Children of Titanic survivor Sidney Daniels appeared on the BBC's Antiques Roadshow to share the story of the letter their father kept in his uniform pocket as the ship went down in 1912.
A piece of history
In the episode, first broadcast in 2022, specialist Hilary Kay spoke to Sidney's children, who explained that he joined the Titanic at 18 as a plate washer. His daughter recalled how he had been asleep when the ship began to sink and was woken by the commotion.
"They were all a bit bleary-eyed because at first they thought at first, 'oh no it was a drill'," she said. "It wasn't until he got up on deck, there were hardly any people around at first and then officers came and turned to him and said, 'Go to these cabins'."
Describing the difficulty of waking sleeping passengers, she continued: "Of course it was hard to wake people, they were asleep. Some reacted in different ways. One or two said 'What does this young man know? He's 18, the boat is unsinkable. We're not going up on deck'. Others were saying, 'We've got children, they're going to get a chill if they go up on deck', so he helped the children with the lifejackets and ushered them up on deck."
Escape from the sinking ship
Sidney's son explained how his father's job was to help people into lifeboats as the water rose. When all the lifeboats had gone, the water had reached his knees, and he had to dive in for safety. He swam away from the ship and found a lifebelt, but worried about being dragged under when the vessel went down, so kept swimming.
"He said he saw a star in the sky which he thought was his mother and swam towards this star and eventually came to this life raft which was upside down and managed to cling onto that. When he was on there, he said, 'I'm tired, I want to go to sleep,' and the chap next to him said, 'Don't go to sleep lad, if you do, it will be your last.' So they sat there singing hymns trying to pass the time away."
A letter worth thousands
The letter, sent from his family and still in his uniform when he leapt into the water, survived the ordeal, although the stamp was lost to the sea. Hilary shared: "Sent from his family to him, it's a letter about family tittle-tattle, and 'if you ever want any money son, let me know'." She added: "It's an extraordinary memento and anything related to Titanic has this extraordinary affect on people. It is an emotional moment to hold something which is so linked into an extraordinary moment in history."
The specialist revealed the letter could have been worth £10,000. However, Sidney's children had no intention of selling it and wanted to give it to a museum. "It's very nice but it's not going out the family, it's going to a museum," they said. Hilary replied: "I'm delighted and then more people will be able to share." Sidney's daughter added: "Dad would have been pleased to know it had gone in there."
Antiques Roadshow airs Sundays at 8pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
