Titanic locker key sold at auction for £85,000

A small, corroded key for a locker on the Titanic has sold for £85,000 at auction.

The key was used by Sidney Sedunary, 23, from Shirley, Southampton – a third-class steward and one of the 1,500 passengers and crew who died when the passenger liner hit an iceberg in April 1912.

The “exceptionally rare” item, which was expected to fetch £50,000, was sold at auction by Titanic memorabilia specialists Henry Aldridge & Son in Devizes, Wiltshire, along with hundreds of other items from the doomed vessel.

The key, which is attached to a brass tag stamped “Locker 14 F Deck”, is believed to show Mr Sedunary worked on the F Deck on the night which the Titanic sank – despite it being flooded.

It was sent to Mr Sedunary’s pregnant wife Madge after his body was recovered and remained in the family until the sale.

Other lots included a postcard written on board the Titanic by chief wireless operator Jack Phillips which sold for £19,000.

Sidney Sedunary’s key sold for £85,000.