00:00For an auctioneer, finding an 18 karat gold pocket watch is a good day's work, but finding
00:05out it's linked to a man who helped save more than 700 lives from the Titanic's sinking
00:10makes it probably the best day at the office of the year. Hansen's auctioneers are based
00:15in Penhurst near Tunbridge and were looking through a collection of items only 8 miles
00:19from their office. Then they discovered this timepiece. Once they'd set their marketing
00:23and research team on looking further into the item, they discovered it had been awarded
00:27to John Richardson, an engineer who helped keep the main rescue ship afloat.
00:31The feeling is when you're in this industry, when you find something very special, something
00:37important, you get the hairs on the back of your neck go up. And even talking to you now,
00:42I'm getting that exact same feeling. So yes, it's a very special moment. It's a very special
00:48item. The more research we've done, we've realised how important it actually is. So it was a wonderful
00:55thing and it's something that I won't forget. But why haven't we really heard of John Richardson
01:00until now? Well, he's considered a bit of an unsung hero of the Titanic tragedy. He was an engineer
01:07aboard the Carpathia, a ship that was vital in saving more than 700 lives. It was on its way from
01:15New York for Europe, changing course after the ship's wireless operator picked up a distress call
01:20saying we've struck ice come at once. They managed to reach the Titanic two hours after it had sunk.
01:27And the 18 carat gold timepiece was engraved presented to Jay Richardson as a mark of appreciation
01:33for conspicuous services rendered RMS Titanic 15th of April 1912.
01:39And 116 years since the disaster, the discovery has brought his story to light.
01:44Historically, it's a very important thing to be found in Kent. It's just amazing for us as a local office.
01:53So we're very privileged to be entrusted to handle the item and to hopefully broker that sale.
02:00The nature of auctions is changing. According to Justin, it's more and more common for people to
02:05submit bids online. And because of the huge global interest in the Titanic sinking,
02:10it's more likely than not that John's pocket watch will end up in a private collection rather than a public
02:15one.
02:16Justin believes that the watch could fetch between £50,000 and £100,000 at auction,
02:21but because of the global interest in the Titanic, it could fetch far more. Well,
02:25through more than a century of the pocket watch being hidden away in West Kent's countryside and
02:30now being discovered, it proves that there's history to be found everywhere you look within the Garden of England.
02:35Finn McDermid for KMTV in Penhurst.
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