Titanic violin to go on display in Belfast

The violin played by the Titanic's bandmaster as the ill-fated liner sank is to go on public display in Belfast - the city where the ship was built.

Wallace Hartley has become part of the ship's legend after leading his fellow musicians in playing as the ship went down, most famously the hymn, Nearer My God To Thee.

Hartley and his seven fellow band members all died in the tragedy in 1912. His violin, which had been a gift from his fiancee Maria Robinson, was apparently found in a case strapped to his body when it was recovered from the icy Atlantic waters.

Its re-emergence in 2006, when it was reportedly discovered in an attic in Yorkshire, prompted heated debate over its authenticity.

Titanic specialist auctioneers Henry Aldridge and Son insist seven subsequent years of research and tests have proved it to be the genuine article.

Now the violin - accompanied by a leather luggage case initialled WHH - is to go on display in Titanic Belfast, the multi-million dollar visitor attraction dedicated to the ship.

It will reside in the centre's replica second-class accommodation suite from September 18 until October 13, 2013 before it goes up for public auction by Aldridge and Son in Wiltshire later that month.