Violin used in Titanic movie as ship sank sells for £54,000

A violin played by the band leader of the Titanic as it sank in the 1997 Hollywood film has been sold for £54,000 at a “record breaking” auction.

The violin was used to play the hymn Nearer My God To Thee as the ship went down.

Meanwhile a letter written by one of most well-known survivors of the Titanic disaster, Colonel Archibald Gracie, sold for a record breaking £300,000 at the auction.

The violin, previously, described as a “true piece of movie history”, was auctioned by Henry Aldridge and Son in Wiltshire on Saturday.

Band leader Wallace Hartley and his fellow musicians were all killed along with more than 1,500 others after the ocean liner hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic in 1912.

The Oscar-winning film, directed by James Cameron, saw Kate Winslet play upper class socialite Rose opposite Leonardo DiCaprio’s third class passenger Jack Dawson on the doomed ship’s maiden voyage.

Mr Hartley, who famously played on in the face of impending doom, was played by violinist and actor Jonathan Evans-Jones.

The violin can be seen several times in the film but most famously during the scene where Nearer My God To Thee is played to try and calm passengers as the ship sank.

In 2013, Mr Evans-Jones sold the violin at auction and it has been in the possession of a private collector ever since.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said: “The record breaking prices and global participation from collectors are a testament to the enduring interest in the Titanic the world over.

“The stories of those men, women and children are told through the memorabilia and their memories are kept alive through those items.”