Another big pay-day for the official Greatest Briton

Sir Winston Churchill's status as the Greatest Briton seemed to pay off in the sales-room yesterday when lots associated with the war leader soared past their estimates.

At an auction of personal effects belonging to the statesman at Sotheby's in London, an archive of his personal papers passed an upper estimate of £200,000 by £75,000.

One was a rare childhood letter to his mother, Lady Churchill, which read: "Darling Mummy. One line to tell you I am well – working – happy tho' tired – I am getting on all right and am learning lots each day ..." It sold for £17, 925.

Churchill's place in public esteem was sealed last month when, in a BBC contest, he was named the Greatest Briton ahead of the engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

Yesterday, a siren suit worn by the Prime Minister during the Second World War fetched £29,875. The grey pinstriped wool suit was designed to enable Churchill to retain a measure of comfort during his ferocious working hours in the early 1940s.

A half-smoked cigar that he stubbed out while posing for a sculpture went for £2,270 – four times more than expected. A revolver and hip flask the young Churchill had with him during an epic escape from a Boer camp in South Africa in 1899 failed to sell after being priced at up to £150,000.

Peter Beal, a manuscript expert, said Churchill memorabilia was sought after by collectors in America, Canada, Europe and even Japan. "Buying Churchill stuff 20 years ago would have been a very good investment indeed. It's steadily progressed. There's no sign of it abating."