A ticket from the personal weighing machine that perished onboard the Titanic has been found in the archive at Avery Historical Museum in Birmingham.
Based at Soho Foundry in Birmingham, the Avery Historical Museum was opened in 1927 to house the historical archives of weighing company W&T Avery, now Avery Weigh-Tronix.
Over the years, the museum’s collection has expanded to feature a comprehensive collection of artefacts which chart the history of weighing, as well as relics from the famous Boulton and Watt Foundry which previously occupied the same site.
Already well-known to local Titanic enthusiasts, the links between the famous ill-fated liner and W&T Avery are numerous. The firm’s managing director William E. Hipkins died on the ship and the company supplied weighing equipment to the ship’s mail room.
In 1911, Henry Pooley & Son –a Birmingham firm which was later acquired by W&T Avery- supplied a weighing machine to the Titanic and its sister ship Olympic for use in the Turkish Baths. The machines took the weight of the user and stamped it onto a small ticket.
During research into the weighing equipment used on board the ship, Curator of the Avery Historical Museum and noted expert on all things relating to the Titanic, Andrew Lound, discovered an original weighing ticket from the Titanic’s weighing machine.
Andrew commented on the discovery, “It is an absolutely incredible find. A perfect weigh ticket which bears the name of the legendary ship! It was a common occurrence for people on board to weigh themselves and keep a ticket – yet few tickets have survived.”
The weighing machine was based on Pooley’s model S133 with special decoration to match the luxurious Turkish Bath. The ticket in question was taken by the Pooley mechanic who first installed and calibrated the machine. Pooley’s were bought out by Avery’s in 1914.
The Avery Historical Museum is open by appointment only. To book a visit, please contact curator Andrew Lound [email protected] or 0121 568 1667. Alternatively, for more information, visit the museum’s about us page at www.averyweigh-tronix.com/
