Development of the Lifeboat

Early Claims
A number of claims can be made for the home of the Life-Boat (as old documents spell the word) including Bamburgh and the work there of the Lord Crewe Trust in saving life from shipwrecks, and Lionel Lukin in East Anglia. Indeed, Bamburgh could claim to be the world's first lifeboat station, being set up in 1786. However, even this claim is preceded by Liverpool, where a council minute dated 5th March 1777 refers to a boat which was kept at Formby "in readiness to fetch any shipwrecked persons from the banks", meaning, I presume, the sandbanks off the mouth of the Mersey.

But there is an overwhelming case for priority to be given to that claim presented on behalf of the River Tyne in north-east England. It may not be the earliest lifeboat station but as an applied and effective solution to the problem of saving life from the sea and in its impact on the rest of this country and many others, the Life-Boats of the River Tyne can proudly claim first place.

The Tyne was an extremely busy river in the 1780s with a registered shipping tonnage (around 106,000 tons) which was second only to that of the Thames. In 1787, some 5,000 ships cleared the river, of which 4,400 were in the coastal trade.

The Spur to Action
In the late eighteenth century, the mouth of the River Tyne had no piers and the harbour bar was to be found more or less where the pilot jetty and the east end of the Fish Quay are now situated. At low water, the water was only three feet deep. The wooden sailing vessels of the day could only cross the bar two hours before and after high water. Ships had to wait "in the offing" for these favourable periods. The natural hazards at the river mouth included the Herd Sand and the Black Middens. The former was an area of shallow sand bank which, when subject to onshore gales, would break into a number of smaller banks with relatively deep water between them, while the latter, a vicious reef, still lies on the northern side of the harbour entry, ready to catch vessels blown from the south and east. During such onshore gales, tremendous seas were created and both areas could, after such a blow, be littered with wrecks. The scene at mouth of the Tyne was described by master mariner of the day thus:- "... the entrance into the harbour is very narrow, with dangerous rocks on one side and a steep sand bank on the other, with a hard shoal bar a-cros, where the waves of the sea frequently run very high ..." . Translated into today's terms, this statement meant that, at best, an approaching ship would require the acknowledged skills of a "Tinmouth" pilot, and at worst, would encounter "an unmarked maelstrom of house-high, toppling waves, driving onshore before winter's easterly gales". The miracle seems to be that more ships were not lost in such a dangerous spot.

"The Gentlemen of Lawe House"
In 1789, a group of businessmen who worked with all aspects of shipping, especially the coal trade, met and conducted business at a large house at South Shields. Since it stood on The Lawe, a piece of rising ground overlooking the entrance to the river, the building became known as "Lawe House". A prominent member of this group was Nicholas Fairles and he had been approached by the local seafaring community several times to see whether something could be done to rescue crews from the frequent wrecks at the river mouth.

On 14th March 1789, the brig "Adventure" was wrecked on the Herd Sand, only 50 yards from the shore, and 8 of her crew of 13 were lost. This sad drama was watched by hundreds of people on both banks of the harbour entrance. They were helpless to assist and local cobles, which could keep the sea well enough in such conditions, were quite unable to launch through the present pounding surf. The impact of this wreck and loss of life, together with two others on the same day on the same sandbank, acted as a catalyst on the local community but particularly on Nicholas Fairles to do something about the dangers of the river mouth. Fairles discussed the matter with his colleagues at Lawe House and a committee was formed. They determined to found an institution for "The Preservation of Life from Shipwreck" with Fairles as chairman. Approaching the Brethren of Trinity House, Newcastle for help and advice, they were encouraged to proceed with the promise of full support.

"to preserve the lives of seamen"
The committee placed an advertisement in the Newcastle Courant on Saturday 16th May 1789 offering a reward of two guineas to anyone producing a plan (approved by the committee) "of a Boat, capable of containing twenty four persons, and calculated to go through a very heavy broken sea - the intention of it to preserve the lives of seamen from ships come ashore in hard gales or wind". The committee was to meet to adjudicate on 10th June 1789 and received notice of many entries but only two were seriously submitted. Since neither was entirely satisfactory, the decision was delayed for about 5 weeks, when the submissions from William Wouldhave and Henry Greathead were again considered. Since the prize of two guineas could not be considered vastly generous, even by the standards of the day, Willie Wouldhave (a native of North Shields but now resident in South Shields) was somewhat irate to be offered only one guinea, almost as a consolation prize. He refused the money, claiming that his design would prove the best solution. Wouldhave had, indeed, produced an innovative design which answered most of the questions which were to be asked of any boat which was to operate as a lifesaver in bad weather. The committee, however, felt that a number of improvements could be made and commissioned Mr Greathead to proceed with the construction of a boat along the lines they would indicate.

The Original
Greathead proceeded with the building of a lifeboat as proposed by the committee. Known simply as "Original", the lines of the boat can be seen in this contemporary plan from Falconer's Marine Dictionary. 

Key features are the curved or rocker keel (K),the external cork belting (F) and the internal cork buoyancy (G). While the discussion continues over whose design lay behind the new lifeboat, the resultant shape was considered by local experts to show characteristics of three separate types - the upper part of an East Baltic fishing boat, the stem and stern of a Norway yawl and the bottom of a Shields coble - with the curved keel added as a vital finishing touch. The boat in the next picture was in service at Redcar from 1801 to 1880, saving hundreds of lives. She is still preserved today. Note the similarity to the above plan.

Finally, a portrait of the boat designed and built on the Tyne as seen by its contemporaries.

This painting was by Newcastle artist Joseph Atkinson, with the engraving by Elmes of London. The picture was to be exhibited at the principal sea-ports of Great Britain, as part of a Greathead publicity campaign. Greathead found himself with, for a while, a boom on his hands and was fully occupied for some years. Sadly, interest in lifeboats fell away as war raged through Europe and Greathead, despite strenuous efforts, slid into bankruptcy in 1810. It is thought that he died in 1816, possibly in the London area (his wife died there in 1814).

The Lifeboat Memorial

The wonderful efforts of Greathead would, of course, have meant nothing without the courage and skill of the Tyne pilots who manned his boats in the most appalling conditions. A memorial to the designers and crews of these early lifeboats can be seen in South Shields, at the end of Ocean Road (appropriately overlooking the Herd Sand), together with the preserved hull of a slightly later Shields Life-Boat "Tyne".