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Brothers’ catalogue of Titanic treasures
SHIP-SHAPE ... Leon and Ben Baxendale-Smith with the Titanic artefacts.
MEMORIES of the Titanic are being brought to life by schoolboy brothers on the centenary of the famous liner’s sinking.
Leo, 14, and Ben Baxendale-Smith, 12, have compiled a catalogue of hundreds of artefacts relating to the vessel bequeathed to their father, Paul.
Now the youngsters, of Harton, South Shields, are hoping it will inspire a collector to buy and treasure the collection.
They got to work after Mr Smith’s uncle, Michael Gallagher, 64, died, leaving original artwork, photos, postcards and other items signed by survivors.
Mr Smith, 46, who runs an engineering business, is delighted his sons have taken an interest.
He said: “They enjoyed compiling the catalogue and getting it all ship-shape. It took quite a lot of doing and some hard work – I think they spent a couple of weeks putting it all together.
“They have created a power point presentation of parts of it and have logged it all on a computer. It can be put on a disc for anyone interested.”
Mr Gallagher, who never married or had children, spent about 50 years compiling memorabilia.
He was inspired as a boy after watching a film about the ship’s tragic end at a cinema in Ocean Road, South Shields.
His collection contains nothing directly salvaged from the vessel but includes postcards signed by famous survivors including Eva Hart and Millvena Dean.
There is also a framed photo from a Titanic dive mission signed by Ken Marschall, a photographer well known for his portrayals of the ship, and others.
Dozens of books about the White Star Line-owned ship, which sunk after hitting an iceberg in April, 1912, with the loss of 1,517 lives, are also contained.
They were kept at the two-bedroom house he shared with his mother Dora Gallagher at Noble Gardens, Simonside, South Shields. She died in 2001, aged 83.
Mr Gallagher, a former deputy headteacher at Lukes Lane Primary School, Hebburn, was a member of the Titanic Society.
A popular amateur actor with the Westovian theatre group, he died in May, 2010, after suffering septicaemia and falling into a diabetic coma.
Married Mr Smith is unsure of the value of the collection, which is being kept in storage.
He said: “Michael was very proud of it and liked to show it to friends – it had pride of place in his home.
“But the fact is it doesn’t have quite the same significance to us, and I’m sure he would have liked it to be with a proper collector who will give it a good home.
“One or two people have shown an interest, and we’ll see what happens.”
Twitter: @shieldsgazette
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Tuesday 22 May 2012
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glorian
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 03:49 PMHi,Leon and Ben, Robin Gibb of The Beatles has been obsessed with the Titanic for years and just completed his first classical composition with his son to commemorate 100 years since the sinking.Maybe you could contact him as reading his article in the Daily Mail revue I`m sure he would be really interested. Gloria
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