The unimaginable suffering of British families with loved ones on the Titanic has been brought to light by the discovery of a newspaper published after the disaster in 1912. A copy of The Daily Mirror dated April 20, 1912, was found during a house clearance in a Staffordshire, England, wardrobe where it had been tucked away for 112 years.
The aftermath of the tragedy, which saw more than 1,500 people die when the “unsinkable” passenger ship sank in April 1912, is captured in pictures featured in the surprisingly well preserved newspaper that recently sold at Hansons Auctioneers event for £34 (about $45).
Courtesy Hansons Auctioneers
When RMS Titanic set sail on April 10, 1912, from Southampton, England, en route to New York City she was the largest passenger ship in service and considered to be “unsinkable.” Just four days later, the Titanic’s maiden voyage was transformed into an international tragedy when the ship struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic at 11:40 p.m. April 14. The ship, which sank in less than three hours, did not have enough lifeboats for the approximately 2,220 people on board.
Universal History Archive/Getty Images
“It’s easy to read those numbers and bury them at the back of your mind,” said Charles Hanson, owner of Hansons Auctioneers which made the newspaper find at a property in Lichfield. “Inevitably, there’s also a tendency to focus on the ship’s death toll rather than the victims’ families back home. But when you see the faces of those involved it’s very moving.”
The front page of the newspaper shows a photo of two women in Southampton, England, anxiously awaiting the posting of a list of survivors under the headline: ‘One of the thousands of tragedies which made the Titanic wreck the most horrible in the world’s history.’
“The sinking of the Titanic has been heavily documented in films, TV shows and books and we know much about those who lost their lives,” Hanson said. “[The newspaper] reminds us of the many bereaved families and friends, heartbroken mothers, fathers and wives.”
Courtesy Hansons Auctioneers
“The paper was found thanks to our elderly client’s grandmother,” Hanson said. “She kept newspapers marking major events such as the coronation of King George V in 1911 as well as the sinking of the Titanic.”
Inside the newspaper, a double page spread, awash with images of victims, is headlined: ‘Some of the many heroes of the terrible Titanic disaster whose indomitable courage in the presence of death was the one consoling feature of the most awful shipwreck which has ever occurred in the history of navigation’.”
The front page story reads, ‘Of the 903 members of the crew of the Titanic, only 210 have been saved. This means tragedy upon tragedy for Southampton, where the majority of the men lived, for by this appalling disaster mothers have been robbed of sons, wives of husbands and young girls of sweethearts.
‘Yesterday was a terrible day in the history of the town, though it put an end to all suspense. A list of the saved was posted outside the White Star offices, and mothers and wives who had been hoping against hope eagerly read the names, only to find their worst fears were realised.
‘For some, of course, the list contained glorious news but they hushed their joy in the presence of the terrible grief of their friends and neighbours. The photograph illustrates one of the many tragedies and shows two women anxiously awaiting the posting of the list, and what happened in Southampton yesterday has been happening in New York and London for five days.’
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