PRINCESS ALICE STEAMER INTEREST. A RARE SET OF THREE VICTORIAN TREEN SNUFF SHOES DATED '1878' AND '1879' each with brass tack inlay and buttons, two of double snuff box form with hinged tops and heels, the sole of one inlaid with initials 'I.M.O.P. A. 3. 9. 78', in memory of the Princess Alice Steamer tragedy, one heel dated '1878', one other '1879', one of the snuff shoes containing a newspaper cutting, inscribed 'The Last Survivor Mrs Emma Webb, buried to-day at Manor Park is believed to be the sole survivor of the Princess Alice steamer disaster in the Thames 1878....' (3) 8.5cm high, 10.7cm long (max) Provenance 'A Lifetime of Collecting' - The Property of a Gentleman. Catalogue Note By the late 19th century the river Thames had become increasingly busy with hundreds of vessels vying for space with no precise 'rules of the road'. Such confusion inevitably led to tragedy. On the 3rd September 1878 the paddle steamer Princess Alice sank after a needless collision in Galleons Reach, more than 600 people lost their lives in what is still the worst ever disaster on a British waterway. The present lot was presumably made to commemorate the disaster and were possibly acquired by the Webb family.