LIFEBOAT MAGAZINE ARCHIVE

Advanced search

Additional Stations and New Life-Boats

TROON, N.B.—This seaport town in Ayrshire having been suggested to the Institution as a desirable station for a Life- boat, and local co-operation having been afforded to the proposed undertaking, such a lx).it has accordingly been placed there in a neat and substantial house, on a site granted by the DUKE OF PORTLAND, to whom the harbour of Troon belongs. The boat is 32 feet long, 7i feet wide, rows 10 oars, double-banked, and is furnished with a transporting-carriage. The expense of the same has been met by Mrs. SINCLAIR, of Greenock, in memory of her late daughter, after whom the boat is named the Mary Sinclair. It was taken to Greenock en route to its station in January, 1871, for exhibition, and after being drawn through the principal streets, it was placed in the square, where it was visited by great numbers of people. Two days afterwards the boat was publicly launched for the first time at its station, with the usual ceremonies, after being taken through the town in procession, accompanied by the Freemasons, Oddfellows, and other bodies, a great amount of enthusiasm being dis- played. It should be added that the Glasgow and South-Western Railway Company most readily granted this Life-boat and carriage a free conveyance over their line from Carlisle to Greenock and thence to Troon.

BANFF, N.B.—The boat on this station was found to be unfit for further service, and it has therefore been replaced by a , new Life-boat 32 feet long, 7 A feet wide, and pulling 10 oars double-banked. The first boat was the gift to the Society of I Messrs. MACFIE and SONS of Liverpool; ! and it had, happily, been instrumental on ! different occasions in saving fifteen lives ; from Shipwrecks, the last service having | been performed at much risk, the day . before the boat was removed from its ! station.

The expense of the new Life-boat, which is named the Join and Sanih, lias been presented to the Institution by JOHN E. LIGHTFOOT, Esq., of Accrington. The i boat was taken to its station by railway, the Great North of Scotland Railway ' Company readily granting it a free conveyance over their line between Aberdeen and Macduff; and the boat had a public reception on reaching its destination, being ' taken in procession through the streets of Macduff and Banff, with the crew on board.

PAKEFIELD, SUFFOLK.—The NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION has forwarded to ; Pakefield, on the coast of Suffolk, a new I surf Life-boat. It is 30 feet long, 9 feet ; wide, and rows 1'2 oars, double banked.

! The boat has been supplied at the request of the beachmen, who were desirous to • have such a one in addition to the large sailing Life-boat already on that station.

The expense of the boat has been defrayed from a legacy bequeathed to the Institution; and at the request of the benefactor, it is named the Henry Burford, B.N.

It is provided with a transporting and launching-carriage, and a new and commodious boat-house has also been prepared for it. The boat was publicly named and launched at its station on the 18th January, 1871, tinder the superintendence of Capt. J. E. WARD, E.N., the Inspector of Life-boats to the NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION.

BUCKIE, N.B.—The small Life-boat at this place has been replaced by a new and larger 10-oared boat, 33 feet long, which was considered to be more suitable to the locality than the former boat. The new Life-boat is provided with a carriage, and the expense of the boat and equipment was met from a legacy left to the Society by the late JAMES STURM, Esq., of Holborn, after whom the boat is named.

The Caledonian and Great North of Scotland railway Companies readily gave the Life-boat a free conveyance over their lines to its station last January; and when it reached there a gratifying inauguration of the new station took place, the inhabitants, to the number of 3,000, marching out of the town in procession, headed by two bands, to meet the boat —which was brought in from Portsoy by horses and drivers, kindly lent for the occasion by Capt. HECTOR, of Hilton.

The coxswain and crew have since ex- pressed themselves as much pleased with their new Life-boat.

MORTE, NORTH DEVON.—The NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION has founded a Life-boat station in Morte Bay, six miles from Ilfracombe, its attention having been called by gentlemen resident in the locality to the desirability of putting a Life-boat there, several wrecks having occurred from time to time with loss of life, and local co-operation being readily offered to the undertaking. A peculiar feature of this Life-boat establishment is, that, at present, there is not a sufficient number of competent men on the spot to form a crew to man the boat; but it has been arranged that the coxswain and crew of the Ilfracombe Life-boat should also work this boat, they being conveyed to Morte in an omnibus or other vehicle, on intimation of their services being required. The Life-boat house has been erected on a good site of ground granted by Sir BRUCE CHICHESTER, Bart. The boat, on its carriage, can be taken to any part of the bay, where it can best be launched when needed. A very heavy sea is encountered here, and a boat 33 feet in width, having 8 feet beam, and rowing 10 oars doubled banked, has been provided. Its cost will be presented to the Society by ship-masters of the Port of Bristol, in the African trade, through Capt. E. F. EDGELL, of Bristol; and at the request of the donors the boat has been named the Jack-a-Jack, after a place on the African coast so styled. It was taken by railway to Bristol, en route to its station; and on Saturday, the llth March last, it was, under the superintendance of the Inspector of Life-boats, drawn through the streets of that city on its carriage, in a long procession, consisting of the Shipmasters, the Coastguard, a large body of Naval Eeserve men, and one thousand Volunteer Riflemen, Artillery, and Engineers, five or six bands of music, &c. The boat and carriage were drawn by eight fine horses, lent for the occasion, and the boat was manned by a crew of Naval Reserve men, wearing the cork life- belts. An immense crowd, numbering at least 60,000 or 70,000 persons, lined the streets along which the boat passed, and most of the windows of the houses were thronged by women and children. Having arrived at the Zoological Gardens at Clif- ton, the Life-boat was publicly presented to the Institution, then named by Miss LUCAS, and launched into the Ornamental Water, amidst the cheers of the multitude present, a salute from the guns of the Volunteer Artillery, and the music of the bands, all passing off in the best manner.

In the evening the Bristol Histrionic Club, who had themselves presented a Life-boat —that at Lossiemouth—to the Institution, kindly gave a performance at one of the theatres on behalf of the Life-boat fund. Subsequently the boat was towed to Ilfracombe by a steamer, the carriage being conveyed on board that vessel; and on the 17th March it was taken to its station, accompanied by G. N. MAULE, Esq., Capt. ALDRIDGE, E.N., and NATHANIEL VYE, Esq., J.P., of the Ilfracombe Life-boat Committee, and others. A con- siderable crowd, considering the purely agricultural character of the locality, as- sembled to welcome the boat and witness its first launch at its station, this being successfully accomplished.