As I mentioned in yesterday's post, stories abound on the tragedy of the Titanic. Some of the lesser known ones are intriguing.
This vast ocean liner, commissioned and owned by the White Star shipping company, was insured by Lloyd's of London.
It was a grim tradition with Lloyd's (and still is) to toll a bell in the office portico whenever one of their insured vessels sank.
How the bell tolled in April 1912 when news of their greatest ever loss came through by Morse telegraph.
Yet Lloyds should never have been Titanic's insurance agent.
The contract had been formerly offered to the Rothchild Merchant Bank.It seemed to everyone that to insure an unsinkable ship was to take money under false pretences.
Lady Rothchild, the morning the contract was to be signed by Baron Rothchild, was astounded to hear that her husband had declined the opportunity to insure the vessel.
On enquiry she was told that through the night he had felt uneasy about the deal and believed that it was God warning him not to accept the proposal.
Thus it was that the contract was passed on to Lloyds and we know the rest of the story.
For reasons such as this The Rothchild family were and still are the richest family in the world.
Jubilate.
Ian
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