Titanic locker key sells for £85k at auction

A small key for a locker on the Titanic has sold for £85,000 at auction.

The corroded key, which was salvaged from a victim of the Titanic, was a number of items that went on auction in Wiltshire on Saturday.

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It belonged to Sidney Sedunary, 23, from Shirley, Southampton, a Third Class Steward on the vessel who died along with 1,500 passengers and crew when the passenger liner hit an iceberg in April 1912.

According to the BBC, the key had been expected to fetch £50,000.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said the sold price "reflected its importance and unique nature".

After Sedunary's death, the key was recovered and sent to his pregnant wife where it remained in the family until it was sold, the Guardian reports.

Other lots included a postcard written on board the Titanic by chief wireless operator Jack Phillips which sold for £19,000.

A letter written by the ship's second officer Charles Lightoller, which reveals his parting moments with the vessel's assistant surgeon Dr John Simpson, fetched £34,000 at the auction.