THE subscribers and friends of the | At the meeting of the Committee of ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION- Management next following the death will have heard with great regret of Sir Edward Birkbeck, held on the that Sir Edward Birkbeck, who had j 10th September, 1908, the following been the Chairman of the Institution's j resolution was unanimously passed:— Committee of Management for the long | " Resolved,—That the expression of period of twenty-five years, passed away j the deepest regret of the Committee of after a protracted illness on the 2nd September last. Sir Edward, who was Management be recorded on the occasion of the lamented death of Sir Edward remarkable for his business acumen and Birkbeck, Bart., K.C.V.O., who had administrative capacity, first became j been their respected Chairman for connected with the Institution officially ' twenty-five years.

in 1865 as a Vice-President, and as " By the decease of Sir Edward such he was a member of the Committee Birkbeck the Life-boat cause has lost of Management. In 1880 he became an earnest friend and a generous beneone of the three Trustees of the Insti-TION factor, and the Committee of Managetution, which position he held until his ! ment of the Institution desire to express death. In 1881 he was elected Deputy- their deep sympathy with the Honour- Chairman of the Committee of Manage- able Lady Birkbeck and with their ment, and subsequently Chairman on i colleague Mr. Robert Birkbeck and the the resignation of the late Mr. Thomas ! rest of the family.

Chapman, P.R.S., m 1883. j "Sir Edward Birkbeck's connection with the Institution began forty-three years ago, when he was elected a Vice- President, and he had constantly at heart the prosperity of the Institution and the well-being of the gallant crews who man its Life-boats.

" The measures which in the interests of the Institution Sir Edward Birkbeck introduced into Parliament, and by his unremitting energy, perseverance and tact brought to a successful issue, largely contributed to the efficiency of the Life-boat Service and the Institu- tion will ever be indebted to him for his continued and self-sacrificing services." At the meeting of the Committee of Management held on the 8th October, 1908, Colonel FitzRoy Clayton, the senior Member of the Committee of Management, which he joined in 1863, and the Deputy-Chairman since 1883, was with acclamation unanimously elected to the vacant Chairmanship.

Colonel Clayton, who has for so very many years taken an active interest in everything connected with the Institu- tion, has been a Vice-President since 1885, and a Trustee since 1886. Colonel Clayton was also Chairman of the Pre- paratory Committees from 1895 to 1908.

At the same meeting the Earl of Hard- wicke,. who has been a Member of the Committee of Management since 1896, was unanimously elected Deputy-Chair- man. Lord Hardwicke succeeded Sir Edward Birkbeck as Chairman of the Life-boat Saturday Fund in 1905. It is interesting to note that Lord Hard- wicke's father, the fourth Earl of Hardwicke, was for very many years an active Member of the Committee of Management, and when he died in 1873 was a Vice-President of the Institution.