Since ancient times, Britain’s commerce and defence have depended on the sea. But our treacherous waters exacted a terrific toll of ships, cargoes, mariners and passengers annually. Victims often lost their lives within sight of shore, either because they could not be reached in time, or because no vessel was strong enough to reach them safely.

The late 18th century witnessed the earliest recorded attempts at organized rescue efforts. At Formby, Lancashire, a boat was kept on shore specifically to aid shipwrecked persons as early as 1776. The notoriously dangerous Mersey estuary had shifting sandbanks, and the Liverpool Dock Trustees eventually founded several coastal lifeboat stations. The sailors manning the boats were rewarded for every life saved.

Obviously if a lifeboat was swamped by waves, rescuers could drown with the people they were trying to save. A self-righting boat was needed. Lionel Lukin, a native of Dunmow, designed the first ‘unimmergible’ life-boat, as he called it. Lionel added extra buoyancy and other innovations to an adapted Norway yawl, which he tested on the River Thames. Lukin patented his design on 2 November 1785, but struggled to get his lifeboat widely used despite the Prince of Wales’ patronage.

Meanwhile, a shipping tragedy on the Tyne sparked a competition in 1789 for a new lifeboat. The result was a self-righting design combining ideas by a local boat-builder, Henry Greathead, and William Wouldhave. Two years later, this self-righting boat, built by Greathead, saved the crew of a brig stranded at the Tyne’s entrance. By 1802, 200 lives had been saved on the Tyne alone.

The Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck was founded by Sir William Hillary in 1824. Hillary, who lived on the Isle of Man, had personally witnessed several shipwrecks in Douglas Bay. He had helped save some victims, so knew the risks involved.

After unsuccessfully lobbying the government, Hillary held a public meeting in London to organise a charitable body to raise funds for life-saving equipment. Several businessmen, merchants, and philanthropists got involved, and George IV gave the charity his blessing. The Institution’s original aims were to take all ‘practical means’ to save lives at sea; to reward ‘those who preserve their fellow-creatures from destruction’; and relieve the ‘destitute families’ of men who died during rescues (Richard Lewis, History of the Lifeboat, Macmillan and Co, 1874).

During the 1820s, other important safety advances were made. Captain Manby’s mortar (small cannon) could fire a lifeline to a shipwrecked vessel offshore, to enable victims to reach land. John Dennett of Newport invented a rocket which performed a similar task, but was lighter and easier for rescuers to carry. The Institution initially funded several rockets and mortars for the UK coastline.

Lifeboat crews took their lives into their hands whenever they answered a callout. Not all lifeboats were fully ‘self-righting’, and they were wooden, so they risked damage when being smashed into rocks by angry waves.

When the Shields lifeboat, Providence, capsized in December 1849, 20 men were lost – a great loss to seafarers as the victims were the best pilots on the Tyne. In the wake of this appalling tragedy, in October 1851 the Duke of Northumberland offered a 100-guinea reward for the best lifeboat design, won by James Beeching, a Yarmouth boat-builder.

That year, a review of lifeboat provision around the UK’s coast found that many places were still unprotected. The coastline of England and Wales had 75 lifeboats, but some were ‘unserviceable’ and in a ‘very defective state’. Scotland only had 8 lifeboats for 1500 miles of coastline, and Orkney and Shetland had no lifeboats at all (Report of the Committee appointed to examine the Life-boat Models submitted, etc, London, 1851).

In 1854 the charity’s name was changed to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). The Institution redoubled its campaign for more funding and better lifeboat provision. That year, the government boosted Britain’s coastal lifesaving capability with the Merchant Shipping Act. The Board of Trade used the Mercantile Marine Fund to maintain some lifeboats, crews, and lifesaving equipment.

By 1861, the National Lifeboat Institution had 120 lifeboats, and there were also 59 lifeboats funded by other sources (Annual Register, January 1862). Later that decade, however, increasing bureaucracy led the RNLI to decline further government funding and rely solely on the public’s generosity.

Early lifeboat crews wore heavy, cumbersome lifejackets filled with ballast. In 1854 the first cork lifejackets (invented by RNLI inspector Captain Ward) were issued, but not all crewmen liked wearing them. Thirteen men perished in January 1857 when the Point of Ayr lifeboat (Flintshire) capsized; none of the crew were wearing cork lifejackets.

Then in February 1861, the Whitby lifeboat capsized in atrocious weather while attempting to rescue the crew of Merchant, a coal-vessel. Twelve of the lifeboat’s 13 volunteers died. The sole survivor – Henry Freeman –– was the only one wearing a cork lifejacket (see https://rnli.org/about-us/our-history/timeline/1861-whitby-lifeboat-disaster).

Lifeboat designs greatly improved over the years. The first steam-powered lifeboat entered service in 1880, and the first petrol-engine lifeboat in 1905. From the 1920s, caterpillar tractors and electric winches replaced the horses formerly used to move and launch lifeboats (although at some stations, women helped launch the boats).

Over 140,000 people have been saved by the RNLI over the course of its history (see https://rnli.org/about-us/our-history/timeline). February 1907 saw the RNLI’s biggest ever rescue when 456 passengers and crew were saved by several lifeboats after the SS Suevic ran aground off Cornwall.

Despite these technical innovations, the sheer ferocity of the sea, and RNLI crews’ willingness to turn out in all weathers, led to disaster in December 1981. All eight crew-men of the Penlee lifeboat, the Solomon Browne, perished trying to save the passengers and crew of the Union Star cargo-ship.

The first inflatable inshore lifeboats appeared in the early 1960s, making it easier for crews to reach casualties at risk near cliffs or trapped in coastal caves. Regular lifeboat crews were all-male until 1969, when 18-year-old Elizabeth Hostvedt became the first female crew-member trained to command an inshore lifeboat. Over 20 women have been awarded RNLI medals for gallantry, and many lifeboat stations now have women crew-members.

Crews are often a family affair: fathers and sons, mothers and daughters.

The RNLI still depends on the efforts of volunteers. It receives no government funding, and relies on public donations (see https://rnli.org/support-us/give-money/donate ).

Trace your lifeboat ancestors
The RNLI Archives and Library at Poole (see box) holds records from the Institution’s foundation in 1824 to the present day. Collections include founder Sir William Hillary’s papers, RNLI Committee Minutes, Gallantry Medal information, returns of service from lifeboat launches, press cuttings, photographs, publications, etc.

Historic collections at Poole also include medals and certificates, model lifeboats and technical plans, fundraising memorabilia, lifesaving equipment, and more. Researchers can access the collections by appointment, https://rnli.org/about-us/our-history/contact-our-heritage-team .

Some crew records survive, but were consistently recorded from the 1960s. Station records are usually kept at the original lifeboat station. The Heritage team at Poole are happy to check their records to answer family history queries; contact by email, [email protected]. (You may wish to make a donation to cover costs). The Poole archive does not hold records for independently-funded lifeboat stations.

One of the best family history resources is the RNLI’s journal, The Life-Boat, first launched in March 1852. The magazine reported committee meetings, rescues, gallantry awards, etc., and

is searchable online, lifeboatmagazinearchive.rnli.org/. Some digital copies are available free on Google Books.

Official records may prove useful for lifeboat history. Ministry of Transport/Board of Trade records held at The National Archives, Kew, include wreck returns, correspondence with the RNLI regarding lifeboat stations, and casualties sustained by their vessels. See Series BT and also MT9, discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C11059 .

Local record offices may hold RNLI branch records including correspondence, financial records, and details of rescues. Local archives may have photos of lifeboats, and plans of lifeboat stations. Historic newspapers regularly reported rescues, and may include stories about awards for gallantry.

Visit your local lifeboat station to see displays about historic rescues, crew members, and medals awarded. See Barry Cox, Lifeboat Gallantry: The Complete Record of Royal National Lifeboat Institution Gallantry Medals and How They Were Won 1824–1996 (Spink & Son, 1998), and Karen Farrington and Nick Constable, Mayday! Mayday! The History of Sea Rescue Around Britain’s Coastal Waters (Collins, 2011).

The RNLI Memorial Sculpture at Poole, Dorset, commemorates all crew who have lost their lives saving others, rnli.org/about-us/our-history/rnli-memorial. There’s a full list of crew remembered here, rnli.org/about-us/our-history/rnli-memorial/Names .