Frederick Sutton He was 62 years old. In his career as a businessman, he made a fortune, but now in the fateful year of 1912, it was time to rest and recover. A medical recommendation had prompted a flight from the United States to Great Britain. He was due to return from Southampton on board the Titanic. He was one of those killed in the sinking of that ship. Personal items have survived and are now, more than a century later, up for auction.
Sutton was born in England. But he settled in New Jersey, where he raised a family and a successful career. He made money in real estate companies, headed banks and was treasurer of other companies.
In March 1912, The doctor advised him to take a long sea voyageAs a treatment against disease. This was revealed by the house of Henry Aldridge & Son, responsible for the auction that will put on the market on November 22 a treasure preserved for more than 100 years.
Sutton arrived in England. On April 12, he boarded the Titanic at Southampton. He paid “32 pounds 6 shillings and 5 pence” for it Section 36963Which placed him in cabin D-50.
Testimony from one of the survivors indicated that the collision with the iceberg found the successful businessman in his room, where he would have been trapped. But more reliable reconstructions suggest that he boarded a lifeboat before the Titanic sank, between April 14 and 15. These same memories give a reason why the ship sank. One of the few first class passengers buried at sea.
Days before the tragedy, he had commented in the ship’s dining room that he was not feeling well. This and the condition he was being treated for – which was never revealed – made the shipwreck too much for him.
His body was found by the Mackay Bennett, a powerful ship chartered to rescue bodies left floating in the North Atlantic after the tragedy. His remains were buried at sea on April 22.
in bag number 46, From burlap, his remains arrived. That bag, which has turned yellow over time, is one of the items up for auction. The entry price is $27,617, with the potential to rise to $59,179.
The collection also includes a first class passenger list kept by Sutton himself. “This listing shows signs of sinking in the North Atlantic Ocean and was recovered along with Mr. Sutton’s belongings,” the auction house explains. It is missing, although what remains of it has been restored by specialists.
Among the notable figures who set out first were J. G. Astor, George Widener, Isidore, Ida Strauss, and Benjamin Guggenheim.
The starting passenger list price is $39,453. They expect me to step up $105,208.
They are the most important items in Sutton’s surviving treasure. The collection also consists of some pieces that depict the comings and goings after tragedy.
Perhaps one of the most crucial events in reconstructing the businessman’s end is a letter from the Sutton children, in which they cite the testimony of a Titanic survivor, George Brighton. He is the one who informs them that the businessman was able to board the boat, but in the previous days he had shown signs of ill health.
This letter can be had for $470, although the price can be tripled at bidding.
There is also a photograph of Sutton, as well as brief notes from the White Star Line, the Titanic’s operator, on procedures for recovering bodies, handing them over to relatives, and a funeral ceremony for the burial of bodies recovered at sea.
It will be the first part of the treasure that Mr. Sutton fatefully leaves behind. Another part will go on sale in April 2026.
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