Particle.news

Download on the App Store

Herbert Ingram’s 165-Year-Old Watch Returns to Boston Guildhall Museum

The gold timepiece recovered from the Lady Elgin wreck has been placed on display to honor the British journalist’s life and work.

Image
Image
Image
Image

Overview

  • The Lady Elgin steamship sank in Lake Michigan on Sept. 8, 1860, after colliding with a schooner during a storm that claimed over 300 lives.
  • Divers located Herbert Ingram’s 16-carat gold pocket watch on the wreck in 1992, and the lake’s cold, low-oxygen depths preserved it in remarkably good condition.
  • Archaeologist Valerie van Heest acquired the watch in 2024 and donated it to the Boston Guildhall Museum ahead of its planned exhibit on Ingram.
  • On May 24, 2025, local officials and residents gathered for a formal handover and private tribute as the watch was returned to Ingram’s hometown.
  • Herbert Ingram, a pioneering journalist and member of Parliament who died in the disaster, is commemorated by a statue in Boston, Lincolnshire, where the timepiece is now on public view.