Oscar Scott Woody was onboard the ocean liner when it struck an iceberg late on April 14, 1912, and sank in the early morning hours of the following day.

Woody, a native of Virginia, was a veteran railroad mail clerk and served as postmaster on the Titanic, and he and four other postal workers (William Gwinn, John Marsh, John Smith, and James Williamson) carried several dozens of mailbags to the upper decks in an attempt to save the mail stored in the bags. They had been celebrating Woody's 44th birthday.

The men died in the icy waters of the Atlantic, along with more than 1,500 others. Recovery teams found Woody 10 days later and eventually returned the gold-plated Ingersoll watch (and its chain) and his other remaining possessions to his wife, Leila, a month later.

Devizes auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Sons sold the watch, along with other memorabilia associated with the Titanic. Also sold were a list of first-class passengers, for £41,000 ($48,578); a first-class menu, for £50,000 ($59,242); an an ornate dessert plate, for £20,000 ($23,697).

Auctions of such items by Aldridge & Sons have become commonplace. Two other recent examples:

• A menu from the first meal served aboard the ship sold for £100,000 ($140,000) in 2018.
• The only known letter on Titanic notepaper to have gone into the Atlantic and come back out again sold for £126,000 ($166,363) in 2017.