Lifejacket worn by Titanic survivor on display in Belfast

The rare artefact was worn by a first-class passenger, Laura Mabel Francatelli, who was on board as secretary to her employer, fashion designer Lady Lucy Duff, who was travelling to Chicago on business.

Francatelli was of 12 passengers to survive on the ship’s Lifeboat 1 and the lifejacket bears her signature, along with other survivors including leading fireman Charles Hendrickson, fireman George Taylor and able seaman James Horswill. It’s one of very few remaining original lifejackets that can be traced back to the person who wore it.

It’s part of an exhibition about women on board the vessel, taking place in visitor attraction Titanic Belfast.

The lifejacket is on loan from Wiltshire auction house Henry Aldridge and Sons until April 5, before being sold off later that month.

The exhibition explores the stories of many women who travelled onboard the Titanic, including American author and journalist Helen Churchill Candee, the disaster’s last surviving first-class passenger Marjorie Anne Newell, and Christian missionary Annie Clemmer Funk, who died in the sinking.

Eimear Kearney, commercial director of Titanic Belfast, said: “We are honoured to display the lifejacket and celebrate the women who travelled onboard through our ‘Women of Titanic: Survival, Influence and Legacy’ exhibition. It offers a deeply personal connection to the story of the Titanic and to one of its passengers, whose life was spared in the tragedy but irrevocably changed and shaped forever.

“Displaying the artefact allows us to tell a powerful story of survival, memory and legacy”.