Titanic artifact collector Denis Cochrane of London, Eng., is shown Tuesday afternoon atop Signal Hill with some artifacts he collected on his recent visit to St. John's. (Photo: By JOE GIBBONS/The Telegram)

By Stavroula Meditskos
Special to The Telegram

A life-jacket. A book of poems written by E.J. Pratt in 1935. Perfume vials. Photos, letters and a menu.

They sound like contents of an old chest stored up in someone’s attic, but to Denis Cochrane, they are the results of a lifetime of work. To the rest of the world, they are reminders of one of the worst disasters in history.

They are what Cochrane, a professional collector of Titanic artifacts, has spent years travelling the world searching for. The the 53-year-old is in St. John’s this week looking for more buried treasures.

“What I’m looking for is anyone who thinks they may have a piece or anything to do with the White Star Line, and I just want to put all this stuff together. It’s kind of a drive inside me,” he said.

Cochrane, a former private school and choir teacher from Dundee, Scotland, acted as the historical adviser on the Akademik Mstislav Keldysh, a Russian vessel used to search for Titanic pieces last year sailing out of St. John’s. The ship arrived in St. John’s for this year’s expedition Tuesday afternoon.

Cochrane won’t be on the ship this year, but until Friday, he’ll be wandering the streets of St. John’s in search of old photos and books that endured the sinking. He wants to add new pieces to his collection, which is featured at a permanent exhibition at the Titanic Museum in Orlando.

Cochrane said the last time he was here, he found a teacup that was used on the ship. He also found a book of poems written in 1935 by Newfoundlander E.J. Pratt in a Duckworth St. bookstore. He bought it because of a poem called The Titanic.

“I also have a life-jacket, one of only nine in the world,” he said.

The life-jacket, Cochrane’s favourite item, was found in Nova Scotia and has been appraised for $750,000 U.S. He also has a menu from the Titanic dated April 14 — the day of the ship’s last supper.

His most surprising find, he said, was a set of perfume vials that he found on last year’s expedition. The 16 vials, which had been sitting at the bottom of the ocean for 89 years, still had their scent intact and belonged to a first-class passenger named Adolph Saalfeld.

“When we got it in the laboratory, the whole place was pervaded with this absolutely superb smell,” he said.

Cochrane and his team of researchers decided to rebuild Saalfeld’s life. They found out that he died in the wreck, where he was buried, his will and a picture of him. Cochrane called the discovery the highlight of his career.

“That is just so exciting that we can bring Mr. Saalfeld back to life again through his perfumes. I think that’s one of the most wonderful things that’s happened.”

Cochrane said that the infamous necklace worn by Kate Winslet in Hollywood’s adaptation of the Titanic story actually exists.

“The story was altered but there is an actual necklace, there was a very tiny diamond in it,” he said.

“This chappy was running away with his lover; he was from Northern England and they met in Southampton and ran away on the ship. As she was being lowered in the lifeboat, he put this little diamond around her neck. They weren’t married and their child was conceived on board the ship, and she’s now alive and she has the necklace. She lives in England.”

Cochrane, who describes the Titanic’s site as “a sudden vision before one’s eyes,” and says the bow looks like it’s ready to go, says he doesn’t plan on selling his artifacts.

“I want to have a permanent museum in London with the artifacts, so all these pieces must be kept together. My goal is to get all this stuff together, because people obviously want to see these things.”

He added that if anyone does have any artifacts, they shouldn’t be concerned abut being scammed because he only wants to preserve history.

“I’m not interested in stealing stuff from Nova Scotia or Newfoundland. All I’m interested in is amassing this stuff together so that long after I’m dead, the collection will still be together and people can still come and see all this wonderful stuff in once place. I just want to preserve it so that it’s always available for centuries to come,” he said.

“We don’t go pillaging and we do not go graverobbing. We go down there with a sacred reverence because we want to preserve these wonderful pieces for everyone to see in the future.”

Anyone interested in selling artifacts to Cochrane can contact him at denis_cochrane@hotmail.com.

Source: The Telegram