Cracker that survived sinking of Titanic in 1912 estimated to sell for between £8,000 to £10,000

What could be the world’s most valuable biscuit, which survived the sinking of the Titanic more than a century ago, is to be sold at auction.

The Spillers and Bakers pilot biscuit – a type of cracker made from flour and water – survived the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 in which about 1,500 people died. It was part of a survival kit stored within one of the ill-fated ocean liner’s lifeboats and was kept as a souvenir.

The biscuit will go under the hammer at Henry Aldridge & Son auctioneers in Devizes, Wiltshire, on 24 October and is estimated to fetch between £8,000 and £10,000.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Spillers and Bakers pilot biscuit is among a number of items to go under the hammer at Henry Aldridge & Son auctioneers in Devizes, Wiltshire. Photograph: Henry Aldridge & Son/PA

It was kept by James Fenwick, who was a passenger on board the SS Carpathia, which went to the aid of survivors from the ship. He put the snack in a Kodak photographic envelope complete with the original note, which stated: “Pilot biscuit from Titanic lifeboat April 1912.”

“It is the world’s most valuable biscuit,” said the auctioneer, Andrew Aldridge. “We don’t know which lifeboat the biscuit came from but there are no other Titanic lifeboat biscuits in existence, to my knowledge. It is incredible that this biscuit has survived such a dramatic event.

“In terms of precedence, a few years ago a biscuit from one of Shackleton’s expeditions sold for about £3,000 and there is a biscuit from the Lusitania in a museum in the Republic of Ireland.”

Aldridge said: “So we have put an estimate of between £8,000 and £10,000, which makes it the most valuable biscuit in the world.”

The Titanic, regarded as unsinkable, went down after striking an iceberg on 14 April 1912 during its maiden voyage to New York from Southampton.

The biscuit will be sold alongside the Fenwick archive – a unique photographic history of the rescue of the survivors from the Titanic. Fenwick and his newlywed wife, Mabel, were embarking on a three-month honeymoon trip to Europe and had reached New York on 11 April 1912, little knowing that four days later the Carpathia would be the saviour of more than 700 survivors from the Titanic.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Titanic’s lifeboats on their way to the Carpathia. Photograph: UniversalImagesGroup/Getty Images

The collection is being sold via direct descendants of the Fenwicks and the photographic negatives included offer a unique snapshot into the rescue, showing the first sightings of the lifeboats, survivors on the Carpathia, their arrival in New York, and even the SS Californian arriving at the scene of the rescue.

The photograph of the SS Californian has been described “one of maritime history’s most dramatic photos”. The story of the Californian is one the most controversial in the tragedy of the Titanic as the captain was blamed for not reacting more quickly to the disaster.

Also being sold as part of the collection is an unpublished account of the rescue of the survivors, written by Fenwick.

The entry for 15 April, hours after the Titanic sank, states: “5am. Awakened by hearing man’s voice Titanic gone down. We are rescuing passengers and are surrounded by icebergs. This is time to be up and doing. Going on deck we found boats at our side, crowded with those rescued, plus other boats coming from all quarters, just beyond and on all sides of us ... were the ’bergs.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest James Fenwick and his wife, Mabel (both on the right), who were on board the SS Carpathia. Items from the Fenwick archive, including the cracker, are also up for auction. Photograph: Henry Aldridge & Son/PA

Fenwick’s log goes on to detail other important events including the Carpathia’s arrival in New York and the disembarkation of the Titanic survivors.

Aldridge added: “The Fenwick archive is arguably the definitive photographic archive of negatives relating to the rescue of the surviving Titanic passengers and crew. The camera the couple were carrying was able to chronicle the momentous events that followed and provide a unique record of the events that unfolded.”