The Titanic Violin
The Titanic violin, is the instrument played in April 1912, as the RMS Titanic sank into the North Atlantic Ocean after its fatal collision with an iceberg.
Today, the violin is held at the Titanic Museum in Tennessee, as part of their public display of artefacts and memorabilia from the ship.
The now-famous violin, was crafted in Germany in 1910, and was gifted to Wallace Hartley of Colne, Lancashire, as an engagement present from his new fiancée Maria Robinson.
An inscription on the instrument’s tailpiece read,
‘For Wallace, on the occasion of our engagement, from Maria’.
The sweethearts likely met in Leeds, where Hartley played as a musician in various places around the city.
Having previously provided musical entertainment on the RMS Mauretania, Hartley was contacted shortly before the RMS Titanic departed from Southampton on its maiden voyage ~ with a request that he become its bandleader.
After his initial reluctance at leaving his fiancée, Hartley agreed to join the transatlantic crossing, hoping to secure future work with some new contacts before returning for his June wedding.
Tragically, the wedding never took place.
Four days into the crossing, the Titanic hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic ocean, and sank on the 15th April 1912, taking more than 1,500 passengers and crew members with it ~ Hartley included.
Only three of the musicians’ bodies were recovered from the wreckage, including Hartley’s.
A detailed inventory documents the personal effects that were found with him, including a gold fountain pen and silver match box, both engraved with his initials, and a diamond solitaire ring.
The violin was recovered, along with a satchel embossed with Hartley’s initials.
A telegram transcript from Maria Robinson to the Provincial Secretary of Nova Scotia 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’.
When Maria Robinson died in 1939, her sister gave the violin to the Bridlington Salvation Army, who passed it on to a violin teacher.
The teacher passed it on further, and in 2004 it was rediscovered in an attic in the UK.
After nine years of evidence gathering and forensic analysis, including CT scans and a certification by the Gemological Association of Great Britain, it was confirmed that this was, in fact, the violin that Wallace Hartley had played aboard the RMS Titanic.
On 19th October 2013, the violin was sold at auction by Henry Aldridge & Son in Wiltshire for £900,000, a record figure for Titanic memorabilia.
The violin is irreparably damaged and deemed unplayable, with two large cracks caused by water damage and only two remaining strings.
As for Hartley, he was buried in his hometown of Colne in Lancashire, at a funeral service that was attended by over 20,000 people.
The funeral service included the hymn that will forever be associated with the Titanic ~
‘Nearer, My God, to Thee’.
