A letter from a first-class passenger on board the ill-fated Titanic has been sold at auction for £55,000, a record price for a piece of written correspondence from the ship.

The letter, written by Adolphe Saafeld and addressed to his "wifey." was written five days before the ship sank on April 15, 1912, and gives an insight into life on the maiden voyage of the Titanic.

It was one of 350 lots of White Star Line memorabilia sold on Saturday by Henry Aldridge and Son auctioneers in the U.K.