We’ve just finished our Birmingham NEC exhibition…
Thank you to the more than 37000 visitors who visited us this Summer!
To celebrate the success of the exhibition and the enthusiasm you’ve shown, we’re launching a brand new project.
Many of you shared your personal connections to the ship, through its construction, its crew and passengers.
Titanic Stories aims to build up an archive of personal connections to the Titanic.
If you’ve got a personal connection to the Titanic and want to tell us more, head to bit.ly/WSHTitanicStories
If there’s a story we think we can include in our exhibition in future, we’ll get in touch with you. We want you to be a part of how we tell the Titanic’s story.
An extremely rare and important letter from on-board the RMS Titanic joins White Star Heritage’s collection in time for a series of upcoming exhibitions around the UK.
The letter was written by William Henry Harrison, the private secretary to J Bruce Ismay. Ismay was director of the Titanic’s parent shipping company, White Star Lines. Harrison wrote this letter aboard the Titanic and gives a detailed account of working conditions aboard and the ship itself. He sadly died, alongside more than 1500 others, when the Titanic collided with an iceberg.
White Star Heritage Director Tom Rudderham commented:
“This letter is such a valuable insight into life aboard the Titanic, so we’re really excited to have acquired this. What makes this all the more poignant is that Harrison mentions in the letter that he’d like a shore-based job in future. We know of course that he was one of the victims of the tragic sinking.”
The letter joins a significant collection of items from the Titanic, its passengers and crew, as well as some from the RMS Olympic, its near-identical sister ship. White Star Heritage also recently acquired several major wooden artefacts, including what is believed to be the largest surviving piece of the Titanic’s Aft Grand Staircase, multiple deckchair fragments, and a wooden sliding door, likely from the ship’s galley.
Buy your tickets to our upcoming exhibitions now at www.whitestarheritage.com
A unique collection of artefacts from the RMS Titanic have been brought back to the UK for the first time since the ship sank in 1912 after colliding with an iceberg. Members of the public will be able to see the items on display at a series of exhibitions taking place in 2024 and beyond.
Acquired by UK-based White Star Heritage, the collection includes what is believed to be the largest known surviving piece of the Aft Grand Staircase, multiple deckchair fragments, and a distinctive sliding wooden door, most likely from the ship’s galley.
These items were all recovered by the SS Minia, a ship sent to salvage the remains of the Titanic that floated to the surface following the tragic disaster. Some of the items had been on display in Nova Scotia, Canada before later entering a private collection. They are in a much better condition than many artefacts because they were retrieved from the surface rather than the seabed.
Director of White Star Heritage, Tom Rudderham, commented:
“It’s so exciting to be able to bring these really extraordinary artefacts into the public eye, especially for UK audiences who likely have never seen these items before. Since most of the ships’ remains are on the seafloor, it’s truly a privilege to have such well preserved glimpses into the past.”
White Star Heritage recently ran an exhibition in Bristol that saw 13,000 attendees visit across two weeks and are now preparing for a much larger exhibition at the Birmingham NEC in July and August, followed by another large exhibition in Glasgow in October.
“We’re delighted that so many people still show enthusiasm for the Titanic. It gives us the chance to share the stories of passengers and crew, keeping their memory alive, and it brings all generations together in a way that not many topics can do.”
Nearly 13,000 visitors flocked to the Paintworks in Bristol this February to view a unique collection of artefacts from the Titanic’, as well as items from its sister ships and shipyard’s history. Also on show were a variety of interactive displays, as well as a large replica of the Titanic’s sunken bow.
The exhibition featured many never-before-seen items and displays, alongside insights into Bristol’s connections to the ill-fated vessel.
Tom Rudderham, Director of White Star Heritage, gave the BBC a chance to have a closer look at the collection. Speaking to them about the impact the Titanic still has to this day, Mr Rudderham remarked:
“They are priceless artefacts that tell an important story. It’s part of our heritage and culture. It’s a story that resonates with so many people and it was also a turning point in history. It was the end of the Edwardian era and there was a class system that doesn’t really exist now, in a way. It was a story of so many coincidences, so much bad luck, having the richest people on board, the creators of the ship, the maiden voyage – it all comes together in this incredible story that is so fascinating but also so tragic.”
The exhibition next moves onto Birmingham NEC this July and August, where a much larger collection will be on display, with newly acquired artefacts, audio-visual immersive displays and a revamped audio guide and guidebook. Information and tickets are available at www.titanicbirmingham.co.uk.
Just before the Middlesbrough exhibition opened to the public on May 6th, 2023, the BBC received a sneak peak of the artefacts on display:
White Star Heritage director Tom Rudderham said: “It has become a part of our culture, this incredible story of fate and tragedy. The largest ship in the world at the time, the richest people on board, its maiden voyage, all these coincidences and famous people came together on one fateful evening“.
The exhibition, which will run for four months, tells the story of what life was like on the ship, what happened during the disaster and the aftermath.
White Star Heritage is delighted to open its latest exhibition at the Dorman Museum in Middlesbrough.
It’s the first time the collection has been displayed in the North East and some of the objects on show have never previously been viewed by the public.
Through remarkable footage of the wreckage, along with real objects and interesting artefacts recovered from the seabed, the exhibition at Middlesbrough’s Dorman Museum offers a rare chance to discover about the crew, engineers and passengers that set sail on the ship that was known as the ‘unsinkable’. Also on display are artefacts from the Titanic’s sister ship, the Olympic.
Visitors will be able to see items and read stories about first, second and third class passengers from both ships, as well as discovering items such as silverware and chinaware, a photographic collection from on-board passenger and survivor, Father Browne, plus many more of the Titanic’s interior and exterior artefacts that have been recovered from the wreckage site.
Also on display are some props from the 1997 epic Hollywood blockbuster film including a life jacket, one of the Heart of the Ocean necklaces, Captain Smith’s teacup and saucer, plus moulding from the grand staircase set.
Photos taken: 14th May 2023 Dorman Museum – Titanic Exhibition Image Byline: Dave Charnley Photography.
