THREE greetings cards sent by Colne's famous son Wallace Hartley to a female friend went under the hammer at an auction in Knutsford and were sold for a total of £2,310.

The birthday, New Year and Christmas cards were sent by the Titanic bandmaster who played until the ship sank to a Red Cross nurse called Gladys Williams and were from a collection owned by the nurse's granddaughter.

The birthday and Christmas cards were bought for £780 each and the New Year card for £750 at Marshalls Auction House -- and are all thought to be set for a return to the Lancashire area, including Colne.

But it is not the first time the Wallace memorabilia has sold for a high price.

Colne postman Geoff Crambie secretly bid £1,762 for a Christmas card also sent to the nurse by Wallace in 1911, at an auction at Christies in May last year.

This was Wallace's last Christmas before the Titanic sank.

Darran Ward, of Colne Library and an expert on Wallace and the Titanic, also bid £400 for the card at Christie's in the hope of bringing it back to Colne Library.

He was delighted to hear of more items linked to Wallace Hartley had come to light.

He said: "We don't know who Gladys Williams was.

"I think he was probably just good friends with her and the cards were just a token of his appreciation for her.

"It is believed she may have nursed him back to health between 1905 and 1911.

"He was engaged and had planned to leave the sea to be married in the June after the Titanic sank.

"These things keep coming out of the woodwork and there could well be others.

"I've never been able to find out if she ever sent him anything and there could be items all over from his travels."