Titanic watch withdrawn from auction

10:36am Friday 28th March 2008

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A collector who was selling a pocket watch found on the frozen body of the last victim to be recovered from the Titanic had a change of heart and cancelled the auction.

The watch, which had belonged to Dumfries-born steward Thomas Mullin, was put up for sale on internet auction site eBay on March 13 with a starting bid of only $100 (£50).

With 36 hours to go, and bids having reached $23,000 (£11,500), East Grinstead collector Paul Thorpe, 48, cancelled all bids.

He said: "I have decided not to sell it for the moment because I had some interest from a television production company that wants to do a documentary. So at the moment it's still locked away in the safety deposit box."

Mr Thorpe had been hoping to cash in on the item he bought with a friend from another collector two years ago, but said he was likely to hold on to it for another four years - until 2012 and the 100th anniversary of the sinking.

A crew badge belonging to Mr Mullin, a third-class steward who signed on just four days before departure, was sold at auction for £28,000 almost four years ago.

His white-faced watch, damaged beyond repair and without any hands, had been offered on eBay with a certificate of authenticity and documents detailing the life and family of its owner.

Mr Mullin was only 20 when he died in the north Atlantic after the Titanic struck an iceberg.

More than 1,500 people lost their lives on the ship's maiden voyage from Southampton to New York in April 1912.

Reports in the Dumfries and Galloway Standard five days after the accident confirmed Mr Mullin's body remained missing.

Two days later a recovery mission was launched and a further 17 bodies were found, of which Mr Mullin's was the last. His belongings were returned to his family. Fearing they brought bad luck, they sold them for only £102.

More than 30 bids had been placed on eBay and the reserve price met before Mr Thorpe scuppered the dreams of bidders.

He said: "The television company contacted me in the morning and I said I would let it run its course but they called back and said there's some money on offer here and the watch will be more valuable afterwards. I spoke to my wife and removed it from sale.

"The thing about eBay is that you never know, the price might have hovered around what it was when I ended it, but I've seen them triple in price in the last 30 seconds.

It would have been lovely to have left it to see what happened."

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