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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.

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.