A coveted archive belonging to a Titanic victim, comprising rare items tied to the ill-fated voyage, is expected to sell for upwards of $100,000 at an auction next month. Among the collection is the only known surviving first-class passenger list from the Titanic.
Frederick Sutton, a 61-year-old first-class passenger from New Jersey, was buried at sea after the Titanic sank on April 14, 1912. While his body was never recovered, several of his belongings were salvaged from the wreckage and passed down to his surviving family, who have preserved them for more than a century.
Now, the full collection is set to be sold at an auction in Devizes, Wiltshire, on November 22. The items include a chilling note from the White Star Line notifying Sutton’s relatives that they would have to purchase a first-class ticket for the safe transport of his corpse. Sutton’s family had been incorrectly informed that his body was recovered and brought to Nova Scotia aboard the MacKay Bennett, according to the Henry Aldridge & Son auction house.
Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge described the archive as “one of the most complete collections of its type” that the auction house has ever seen. “To discover a first-class passenger list that was not only onboard the Titanic but actually went into the water and survived is truly remarkable,” Aldridge told the BBC. He added, “The second element of the collection that takes it to another level is the inclusion of the ‘Important Note’ from the White Star Line.”
A surviving first-class passenger who dined next to Sutton the weekend before the Titanic sank reported that Sutton had not been feeling well in the days leading up to the disaster, according to the auction house listing. Sutton, a married father of three, had originally traveled to England in March 1912 for unspecified health reasons and was returning home aboard the Titanic.
Speculation surrounds Sutton’s tragic fate: some believe he became trapped in his room and drowned there, while others assume he may have frozen to death or drowned after prolonged hours treading water—if he ever made it overboard at all.
The auction will also feature a small collection of Sutton’s personal effects recovered from the wreckage, including a gold seal ring bearing his initials and a silver whistle.
A second batch of Sutton’s items is planned to go up for sale in April 2026, coinciding with the 114th anniversary of the Titanic sinking. Notably, in April of this year, a letter written by one of the surviving passengers sold for a staggering $399,000.
This extraordinary archive offers a rare and poignant glimpse into one of history’s most infamous maritime disasters, preserving the memory of Frederick Sutton and the passengers of the Titanic for generations to come.
https://nypost.com/2025/10/28/world-news/titanic-archive-including-rare-first-class-passenger-list-expected-to-sell-for-more-than-100000/