£9,000
R.M.S. TITANIC: A facing slip from a postal clerk on board R.M.S. Titanic April 10, 1912 recovered from the body of Oscar Woody and stamped with his name. This slip marked mail going to "San Francisco, (D) Cal. From Sea Post Letters" and bears the postmark of the "Trans-Atlantic Post Office 7/AP 10/12 - TITANIC/O.S. WOODY" with a handwritten 3 below the printed San Francisco. 5ins. x 3?ins.
Notes
Facing slips were used on board Royal Mail ships (RMS) to mark bundles of mail by their destination. They allowed the postal clerks to organise mail and account for any sorting errors. As required by the postal service, Woody stamped his name on his slips so that any errors in sorting could be charged to him. Oscar Woody was celebrating his 44th birthday with his colleagues when the R.M.S. Titanic struck the iceberg. The postal clerks rushed to the mail sorting room to begin hauling the registered mail sacks to the upper decks in an attempt to save them from the flooding. None of the five mail clerks on board the Titanic survived the accident. Henry Aldridge and Son Ltd sold Mr Woody's pocket watch in 2022 for £120000.
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