text: An astonishing letter from the Titanic's owners to the family of a dead officer asking for a huge sum of money to return his dead body to England has been uncovered 103 years on from the tragedy. The letter, dated May 7, 1912, was sent from White Star Lines to Christopher Moody, the brother of 24-year-old officer James Moody, who died after the Titanic hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage. In it, company bosses demand £20 - the equivalent of £2,000 in today's money - to return his body to England, and state that Christopher Moody will have to pick up the tab from there. Scroll down for video . Bosses from Ismay Imrie & Co, co-owners of White Star Lines, wrote this letter to the family of officer James Moody who died on board the Titanic, telling them his body could be returned - but only for a price . The letter asks for £20, almost £2,000 in today's money, to have Mr Moody's remains sent to his home in Scarborough, and say it will be the family's job to pay for him to be transported to the morgue and for burial . The letter, from bosses at Ismay Imrie & Co, the parent company of White Star Line, read: 'We have your further letter of the 6th instant, and while we will be prepared to transport the remains of your brother across the Atlantic to either Liverpool or Southampton we regret that it is not possible for us to do any more. 'Should you after further consideration desire the remains of your Brother to be returned will you kindly telegraph us in the morning at the same time sending us a deposit of £20 for any expenses and land charges on the other Side and we will at once cable New York asking then to arrange this if practicable. James Moody was born in Scarborough in 1887, the son of John Henry Moody, a twon councillor, and Evelyn Louise Lammin. Privately schooled, he was sent away to King Edward VII Nautical School in London where he graduated with a masters in 1911. He went straight into service as an officer, first working on the Titanic's sister ship the Oceanic, before transferring to her ill-fated relative in 1912, then aged 24. Serving as the vessel's sixth junior officer, he set sail on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York on April 14, 1912, along with 2,224 passengers and crew. Two days later, as the boat was passing through the northern Atlantic, Moody was on night watch when he received a call from one of the lookouts at 11.40pm. 'What do you see?' Moody asked. The man replied: 'Iceberg, right ahead!' After the collision, Moody was seen on deck all night, helping passengers into the lifeboats, and declining to go himself, despite all his junior officer colleagues escaping. He was last seen shortly before 2.20am, when the boat finally slipped under, still trying to launch more lifeboats. Today there is a memorial to him in Scarborough, with the inscription: 'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.' 'We also think it right to point out that the arrangements and expenses for taking charge of the remains after arrival of the steamer at Liverpool or Southampton would be on your account.' Instead, the company suggests that Mr Moody's remains be buried in Halifax with the other survivors, but they offer to send his family 'a photograph of the tombstone', if they want one. Even more shocking is the fact that Mr Moody's body had not been recovered by the time the letter was sent, and bosses would have known that, as all remains were cataloged. The remains of Mr Moody, who was on watch when the ship struck the iceberg and later helped passengers into the lifeboats while declining a space for himself, have never been found. Mr Moody was among the 1,500 passengers and crew to die aboard the Titanic when it sank in the north Atlantic on April 14 1912, two days into her maiden voyage. He had been serving as the Titanic's sixth officer, and was the only junior officer to perish after staying behind to help evacuate the passengers after the other officers left. Born in Scarborough in 1887 to John Henry Moody, a town councillor, and Evelyn Louise Lammin, James was privately educated before being sent to King Edward VII Nautical School in London. He passed his masters exams there in 1911 before becoming an officer. He was originally stationed on the Oceanic, the Titanic's sister ship, but transferred just months before the disaster in 1912. The letter has come to light after being listed for auction by a collector who acquired it directly from Moody's family. Experts at Henry Aldridge and Son of Devizes, Wiltshire, have described the two-page letter as 'beyond comprehension' and say it could make £25,000 when it goes under the hammer. Mr Moody (front left), 24, was the Titanic's sixth officer, and the only junior officer to die on board while helping passengers into the lifeboats, long after his colleagues had abandoned ship . The Titanic (pictured), sank on April 14, 1912, on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, after colliding with an iceberg in the northern Atlantic . Andrew Aldridge, from the auctioneers, said: 'White Star Line is asking for £20, which was a colossal amount of money in 1912, for the return of the body of one of their own officers. 'The mere concept of requiring payment for the return of the body of anyone who died on Titanic - let alone one of the ship's officers - is just beyond comprehension. 'It is an horrific act on the part of White Star. You can't imagine how Christopher Moody must have felt to have been greeted with a letter like this when he was grieving for the loss of his brother. 'What's more, the £20 White Star were asking for did not cover getting the body home or to the undertakers once it arrived in England. 'But where this letter is most shocking is the fact that Moody's body had not been - and never was - recovered in the aftermath. 'When this letter was sent the recovery ships had already arrived in New York and the bodies they had found had been identified and catalogued. 'You would like to think the sending of this letter was an administrative error but it's open to a lot of interpretation. 'The implications are huge - how many families of the deceased did White Star ask for payment from? 'James Moody was an incredibly brave man, helping to get passengers into liferafts and choosing to stay with the ship until the bitter end. 'It appears that White Star treated his body as a commodity, which callous in the extreme.' RMS Titanic sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, UK to New York City, US. More than 1,500 people died when the ship sank carrying 2,224 passengers and crew under the command of Edward Smith. Some of the wealthiest people in the world were onboard the ship, including property tycoon John Jacob Astor IV, great grandson of John Jacob Astor, founder of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Millionaire Benjamin Guggenheim, heir to his family’s mining business, also perished, along with Isidor Straus, the German-born co-owner of Mancy's department store. The ship was the largest afloat at the time and was designed in such a way that it was meant to be 'unsinkable'. It had an on-board gym, libraries, pool as well as several restaurants and luxury first class cabins. There were not enough lifeboats on board for all the passengers due to out-of-date maritime safety regulations. After leaving Southampton on 10 April 1912, Titanic called at Cherbourg in France and Queenstown in Ireland before heading to New York. On 14 April 1912, four days into the crossing she hit an iceberg at 11:40pm ship's time. James Moody was on night watch when the collision happened, and took the call from the watchman, asking him 'what do you see?', the man responded: 'Iceberg, dead ahead.' By 2.20am, with hundreds of people still on board, the ship plunged beneath the waves, taking many, including Moody, with it. Despite repeated distress calls being sent out, and flares launched from the decks, the first ship arrived nearly two hours later, pulling 710 people from the water. It was not until 73 years later that the wreck of the ship was discovered on the ocean floor.
target: James Moody, 24, officer on the Titanic, died helping passengers escape .
  Brother Christopher wrote to ship's owners asking for body to be returned .
  Was sent a reply asking for £20, or £2,000 in today's money, to comply .
  Instead bosses offered brother a picture of his headstone overseas .