A gold watch presented to the engineer of a steamship which rescued more than 700 passengers from the Titanic could make £100,000 at auction in Kent.
John Richardson was the sixth engineer aboard the RMS Carpathia, a Cunard Line transatlantic passenger ship that rescued survivors from the Titanic’s lifeboats.
The Carpathia, on its way from New York for Europe, changed course after the ship’s wireless operator picked up the distress call “we’ve struck ice, come at once”.
It set off at full speed and reached the Titanic two hours after it had sunk in the North Atlantic on April 15, 1912, with the loss of 1,500 lives.
The 18-carat gold timepiece, hallmarked 1912, is engraved “Presented to J. Richardson as a mark of appreciation for conspicuous services rendered R.M.S. Titanic, 15th April 1912.”
Justin Matthews, director of Hansons Auctioneers in Penshurst, where the watch goes under the hammer on April 22, said: “When I first held it in my hand I had goose bumps – it was spine tingling to know its connections to one of the most famous, and tragic, events of the 20th century. It is an honour to offer it for sale.”
Richardson, then aged 26, was one of several engineers honoured by the Liverpool-based Carpathia Engineers’ Presentation Fund – whose founders believed the vital role the below deck crew played in the rescue had been woefully overlooked.
The engineers’ neglect was, they said, “a reproach which, in Liverpool at least, had to be wiped out.”
One of the biggest contributions came from Mrs John Jacob Astor, the widow of John Jacob Astor IV, one of the wealthiest men in the world, who died in the disaster.
Her donation of $200 (£6,000 in today’s money) helped galvanise interest in the fund which counted Liverpool’s Lady Mayoress, the Countess of Derby and municipal leaders among its supporters.
John Richardson was one of three engineers, with the others at sea, presented with the Hunter pocket watch at a ceremony on December 14, 1912, by the Mayor of Liverpool.
Following the disaster a number of fundraising initiatives were set up by both Titanic survivors and members of the public, all keen to honour its heroes.
Six weeks after the rescue the Carpathia’s Captain Arthur Rostron and the crew were honoured in New York City with gold medals going to senior officers, silver to junior officers and bronze to the crew.
A pocket watch Captain Rostron received from Mrs John Jacob Astor sold at auction for a then record-breaking £1.56m in 2024.
Justin Matthews continued: “While the captain of the Carpathia took most of the plaudits for the rescue of those 705 men, women and children adrift in the Titanic’s lifeboats, it was workers in the engine room, like John Richardson, who were high on the list of heroes. Their work wasn’t visible to passengers, or survivors, but without it, the rescue simply wouldn’t have happened.”
When Captain Rostron received Titanic’s distress call, he ordered maximum speed meaning the engine room crew had to keep multiple coal-fired boilers running at peak output with stokers shovelling coal in intense heat.
Justin Matthews said: “The engineers turned the Carpathia from a passenger ship into a high-speed rescue vessel under emergency conditions. Their skill, endurance, and judgment directly translated into lives saved.”
Even after the rescue, weary engineers had to ensure the safe passage of 1,740 people back to New York.
Richardson, the son of a Scottish master mariner, was born in Carlisle on May 26, 1885.
By 1901 the family had moved to Birkenhead, with Richardson described as working as an apprentice mechanical engineer.
His name first appears on crew lists in February 1907 when he was senior fourth engineer aboard the Campania.
By the time of Carpathia rescue, he was a married man and father of two. After the fateful trip little is known, in the 1930s the family moved to New York. The watch stayed in his family for almost a century before first being offered for sale in 2003.
Justin Matthews continued: “Collectors and the public’s interest in the Titanic shows no sign of diminishing. In fact, on the contrary, even more than a 114 years later, recent prices achieved at auction testify to our ongoing fascination.”
The watch went on public display at Southampton Maritime Museum’s exhibition to mark the 80th anniversary of the Titanic disaster.
Auction Details
Auction: The Penshurst April Auction including: Titanic Related Memorabilia, Property of Douglas Fairbanks Jnr Family, Silver, Jewellery, Watches & Fine Art
Auction date: 22nd April 2026 | 10am
Location: Hansons’ Kent Saleroom
Auction contact: [email protected]
Catalogue/bidding: www.hansonslive.co.uk | www.the-saleroom.com
