Titanic Survivor's Letter Auctioned Off this Week

A bit of international nostalgia is being put up for auction this week – a letter from one of the survivors of the Titanic who was being investigated for not assisting others to safety.

The letter, being auctioned off by RR Auctions of Amherst, was written by Lady Lucy Duff-Gordon from May 27, 1912, to a friend in New York City.

At the time, Duff-Gordon, a fashion designer and aristocrat, and her husband, Cosmo Duff-Gordon, were being investigated by a British Wreck Commissioner about allegations that they demanded and bribed the Titanic’s crew to row away in Lifeboat No. 1 from the wreckage with only 12 passengers. The lifeboat reportedly could have held up to 40 passengers. The commissioner later ruled that they had no undue influence on the rescue process but that more people could have been saved.

“How kind of you to send me a cable of sympathy from New York on our safety,” the letter to a friend stated. “According to the way we’ve been treated by England on our return we didn’t seem to have done the right thing in being saved at all!!!! Isn’t it disgraceful.”

The couple later became tabloid fodder because of the allegations with the press dubbing the lifeboat, “Money Boat.” Duff-Gordon later stated that her husband was heartbroken by the media coverage.

The minimum bid for the letter is $300.

Photo credits: File photos plus a screenshot of the letter.