Pocket watch from Titanic

Hans Christensen Givard was a well-travelled bachelor who grabbed the chances that life threw at him. As a result, he enjoyed unique experiences far from Danish shores – as far away as Argentina and America. The eldest son of a family of six children, he grew up on a farm in Kølsen, a village just outside Viborg in Denmark. It was his neighbours who first told him about America, instantly rousing his wanderlust. For 3–4 years, he travelled back and forth between Denmark, Argentina and America.

The encounter with the ship that could not sink

In spring 1912, he was on his way home to Denmark after working for six months on a farm in the Danish colony Tandil, a few hundred kilometres south of Buenos Aires in Argentina. When Givard and his two friends, farm worker Einar Windeløv and blacksmith Martin Ponesell, arrived in Southampton in the south of England on 6 April 1912, everyone was talking about White Star Line’s newest luxury liner “Titanic”, which had just arrived from the shipyard in Belfast and was berthed in Southampton, ready for its maiden voyage across the Atlantic.

The three friends saw an opportunity and took it, changed course and, a few days later, sailed out of Southampton on board Titanic, headed for America. At that time, Givard was a well-dressed young man of 27 who, consistent with his social standing, was travelling second class. When the disaster occurred on the night of 14 April and the Titanic sank, the adventure came to an abrupt end for the three friends. Of the 2,200 passengers on board, only around 700 survived. Givard’s body was recovered from the cold Atlantic and later buried at Fairview Cemetery in Halifax, Canada, on 10 May 1912.

The gilded pocket watch

The mortician’s report gives the following description of Givard:

“No. 305 2nd class passenger. Male, estimated age 36. Very fair hair and moustache. Dark brown striped suit, black overcoat, white shirt labelled ‘D.M.’, no socks, a white shoe and pink underpants.”

In the pockets were found a savings book, some keys, some cash in a wallet, a compass, a passport issued by the Consulate General in Buenos Aires and a home town certificate from Vorde, Fiskbæk and Romlund Parish Municipality issued on 14 August 1911.

The gilded ladies’ pocket watch up for auction was also found in Givard’s pocket and bears traces of salt water corrosion. He was probably given the pocket watch by his mother, to whom he was extremely close. All his belongings left behind after the shipwreck were sent to his brother Hans Christian Christensen Givard in Denmark, and it is his descendants who have now consigned the watch to auction.

The ill-fated story of Hans Christensen Givard directly inspired curator Jesper Hjermind and his niece, journalist and US resident Mette Hjermind McCall, to write the book “Titanic – De Danske Fortællinger” (Titanic – The Danish stories), where the pocket watch is mentioned. It was published on the centenary of the sinking of Titanic this spring. A copy of the book comes with the pocket watch at this autumn’s auction.

The pocket watch derives from the descendants of Hans Christensen Givard, and it was exhibited at “Titanic – The Exhibition” in the H.C. Andersen Castle at Tivoli in Copenhagen earlier this year.

Auction: Wednesday 19 September 4 pm

Preview: 13-17 September

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