Heart-breaking letter from Titanic victim to be sold at auction

A heartfelt and tragic letter written by a man who died on the Titanic has been discovered and is up for auction.

It was written by a 29-year-old man called Sidney Siebert to his wife Winnie and their unborn baby.

He wrote the four-page letter in the Public Library in Belfast as he was waiting for the Titanic’s delivery to Southampton.

It ended with the heartbreaking words: “Kiss baby for me tell her daddy wants to see her and I want to see my other little girl as well.

“Good night my own beloved with all the heart’s love.”

Before he ever got a chance to see his family again he was one of the 1,517 victims of the tragedy as the ship struck an iceberg and sank on April 14, 1912.

Siebert was part of a crew whose job it was to put the Titanic through its sea trials and deliver the vessel to Southampton for the official departure.

Four days later he went down on the ship and survived in the icy waters long enough for survivors of Lifeboat No. 4 to pick him up. However, he died shortly afterwards.

Later that year, Winnie gave birth to their daughter, Constance Winifred.

In Siebert’s letter he told his wife that he didn’t care much for Belfast and that the miserable Irish weather hadn’t helped change his mind.

He said: “I have bought a little note paper so that I could drop you a few more lines than I could get on a postcard.

“As I told you we had a very trying journey here… we were over 11 hours in the train and then straight on to the steamboat for another eight hours and nowhere to sleep all that time and she was a rather old boat we came over by.

“I hope you are still keeping well. I am glad to say I am alright… the air here is very bracing it makes me as hungry as anything.

“I don’t think a great deal of the City it is not so good as Soton [Southampton] although there are several fine buildings here, but the town itself is very dirty and it has been raining ever since we got here.

“I am writing this in the Public Library, a very nice building but not up to date English books and papers seem very scarce here.

“Also another thing which strikes one as curious is that there are no cabs or taxis here.

“They all have these jaunting cars as sort of a shelf arrangement on two wheels and they look most decidedly uncomfortable. I have not tried one yet and have no intention of doing so.

“I expect we are leaving here for our trials on Monday and for home on Tuesday and I can tell you I shall be glad after that long time at home I don’t like being away at all.

“But I suppose I must not grumble as I have had a good time while I was home and must not get on and earn some money.

“Kiss baby for me tell her daddy wants to see her and I want to see my other little girl as well.

“Good Night my own beloved with all the hearts love.

“Your own ever loving & Davoted (sic) Husband.”

The letter has been put up for auction in Devizes, Wiltshire, England and is expected to sell for up to £8,000.

Heart-breaking letter from Titanic victim to his wife to be sold at auction

More popular articles and videos