He was the archetypal globetrotting businessman of his age, criss-crossing the Atlantic in such luxurious liners as the Lusitania and Mauretania.

But 40-year-old stockbroker Austin Partner's luck ran out when he chose the new, "unsinkable" Titanic for his 17th voyage to America.

The devoted husband and father-of-two was one of 1,523 people who lost their lives when the White Star liner hit an iceberg and sank on the night of April 14-15, 1912.

Now poignant echoes of the disaster, including a letter written on board the ship from Mr Partner to his Chichester-born wife Nellie, have surfaced at auction.

Also included in the evocative archive - expected to fetch up to £60,000 at Aldridge's of Devizes, Wiltshire, on September 18 - are a gold collar stud recovered from Mr Partner's body, photographs, jewellery and a letter of condolence to his widow from his friend, newspaper magnate Harold Harms-worth, later Lord Rothermere.

Although much-travelled, first-class passenger Mr Partner was a poor sailor, suffering frequent bouts of seasickness, and hated leaving his wife and sons, Arthur, 12, and Colin, seven.

Part of the poignant letter, penned on White Star notepaper three days before the disaster, reads: "My darling wife ... I was so sorry to leave you this morning, more so than ever I think, but it can't be helped and I am only looking forward to the time when I come back. We will have a good summer together...

"I have got a most comfortable room and the ship is quite the most luxurious I have ever been on, I hope she will get there quickly."

The letter alludes to the Sussex coast: "Did you or the boys see us go past the Nab & up Spithead this afn (afternoon) about 2.30 to 3? I saw Selsey plainly & the High house also Chr Cathl (cathedral), Bow Hill, Stoke Clump & Trundle, gave me such a 'pip'."

Bowhill and Stoke Clump are wooded areas above West Stoke and the Trundle is a grassy hill behind Goodwood Racecourse.

The letter is expected to fetch up to £20,000. After the Titanic disaster Mr Partner's body was recovered by another ship, the Mackay-Bennett. A thousand people attended his funeral in Long Ditton, Surrey.

The Partners' house in Tolworth, London, remained in the family until last year. The archive is being sold by beneficiaries of the last in the line.