More historical items from the Titanic have sold for a six-figure sum at auction. Attracted from around the world, bidders competed for the rarest goodies. More than 250 artefacts went under the hammer at Henry Aldridge & Son.
www.bbc.co.uk A menu from the ship's first-class restaurant sold for £60,000 ($96,564) and a small locker key went for £62,000 at the UK sale in Devizes, Wiltshire.
The Titanic menu was part of a series of items once owned by maid Elise Lurette, which sold for a total of £100,000 ($160,940).
The French-born woman working as a maid was one of about 700 people who survived when the passenger liner hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage on 14 April 1912, killing more than 1,500.
The deck plan Ms Lurette used to help find her way to a lifeboat was sold for £33,000, almost double its guide price.
A tiny locker key owned by Southampton man Sidney Sedunary fetched £62,000. After his body was recovered, his possessions, including his pocket watch and keys to his cabin were sent to his pregnant wife Madge.
Why do people want to own otherwise worthless items from the past? Perhaps the object gives them a link to real people who played a part in history.
Some history grabs my attention, but facts and stories about warfare and battles put me to sleep.
The Titanic menu was part of a series of items once owned by maid Elise Lurette, which sold for a total of £100,000 ($160,940).
The French-born woman working as a maid was one of about 700 people who survived when the passenger liner hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage on 14 April 1912, killing more than 1,500.
The deck plan Ms Lurette used to help find her way to a lifeboat was sold for £33,000, almost double its guide price.
A tiny locker key owned by Southampton man Sidney Sedunary fetched £62,000. After his body was recovered, his possessions, including his pocket watch and keys to his cabin were sent to his pregnant wife Madge.
Why do people want to own otherwise worthless items from the past? Perhaps the object gives them a link to real people who played a part in history.
Some history grabs my attention, but facts and stories about warfare and battles put me to sleep.
A BBC television program recently did an aerial search of the site at Tintagel castle in Cornwall, UK.
I perked up as soon as the feature started. You might have noticed that all my novels are set in the surrounding area, which fascinates me.
The castle was originally thought to be the home of King Arthur and his knights of the round table. However, as it was built as a massive statement of grandeur by a wealthy man 200 years after Arthur was said to have lived there, this wasn't the case. The team looked at why the legend came to be centered in that area. From the air, a hovering camera discovered a buried settlement behind foundations already excavated at the rear of the castle, consisting of thousands of dwellings. Pottery from the then known world lay beneath the soil. Local tin mines drew trade ships to the area, which would have been wealthy, perhaps even ruled over by a powerful leader of King Arthur's elk.
There's no doubt that history intrigues us, whether it be from the sinking of a great ship or the memory of a legendary king.
I once lost a beautiful broach belonging to my grandmother on the UK island of Jersey. That link with my ancestor broke, although the memory lives on. Do you own something that transports you back in time?
I perked up as soon as the feature started. You might have noticed that all my novels are set in the surrounding area, which fascinates me.
The castle was originally thought to be the home of King Arthur and his knights of the round table. However, as it was built as a massive statement of grandeur by a wealthy man 200 years after Arthur was said to have lived there, this wasn't the case. The team looked at why the legend came to be centered in that area. From the air, a hovering camera discovered a buried settlement behind foundations already excavated at the rear of the castle, consisting of thousands of dwellings. Pottery from the then known world lay beneath the soil. Local tin mines drew trade ships to the area, which would have been wealthy, perhaps even ruled over by a powerful leader of King Arthur's elk.
There's no doubt that history intrigues us, whether it be from the sinking of a great ship or the memory of a legendary king.
I once lost a beautiful broach belonging to my grandmother on the UK island of Jersey. That link with my ancestor broke, although the memory lives on. Do you own something that transports you back in time?
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