A violin that belonged to Wallace Hartley, bandmaster on the
ill-fated maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic, is to go on display in
Belfast City Hall at the end of March. According to specialist
Titanic auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son, the water-damaged
instrument is the one played by the violinist as the ship went
down: according to legend, Hartley played the hymn ‘Nearer My God
to Thee’ as passengers were being loaded into the lifeboats.
The violin has been examined by Bath-based dealer Andrew Hooker,
who estimated its date as between 1880 and 1900. Based on a Maggini
model, it was probably made in a German factory, possibly in
Markneukirchen or Klingenthal. It has a spruce front and maple
back. No maker’s label has survived, although the violin bears a
silver plate on the tailpiece, with the inscription: ‘For Wallace
on the occasion of our engagement from Maria.’
The data corresponds with the known facts about the Titanic violin,
which was given to Hartley by his fiancée, Maria Robinson, in 1910.
Supporting the theory that the violins are the same is the
transcript in Robinson’s diary of a telegram dated 19 July 1912,
three months after the sinking. Addressed to the Provincial
Secretary of Nova Scotia, it reads ‘I would be most grateful if you
could convey my heartfelt thanks to all who have made possible the
return of my late fiancé's violin.’ According to auctioneer Andrew
Aldridge, ‘Wallace Hartley’s body was recovered on 25 April, and
the violin and valise would have been in Halifax, Nova Scotia,
until their return to Maria Robinson.’
The evidence unearthed by the group appears to show that Hartley
put the violin inside a leather valise, which he then strapped to
his body before the ship sank. The monogrammed valise, still
containing the violin, was discovered by Robinson’s sister upon her
death in 1939. Since then it has been in the hands of a succession
of private owners, before being brought to the auctioneers’
attention.
No comments yet