Ann – 15th April 2015
Joseph Bell memorial wreath 15th April 2015
One of a handful of deckchairs recovered from the Titanic could fetch up to £80,000 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 it was “one of the rarest types of Titanic collectable” which came with extensive paperwork to prove its provenance. The chair, which is too delicate to sit on but which has been carefully preserved, will be sold on 18 April.
‘In-depth documentation’ 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 deck chair through from Capt Lemarteleur in 1912 through to the present day,” he said. The current owner, an English Titanic collector, has kept it for 15 years. About 1,500 people died when the Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg on April 14 during its maiden voyage to New York from Southampton. The auction is taking place at Henry Aldridge and Son in Devizes.
The Titanic deckchair was sold today the 18th of April ’15 for the sum of £100,000 to an unnamed UK based collector.
Titanic Deckchair for sale
Tomorrow is the 103rd anniversary of the sinking of R.M.S. Titanic, and we will be laying the wreath, as illustrated below, at the Joseph Bell gravestone memorial situated in the old churchyard of St Thomas a Becket near Farlam, Cumbria. The wreath is representative in colour of the White Star flag with a trimming of black and amber, being the colour of the funnels of R.M.S. Titanic.
Joseph Bell Titanic Memorial
RMS Titanic sets sail from Southampton for New York
Although the new White Star liner Titanic, which sailed on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, has the same dimensions – length 882ft, breadth 92ft – as her sister ship Olympic, her gross tonnage of 46,382 tons is 1,004 tons greater, and thus she is the largest vessel at present afloat. The difference is accounted for by the fact that the measurement spaces have been considerably increased in the later vessel. Thus on the top deck several extra rooms have been provided forward of the gymnasium, and the same has been done on the upper promenade or A deck, which contains the lounge, the leading room, and the smoking room. An innovations on the promenade or B deck consists of two elaborate suites, each with sitting room, two bedrooms, bathroom, and servants’ room, which in the height of the season cost £870.
The vessel is substantially the same as her sister ship, and the various features of the latter, such as gymnasium, Turkish bath, squash rackets court, and swimming bath, have been maintained.
The propelling machinery consists of the same combination of reciprocating engines and turbines as is fitted in the Olympic, and in the view of the modifications introduced in the propellers of the latter vessel after she had been in service, with the result of increasing her speed, it will be interesting to see whether the Titanic, in which no doubt these improvements have already been embodied, will show better results.
Marking the 103rd anniversary of the sinking of R.M.S. Titanic and the death of the Chief Engineer Joseph Bell on the 15th April 1912, we are making available for users of this site for free, the ebook version of our biography of him. It is titled ‘Tarn to Titanic: Life and Times of Joseph Bell Chief Engineer’ by Barrie Bell Hodgson and Ann Freer.
We would hope that readers will find the book interesting adding to your knowledge of his life and times, that began in Farlam, Cumberland, on the 12th of March 1861 and ending on the 15th of April 1912. Click here to download and read the eBook.
Joseph Bell, Chief Engineer on the R.M.S. Titanic 