FEW MARITIME DISASTERS have retained as firm a hold on imagination than that of the RMS Titanic lost in 1912. At 46000 tons and the pride of the White Star LIne fleet, she was on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. On board were 2228 passegers and crew. At 11.40 pm on April 14th she collied with an iceberg. It was a glancing blow but one that ripped a gash over 250 feet long in the hull. Just over two hours later she sank. Among the 705 survivors were 15 year old Edith Brown and her mother Elizabeth. Husband and father Thomas Brown went down with the ship.

On Sunday August 16th. 1987, the French submersible Nautile located a black leather gladstone bag within the debris field of the wreck two and half miles beneath the surface of the North Atlantic. It contained over $60000 in paper currency and coin, jewellery... and a gold pocket watch that had once belonged to Thomas Brown. In October 1993, it was presented to his daugther, Edith Haisman.

About the author
James Pellow is a member of the British Titanic Society and his interest in ocean liners goes back to childhood when, from his native Isle of Wight where he still lives, he watched them sail past in the Solent. A regular broadcaster on BBC Local Radio, James has written extensively for radio, the stage and concert platform. An accomplished actor, he holds the Zssociate and Licentiate Acting Diplomas from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. A Lifetime on the Titanic was written over a period of three years with the full cooperation of Edith Haisman and her family.