Final known letter written aboard Titanic fetches record £126,000 at auction

Note was discovered in a pocketbook when the victim’s body was recovered

Holverson’s note is the last known letter written on board Titanic by a victim (Reuters)

One of the last-known letters written on board the Titanic has sold at auction for a record-breaking £126,000.

Written on embossed Titanic stationery by first-class passenger it was sent by Alexander Oskar Holverson on 13 April 1912, the day before the ocean liner sank.

It is one of the last known letters to have survived the sinking and the last-known letter written on board by a victim.

Auctioned by Henry Aldridge & Son, the letter, addressed to Mr Holverson’s mother, reads: “This boat is giant in size and fitted up like a palatial hotel. If all goes well we will arrive in New York Wednesday AM.”

Mr Holverson, a successful salesman, had been on holiday with his wife in Buenos Aires and was returning to the US via the UK.

The Titanic struck an iceberg on the evening of 14 April 1912 and sank in just over two hours, with the loss of more than 1,500 lives.

Mr Holverson did not survive and the letter was discovered in a pocketbook when the victim’s body was recovered from the Atlantic and returned to his family, along with his other effects.

His wife survived the sinking.

The note, stained with seawater, mentions the food, music and elite passengers on board the ship - which is extremely rare among artefacts retrieved from the Titanic.