PICTURED is a unique piece of Titanic history -- a Christmas card sent by the tragic liner's heroic bandmaster Wallace Hartley to a Red Cross nurse.

The card, which was written between 1905 and 1911, is expected to raise up to £600 when it goes under the hammer at Christie's in London on May 11.

It was unearthed as part of an autograph book belonging to a nurse called Gladys Williams, who is believed to have tended the Colne-born musician when he was ill.

It is not clear where the two met or how the festive card came to be discovered.

Christie's said there was a lot of interest in Titanic memorabilia and it expected bidding for the card to be brisk.

Mr Hartley, who is buried in Colne Cemetery, travelled all over the country in his role as a violinist and band leader.

He and his band played dance music to calm passengers, then according to Titanic legend played Nearer My God To Thee, as the doomed liner sank in the North Atlantic in April 1912.

Hartley and his players all died, but his body was found and sent home for burial in Colne, when thousands lined the streets.

Interest in Hartley was revived after the 1998 blockbuster movie Titanic repeated the story.

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