Joseph Bell, Chief Engineer on the R.M.S. Titanic

Mr John Lightfoot MBE, former Marine Engineer and donor to the Joseph Bell Memorial Appeal recently visited the Memorial Gravestone dedicated to Joseph Bell in the old  Churchyard of St Thomas a Becket near Farlam Cumbria.  Ann Freer, joint author of the recently published and first biography of Joseph Bell, is accompanying him here.

Titanic violin could fetch record price at auction

The guide price for the violin is £300,000 making it the single most valuable piece of Titanic memorabilia, which has yet come to the market

The violin that was played to calm passengers on the Titanic as the giant liner sank is to be auctioned in Wiltshire later.

Bandleader Wallace Hartley, who died along with 1,517 others as the ship went down played it, it has a guide price of £300,000. Other items up for sale include his sheet music and the bag he kept it in.

Auctioneer Alan Aldridge said the violin was the “rarest and most iconic” piece of Titanic memorabilia. It has taken seven years for the auction house, Henry Aldridge & Son, to authenticate the instrument using several experts.

The Titanic violin

The German-made violin was an engagement gift to Wallace Hartley from his fiancée Maria Robinson

A violin was not on the inventory of items found with Mr. Hartley’s body

The violin underwent a CT scan to check its composition and any damage

The auctioneers declared its authenticity in March

These included using forensic science experts who are said to have found the wood still contained salt deposits from the seawater. Some people still doubt whether the violin is the genuine article and believe it could not have survived being submerged in seawater.

But is claimed the violin survived in a leather case strapped to Mr. Harley’s body who was found wearing his cork and linen lifejacket. A diary entry by his fiancée, Maria Robinson, said it was saved from the water and returned to her.

Following her death in 1939, the violin was given to her local Salvation Army citadel and was later passed on to the current anonymous owner’s mother in the early 1940s.

The auction house said it had attracted interest from collectors all over the world and added that more than 315,000 people viewed it during a three-month exhibition in the United States.

The auction is due to start at 13:00 BST 19^th October 2013 in Devizes.

Tarn to Titanic

Lunchtime illustrated talk 30the October 2013

Time

12:30

The Life and Times of Joseph Bell, chief engineer on the Titanic, who was born in Farlam.

Illustrated talk by Barrie Bell Hodgson and Ann Freer 

Wednesday 30 October, 12.30pm 

Tickets £1 (include refreshments) available from Carlisle Library. 

01228 227310  or email: carlisle.library@cumbria.gov.uk

Venue

Carlisle Library, Globe Lane.

Report of the event:

The joint authors of the new biography of Joseph Bell, ‘Tarn to Titanic’, at their Illustrated Talk in Carlisle library yesterday, expressed their thanks to Carlisle library’s Stephen White  for organising the event for them, and all attendees for being there to see and hear more about Joseph Bell the erstwhile Chief Engineer of R M S Titanic.

There was some special interest expressed in the audience by ex-Liverpool residents as well as former Marine Engineers from Cumbria.  Copies of the book were on sale provided by ‘Bookends’ of Carlisle and there were donations received for the Joseph Bell Memorial Appeal.

The up to date good news about the Joseph Bell Memorial Appeal, is to announce the great support that has been received from the following Companies & Trusts, in addition to individual donations since the  Appeal was launched in April’13.

SOLAR SOLVE MARINE

THE MAERSK COMPANY

NORTH EAST COAST BRANCH OF THE  IMarEST

CN GROUP LTD CHARITABLE TRUST

FARLAM PARISH TRUST

CARLISLE STONECRAFT

The bad news is that in spite of the donations so far received, we still have some way to go to fulfil our ambition to undertake the necessary conservation with the memorial gravestone for present and future generations.

The aim of conservation is to slow down the natural rate of deterioration and remove any causes of instability, while preserving as much of the historical significance and original material of the monument as possible.  Natural weathering is inevitable and often attractive, so the objective is not to restore it to a pristine state.  This memorial is important for historical reasons, and marks a unique record of a dramatic event of 20th century history of which Joseph Bell, played such an important role.

Can I ask for your help in providing the Appeal with  more individual contributions from both home and abroad to swell the funds of the Appeal?  This website has over the last year received over 5000 hits from the UK, 2500 from the USA and1700 from Canada with additional 100’s from countries around the world.  Overseas donations can be received by the use of PayPal, the account info to enable you to make a donation from both home and abroad is available on request from  tarntotitanic@gmail.com

The Appeal will succeed with the help of additional support from  home and abroad, together with donations and grant aid from Companies & Businesses .  I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Barrie Hodgson.

Harland and Wolff Belfast built ‘Nomadic’ for White Star on the Queens Island site where the Titanic was also in mid construction. She was launched on 25th April 1911 and delivered to the White Star Line on 27th May that year. The ship was 233.6’ long, 37.3’ wide with a speed of 12 knots and gross tonnage of 1273. She was powered by two steam driven engines serving twin three bladed props that each had a diameter of 5.9 feet. ‘Nomadic’ was in attendance on the departure for Liverpool on the 31^st May 1911 of ‘Olympic’ whose Chief Engineer was Joseph Bell, the same day as ‘Titanic’ was launched.

‘Nomadic’ and her sister-ship ‘Traffic’ were built to ferry the passengers embarking on transatlantic voyages from Cherbourg out to the awaiting liners lying off the coast. In particular ‘Nomadic’ and ‘Traffic’ were built to service the three new White Star Line liners: ‘Olympic’, ‘Titanic’ and ‘Britannic’. Nomadic was built to carry the more wealthy 1st and 2nd class passengers and was fitted out accordingly, ‘Traffic’ carried the third class passengers and all of the mail, all these liners were awarded the prestigious R.M.S. title. On 10th April 1912 the Nomadic took on-board 172 passengers and carried them out to the awaiting ‘Titanic’, more poignantly she also returned 24 passengers to Cherbourg, how fortunate those 24 individuals.  The advent of WW1 brought to a halt the transatlantic trade, and in 1917 ‘Nomadic’ relocated to Brest where she was subsequently used to move American soldiers around the coast of France.

This small tender Titanic’s little sister survived both world wars, has had three shipping line owners and in 1974 became a floating restaurant on the river Seine, Paris. After this venture failed the owner was forced to put her up for auction. On 26th January 2006 she was bought by the Dept of Social Development for Northern Ireland for 250,000 Euros and was returning home to Belfast after a period of 95 years where she has been restored to her former glory.

Titanic-themed hotel plan for disused Liverpool building

Albion House in Liverpool could become a Titanic-themed apartment hotel

A disused building in Liverpool could be turned into a Titanic-themed hotel.

Albion House, a Grade-II listed building on The Strand, Liverpool, was once the headquarters of White Star Line, operators of the cruise liner which sank in 1912.

Developers Signature Living have acquired the building and hope to develop it as an apartment hotel.

Work could begin in October if planning permission is granted by the council.

Empty for decades

Hundreds of people gathered outside Albion House when the Titanic sank, desperate for news about their relatives.

The building has lain empty for decades.

The developers want to turn it into a 350-bed hotel with a gym, bar and restaurant.

Liverpool already has a floating Titanic-themed hotel moored in Albert Dock.

Titanic discovered Violin 

Daily Telgraph:

By Telegraph reporters 14 Mar 2013

The wooden instrument used by Wallace Hartley as the band famously played on while the liner sank was thought to have been lost in the Atlantic in the 1912 disaster. It wasn’t until 2006 when the son of an amateur musician who had been casually given the instrument by her violin teacher unearthed it in the attic of her home. The discovery was almost too good to be true, prompting experts to have the relic forensically examined by some of the most revered scientific bodies in Britain.

Now, after seven years of testing at a cost of tens of thousands of pounds, the water-stained violin has been proven to be the one played by Hartley on the night of the tragedy. These pictures show how incredibly well preserved the rose wood violin is despite its age and it being exposed to the sea for 10 days after the sinking. There are two long cracks on its body that are said to have been opened up by moisture damage.

The photos also show the corroded engraved silver plate screwed onto the base of the fiddle that provided scientists with they key proof of its authenticity. The historic violin, said to be worth a six-figure sum, will go on public display at the Belfast City Hall, where Titanic was built, at the end of this month. Negotiations are also under way to exhibit it in museums around the world including America. It is likely to be auctioned off in the future.

Titanic experts have described it as the most important artifact associated with the infamous liner to have come to light. Within minutes of Titanic striking an iceberg on April 14, 1912, Hartley was instructed to assemble the band and play music in order to maintain calm. The eight musicians gallantly performed on the chilly boat deck of the Titanic while the passengers lined up for the lifeboats. The band carried on until the bitter end, famously playing a final hymn of ‘Nearer, My God, To Thee.’

Hartley, and the other seven band members, perished along with 1,500 passengers and crew when the luxurious vessel sank at 2.20am on April 15. After his body was recovered by the ship the Mackay Bennett 10 days later, the violin wasn’t listed by officials among the inventory of items found in his possession. A newspaper report later stated that Hartley was found fully dressed and with the instrument strapped to his body. The conflicting accounts gave way to the theory that either the violin simply floated off in the Atlantic or was stolen by somebody involved with handling the bodies.

While scientists spent seven years studying the violin, specialist Titanic auctioneers, Henry Aldridge and Son, and a biographer on Wallace Hartley, meticulously researched the story behind it to discover the truth. Their research appears to show that Hartley actually strapped around him his large leather valise – luggage case – in which he placed his violin moments before the sinking.

One theory is that the bag and wooden item would have aided his buoyancy in the water. They also found the transcript of a telegram dated July 19, 1912 in the diary of Hartley’s grieving fiancé, Maria Robinson, to the Provincial Secretary of Nova Scotia. It reads: “I would be most grateful if you could convey my heartfelt thanks to all who have made possible the return of my late fiance’s violin.” Miss Robinson had given it to Hartley in 1910 to mark their engagement and had it engraved accordingly.

She had requested its return because of the emotional connection with him. Hartley’s personal effects including his silver cigarette case and a gold signet ring were returned to his his father, Albion Hartley. Mr Hartley Snr later gave these items to Miss Robinson, who never married. She kept the jewellery and violin in the leather case as a shrine to her late fiancé. She died from stomach cancer in 1939 aged 59 at her home in Bridlington, East Yorks.

In dealing with her estate, her sister, Margaret, found Hartley’s leather valise that had his initials of ‘WHH’ on and the violin inside. She gave the bag to the Bridlington Salvation Army and told its leader, a Major Renwick, about the instrument’s association with Titanic. The research shows Maj Renwick in turn gave the valise to one of his members, a local music and violin teacher.

In the early 1940s, the current owner’s mother was a member of the Womens’ Auxiliary Air Force stationed at Bridlington.  She met the music teacher who later dispatched the valise and violin to her. A covering letter that has been found states: “Major Renwick thought I would be best placed to make use of the violin but I found it virtually unplayable, doubtless due to its eventful life.” The unnamed owner inherited the valise and its contents, including the violin and jewellery, years later and contacted Henry Aldridge and Son of Devizes, Wilts.

They took the violin to the Government’s Forensic Science Service in Chepstow which concluded the ‘corrosion deposits’ on it were ‘considered compatible with immersion in sea water.’ An eminent silver expert on the council for the Gemological Association of Great Britain studied the plate on the base of the violin. He confirmed the plate was an original fixture on the violin and the engraving was contemporary with the hallmarks on the panel that were made in 1910.

Andrew Aldridge, of Henry Aldridge and Son, said: “When we first saw the violin we had to keep a lid on our excitement because it was almost as if it was too good to be true. “The silver fish plate on the violin along with the other items it was with, such as the leather case with Hartley’s initials on, his jewellery and covering letter to the owner’s late mother, suggested it was either authentic or an extremely elaborate hoax up there with the Hitler Diaries. “We knew we would have to look into it and it couldn’t be rushed. Everything needed to be researched properly and the correct experts had to be commissioned.

“We have spent the last seven years gathering the evidence together and have now reached the stage where we can say that beyond reasonable doubt this was Wallace Hartley’s violin on the Titanic. “One of the most compelling pieces of evidence is the engraved plate which states ‘For Wallace on the occasion of our engagement from Maria.’

“This not only gives us immediate provenance but it has also been shown that the engraving on it was contemporaneous with the 1910 hallmarking. “It also goes some way to explain why Maria Robinson wanted the violin back and why Hartley took it with him into the water. “It is the most important artifact relating to the Titanic to ever emerge and probably the most valuable. “In all the books and films made about the Titanic, Wallace Hartley is always featured as playing this violin until the end.

“We now know that minutes before the end he placed his beloved violin in this hard-wearing travelling case. “The bag rested on top of his lifejacket and would have largely been kept out of the water. A letter from his mother was found in his breast pocket and that suffered hardly any water damage.”

Craig Sopin, 55, a lawyer from Philidelphia, owns one of the world’s largest collections of Titanic memorabilia. He said: “The research has shown that this is something that I would like to have in my collection, which means I believe it to be 100 per cent genuine. “I am satisfied that is the violin that was on the deck of the Titanic. “Popular belief is that the violin was lost or ferreted away but sometimes miracles happen and it has here. “As far as Titanic memorabilia is concerned it is the most important piece that has ever come up and that includes artifacts’ recovered from the seabed such as the crow’s nest bell.”

Hartley, who died aged 34, was from Colne, Lancs, but later lived in Huddersfield and Dewsbury. He was a musician on board the RMS Mauretania and the RMS Lusitania before joining the Titanic at Southampton in 1912. Author and Wallace Hartley expert, Christian Tennyson-Ekeburg has worked alongside Henry Aldridge and Son on the research and has written a new biography on the bandmaster called ‘Nearer, My God, To Thee.’ He said that Hartley carried his violin and bow in a regular case but chose to place the instrument in his valise before the sinking. The bow was too long for the case, which is why it was not found in it when his body was recovered.

Some items of Hartley’s jewellery, including the cigarette case, will be sold at auction in Devizes next month while the violin will be exhibited.

The interest in Joseph Bell, his family, sea going career and death on the 15th April 1912 has now just exceeded 10000 viewings.  As a consequence of the viewings I hope that the world now knows much more about him and his life. The 10001 visitors came from 77 countries in all, and the top ten of the countries were:

Thank you everyone, I hope to add more interesting information about the Bell family during 2013.