Titanic items going for auction

The Titanic sank with the loss of 1,500 lives

The belongings of a steward on the ill-fated Titanic bought by a retired detective for just over £100 are expected to make thousands at auction.

David Howard, 44, could not believe his luck when the bric-a-brac bought at a Dumfries auction turned out to be the belongings of Thomas Mullin.

They were put on sale in December by a relative of Dumfries-born Mr Mullin who feared they would bring bad luck.

Now they are expected to fetch £70,000 at a Southampton auction house.

The maritime enthusiast only realised the value of the items - a broken silver pocket watch, a leather memo pad and a steward's badge - after he posted up an appeal for information on a website.

I really didn't buy them for monetary value, I bought them to do a bit of research and find out about Thomas Mullin and what his role on the Titanic was David Howard

The author of a Titanic book contacted him and told him they were worth thousands.

Mr Howard said: "I couldn't believe I bought something that could have such potential value.

"I really didn't buy them for monetary value, I bought them to do a bit of research and find out about Thomas Mullin and what his role on the Titanic was.

"To have belongings that were actually on the great ship when it went down and which witnessed the disaster is very exciting in itself.

"But I'm just trying to keep my feet on the ground and not get too excited about the sale tomorrow."

The items are being sold by an auction house in Devizes, Wiltshire, which specialises in Titanic memorabilia.

Experts said 20-year-old Mr Mullin's number 32 badge is the first third-class steward's badge from the ship ever to be sold and could fetch £30,000.

Frozen body

They estimate that the memo pad could fetch £12,000 while a postcard, memorial card and printed poem belonging to the Mullin family could go for about £6,000.

His pocket watch and his chrome match case are expected to go for about £20,000 and £5,000 apiece at a later sale.

The items were found on Mr Mullin's frozen body when it was pulled from the water. His body was the last to be recovered.

Dumfries has a memorial to Thomas Mullin and fellow victim John Law Hume

The steward was buried in Nova Scotia and his belongings were sent back to his family in Scotland.

Mr Mullin was not the only person from Dumfries on the doomed ship. John Hume, a bandsman who played on as the liner sank, was also from the town.

Andrew Aldridge, of Henry Aldridge & Son, said of Mr Howard's find: "This was a stunning little piece of luck, it's a real fairytale story.

"This relative of Thomas Mullin wanted shot of these items as she thought they were bad luck.

"Well, you don't get much worse luck than giving something away for £100 that's worth over £70,000.

"There's a lot of interest in Thomas Mullin. This is the first third-class steward's badge to go on sale, only four other badges have ever been found and they were all from first-class stewards."