Rare Titanic Postcard Fetches £20,000 at Auction

A postcard described as “extremely rare,” penned by a Titanic passenger who perished after the liner struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912, has been sold at auction for £20,000. Richard William Smith, a first-class passenger, addressed the postcard to a friend in Norwich on April 11, 1912, while the liner was situated at Queenstown, near Cork, in Munster, Ireland. This postcard features a Cork postmark, a detail that differentiates it from most Titanic postcards, which are typically franked ‘Queenstown’ or bear the ship’s postmark. Auctioneers based in Devizes, Wiltshire, who facilitated the sale on Saturday, had projected the item would achieve a price between £6,000 and £10,000. Mr. Smith was among the more than 1,500 individuals who died when the Titanic sank on April 15, 1912. The liner departed from Southampton, subsequently making stops in Cherbourg, France, and Queenstown—now identified as Cobh—before commencing its journey across the Atlantic. Mr. Smith had been traveling with family friend Emily Nicholls, who dispatched the card on his behalf after she disembarked in Ireland. He wrote: “Have had a fine run around to Queenstown. Just leaving for the land of stars and stripes.” The postcard was one of over 300 Titanic-related lots offered for sale at an auction held on Saturday. Andrew Aldridge, the managing director of auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son, stated that the postcard was “exceptionally rare” and would attract interest from Titanic specialists and stamp collectors. “It is an incredibly powerful and poignant message,” said Mr Aldridge. He added, “He had no idea of what was coming over the horizon approximately 80 hours later.” The lettering on the postcard, rendered in swirling ink, is somewhat indistinct. However, the card appears to be addressed to Mrs Olive Dakin of 2 Albemarle Place, Newmarket Road, Norwich. John Balls, chairman of The Norfolk Titanic Society and author of two books on the tragedy, recalled the postcard having previously been offered for sale in the 1990s.