Locket found among Titanic

The charm may look like a vintage piece of jewelry, but the gold locket engraved with the initials ‘VC’ tells a tale of love and loss aboard the Titanic. According to Daily mail.

The pendant, was among items found in a small travel bag that once belonged to first-class passenger Virginia Estelle McDowell Clark and her husband Walter Miller.

When ‘the unsinkable ship’ went down on April 15, 1912, Virginia was lowered to the icy sea in a life boat, but was forced to leave her husband behind who perished in the disaster.

The items, including a gold-plated toiletry item and a brass shaving stick canister, were pulled from the depths where the Titanic has sat in a watery grave for early 105 years.

 ‘The artifacts were found in a small travel bag, which is very fragile and in permanent residence at the Titanic Conservation Laboratory,’ said Alexandra Klingelhofer.

‘It’s especially exciting when we can link specific artifacts to passengers of the Titanic as it is extremely rare, and we’re thrilled to be able to help tell the Clarks’ story through this special display.

On April 10, 1912, the RMS Titanic set sail on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York with about 2,344 people onboard.

The ship was 882 feet 9 inches long (269.06 m), filled with luxurious furniture and the top amenities during that time.

Aboard the Titanic were Virginia Clark and her husband Walter Miller Clark who were on a belated honeymoon and decided to cut it short in order to make it back to Los Angeles in time for their two-year-old son’s birthday.

They bought two first-class tickets, believing they would be a part of history as they journeyed home on what was deemed the largest ship ever built.

On April 14, 1912, Virginia felt the massive boat collide with an iceberg as it traveled through the North Atlantic Ocean.

She rushed to the saloon to find her husband who was playing poker and told him something was wrong.

Walter did not hesitate to leave and took his wife out to the deck to where the lifeboats were.

He helped her in into lifeboat four, but sadly he was left behind.

‘The boat was supposed to lower and gather more passengers, but couldn’t take passengers from the gangway door, so it continued being lowered,’ Klingelhofer said. 

The Clark story sounds like a real life tale of James Cameron’s film ‘Titanic’ 

‘There was quite a bit of room on the boat, so there would have been a spot for [Mr. Clark] if it had worked out differently.’

While Walter watched Virginia slowly make her way down to the sea he said, according to records, ‘I will not leave the ship until all the women and children are cared for.’

‘Neither of us thought that there was any danger of our not meeting again,’ Virginia said in a later interview.

‘I know from the way he bid me good-bye that he felt no apprehension and fully expected to join me later. 

‘He did not kiss me good-bye, nor did he even say good-bye.’ 

‘I knew he had no more idea of the possibility of his being lost than had I.’

When researchers first found the 18-karat locket, they were unaware of who it belonged to and the sad story it had been connected to.

The team checked records of passengers aboard the Titanic and thought there was a chance it had belonged to Virginia Clark.

N.H.Kh