I WAS delighted to read of the forthcoming honour to Sir Arthur Rostron, hero of the Titanic rescue.

A book was written by Sir James Bissett, then second officer on the rescue ship SS Carpathia, from notes he made about the disaster, which few others could have reliably described. He gives a true picture of his Captain, Arthur Rostron, as "a great seaman, with dynamic qualities, one of the greatest merchant sea captains of his time," and, later to become Commandore of the Cunard fleet.

The American Congressional Medal of Honour was bestowed on him, along with the Freedom of New York, and also a plaque was made of his head and placed in the Hall of Fame, in New York City Hall.

Thanks to the help of Chris Gregory and the Bolton Civic Trust, we are to honour Sir Arthur Rostron in his home town of Bolton.

His parents are buried at St Peter's Parish Church, Belmont, along with my great grandmother - his aunt - and other members of the Lever family, who were cousins of the first Lord Leverhulme.

I would be most interested to hear from anyone still living in Bolton with any family connections. Meanwhile, I can only echo the sentiments of Derek Mills of the Civic Trust - without the actions of Sir Captain Arthur Rostron, it's almost certain there would not have been any survivors from the Titanic.

Our tribute to this exceptional son of Bolton is well overdue.

Mrs S V Gaskell

Darwen Road, Bromley Cross

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.