Titanic day ticket from mother who watched son sail to his death up for auction

A boarding card that let a mother watch the Titanic leave Southampton is going to auction, with a price of up to £50,000 expected.

Eliza Dibden carried the ticket onto the liner, which departed on its maiden voyage on 10 April, 1912.

Her 18-year-old son William Dibden, from the New Forest, Hampshire, was a second class passenger and perished in the disaster.

The card bears the White Star burgee and is addressed to the officer in charge.

It states: “Please allow Mr Talbot and 2 friends to view the S.S. Titanic.”

It is stamped “second-class” and is dated 10 April, 1912.

A handwritten note on the reverse says: “Mrs Dibden plus two sisters.”

Accompanying the ticket is her son's first communion certificate, dated Easter 1908.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge, of Henry Aldridge and Son Ltd, said: "This is the only card of its type we have seen in 25 years and one of the rarest items of Titanic ephemera to be offered in recent years.

“This is the only ticket of this type that has ever been offered for auction.”

Mr Dibden boarded the Titanic at Southampton with his cousin Ambrose Hood, Charles Davies, Percy Deacon, Leonard Hickman, Lewis Hickman and Stanley Hickman.

He died in the disaster, and if his body was recovered it was never identified.

Mr Dibden is remembered on his parents' headstone in St Peter's Church, Bramshaw.

The Titanic sank in the early hours of 15 April, with the loss of around 1,500 lives.

The lot is due to go under the hammer in Devizes, Wiltshire, on 21 November.