I REGRET that for many of the earlier years the Southwold Records are but scanty, and it is with some difficulty that I have been able to extract the facts now detailed from such books and documents as have come down to me.

I sincerely trust that my successors will realize the great value of full and authentic accounts of proceedings and services connected with the Life-boats, so that the next traveller in the paths of local history may be able to do more justice to his theme.

The type of Life-boat most before the public eye around the coast, and in pictures and photographs, is the selfrighting boat, with its high air-cases at the ends, low waist, and narrow section, and the popular idea of a service is one far as seventy miles from home with vessels in want of assistance.

The Southwold Life-boat Society was formed at a meeting convened by the following announcement:— " The expediency of a Life-boat at the Port of Southwold having been made obvious, not only by frequent Wrecks on the Barnard Sand, of vessels to which no assistance can be given by the Pakefield or Lowestoft Life-boat, when the tide is ebbing and the wind adverse, but also by the recent loss of several lives from a vessel which foundered between Walberswick and Dunwich, a general meeting of the inhabitants of Southwold, and of the nobility, gentry, and others in its vicinity, will be held at the Town Hall on Friday, the 18th of December instant, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, to take into consideration the means to be adopted to establish a Life-boat at the said Port.

The Right Honourable the Earl of Stradof these Life-boats being rowed against j oke has obligingly consented to take the waves which fully justify the fishermen's somewhat exaggerated phrase, " steeple deep." The self-righting boats have never enjoyed the confidence of the Solemen, who, after generations of bold work in their great beach yawls, prefer a big, uu™ g u «Co ,x jro, , ~- V*' Robert Wake, who was beamy, heavily ballasted sailing-boat, , J* _'_ Mnrf rigged just like their own fishing punts, and with large sails, capable of driving them long distances to outlying sands, and in boats of this class the Southwold Life-boatmen have been away two or three days at times, and have gone as * This article is abridged from the fuller account given in Mr. Cooper's pamphlet " Seventy Years' Work of the Southwold Lifeboats," price Is., which we heartily recommend to our readers and to other Station Hon. Secretaries who may be led to follow his example in compiling a history of their station.

Mr. Cooper, who has been Hon. Secretary since 1900, is Town Clerk of Southwold, has been Fire Brigade officer for twenty-two years, is at present Major in command of the 3rd Battalion Chair.

" Southwold, 12th December, 1840." i At that meeting a start was made, Mr. Jas. Jermyn being appointed Secretary, and a subscription list was j drawn up, the first Chairman to sign i the minutes of the new society being Dr.

en Mayor, and had the year before published his contribution to local history, " Southwold and its Vicinity, Ancient and Modern." The sum of £385 Is. 2 Z. was eventually raised, but without waiting for all the necessary funds, the Society at once ordered a Life-boat to be built by Teasdel, of Yarmouth. This boat was delivered in 1841, and was 40 feet long, adapted for both rowing and sailing, and cost £320.* The total cost of boat, house, and outfit was just upon £400, so that, as is usual with charitable institutions even to this day, the Society started in debt.

This first boat was called the Solebay, but it appears that her establishment Suffolk Volunteer Regiment and , holds some ten other offices. He received the j was not altogether approved of, for in Medaille de Sauvetage from the French ' March, 1842, the haul-off warp was cut, Government for his services in connexion with jas the bm offering £10 reward states, Life-boat work. Mr. Cooper is, thus, a shining : „ , ., ,. ° , „ example of the type of men whom the Institu I bJ some evl1 disposed person, tion is fortunate enough to secure as Hon. j At first there were no means what- Secretaries of its stations and other branches, j ever of remunerating the men for any The fact is a tribute both to the fine public spirit of such men and to the attraction which the noble Life-boat Service exercises on them.

* The cost of a Norfolk and Suffolk boat to-day is about £2,400.—ED.services rendered, and the Rev. Henry Uhthoff, an old inhabitant of Southwold.

and a member of the Committee, came forward with the following generous offer:— " South-wold, "October llth, 1844.

" I hereby pledge myself to pay to the crew of the Southwold Life-boat £5 upon their bringing in safety the first man they shall have actually saved by their exertions and services from admitted danger of otherwise perishing at sea by shipwreck.

" HENEY UHTHOFF." The first entry relating to a service is on the 21st .November, 1844 ; no particulars of this wreck are recorded, but from an old subscription list I give the details of a service on the 1st July, 1845:— " Several trawl boats had put to sea before daybreak for the purpose of catching soles.

A violent storm came on from the S.W. which compelled them to make for home, but the sea came on so fast and had become so turbulent that it was impossible for many of them to reach the strand. Robert English, with his two sons, in their punt, attempted to beach his boat, but in so doing the boat was driven on a sandbank and upset. The sous of English were drowned, but the father seized two oars, with which he supported himself, and was then carried by the tide to sea. This occurred about 11 A.M., and was beheld by a great number of the visitors and inhabitants; English was occasionally seen in his awful situation by persons on the cliff, but at every moment was thought to be lost.

The other trawl boat, the Dart, was however running from the southward before the wind, making for the beach, and the two men in her, seeing English's situation, made for him and succeeded in picking him up, and the manner in which they performed this is deserving of great praise. They then ran the trawl boat for the Providence pilot cutter which was riding out the storm at anchor in the Bay, but failing to reach her they let go her anchor as it seemed to be impossible for the boat to live in such a sea. Every exertion had been made by the crew of the Life-boat to launch her and they succeeded in doing so in a most admirable and gallant style. From the situation in which she was launched and the quarter from which the wind was blowing, it was impossible to near the trawl boat, yet with great dexterity she was brought, though at some distance astern of the trawl boat, in a direct line with her. A signal was then given from the Life-boat to the two men in the trawl boat to let slip from their anchor, ! whioh they did and were thus driven towards j the Life-boat, from which communication was j obtained by means of ropes through the activity and energy of the crew." The two little boys were twins about ten years old, and it is said they hung on to their father's legs and nearly drowned him as well. In his struggles he kicked them off, for which involuntary act report says the mother never forgave him.

The names of the two men in the Dart were James May and John Bedingfield Hurr. James May was the father of the present Coxswain, Sam May. £21 19s &d. was collected and divided amongst the men.

The Life-boats at Lowestoft and Pakefield were at that time maintained by the Suffolk Humane Society and the Norfolk boats by the Norfolk Shipwreck Association, whilst little Southwold had to provide and maintain its own boat under constant financial difficulties.

At daybreak on the 21st March, 1848, the watchers on our cliff observed a large brig aground on Sizewell Bank, a gale of wind blowing and a heavy sea breaking over the vessel. The Southwold Life-boat was immediately launched through the surf to their assistance, and when near the vessel picked up the whole crew of nine men, who had been compelled to abandon the vessel in the long boat, and were brought safely on shore by the Life-boat.

At 4 A.M. on the 4th December, 1848, during a sou'-westerly gale, the schooner Ury, of Sunderland, bound to Dunkirk with coal, struck on the Barnard, and at 8 A.M. she was observed from Kessingland dismasted. The men there tried to launch their yawl, but found too much sea, and a man was sent on horseback to Southwold. The Life-boat was launched and reached the wreck in about half-an-hour. She was on her broadside, with the decks blown out and a tremendous sea breaking over her. The Life-boat anchored to windward and, veering down, rescued a man fast to a rope amongst the wreckage.

Another man was seen and ropes were thrown to him, but ineffectually, as he was in a state of insensibility. Thereupon John Fish, one of the Life-boatmen, got on to one of the masts which was floating attached to the wreck, and running along it succeeded in rescuing the man under circumstances of the greatest peril, having the utmost difficulty in breaking his grip of the rigging. During this service the Life-boat struck heavily on the sand and was nearly swamped with water. The captain and two others had been drowned, and shortly after the rescue the wreck wholly disappeared.

The following letter was received by Benjamin Herrington, one of the Coxswains, from the rescued men :—• " Sunderland, "December 14th, 1848.

" DEAR FRIENDS, " I have taken this favourable opportunity of writing to you these few lines hoping this will find you all in good health as leaves booth of us great deal better than we was, when we got home we was very stif with the bruses we had about us we arrived safe home the thursday night we have had a letter saying that the master is picked up his brother went away directly to see him buried if ever you go to lowstoft give our kind love to the landlord for his kindness to us I hope god will reward you all for your kindness toward us Give my kind love to that man that took me of the wreck, but not to him alone but to you all So no more at present but ever remain your wellwishers.

" GHAKLES HOIXEY and JOHN COURTNEL.I/." For this particularly gallant deed Lloyd's Committee voted £19 10s. to the Life-boat crew, £5 of which was for John Fish, and the Royal National Shipwreck Institution awarded him their Silver Medal.

On the 29th March, 1849, at a meeting of the Southwold Union Book Club, held at the Town Hall, a lecture on the Life-boat was delivered by Lieut.

F. W. Ellis, R.N., the Hon. Secretary, to a crowded audience, many being unable to gain admittance. At the close of the lecture Mr. Ellis presented the medal to John Fish, a function which is reported to have been received " with a burst of applause long and loud." On the 5th December, 1849, the boat went off twice and rescued, first, six Southwold fishermen, and the second time, five Walberswick men from local fishing punts.

The William Cook, of Yarmouth, bound from Hartlepool to Ramsgate with coal, struck on the outer shoal abreast of the town on the 11th January, 1852, the wind blowing a gale from the south, with a heavy sea and thick with rain. The Life-boat was launched, and made four attempts to reach the vessel, first with oars and then with sails. At J the third attempt they succeeded in I saving the master, but the fourth time | the boat filled and the air tanks gave | way, and she wa.s obliged to come ashore.

| The remainder of the crew were saved | by Manby's Life Gun apparatus, except | one who was drowned by dropping I from the bowsprit.

j This year the Solebay was found to j be in need of extensive repairs, and the | Society, thinking it better to build a new boat on more improved principlesthan to repair her, opened a subscription list for a new boat. This list was i headed by Miss Sheriffe and Sir Edward j Gooch with £100 each and the Society I immediately ordered a new boat to be | built by Beeching, of Yarmouth, on the newest and most approved plan. Sb» was constructed of oak on the same design as the boat which received the Duke of Northumberland's* Prize of £100 at the Great Exhibition, and was j the largest boat of her type, being 38 ft.

I long and 10 ft. beam and 4 ft. 4 in.

[ deep. She rowed fourteen oars, had two lug sails and drew 21 in., with two tons of water ballast in an enclosed tank. She was a self-righting boat and cost £280 complete, being christened i Harriett.

j The Harriett was first launched on i service on the 29th November, 1853, when, about 4 P.M., a brig was seen drifting towards the town in a strong gale at S.S.W., with a flag of distress in her rigging. The fishermen prepared to launch the John Bull yawl, but, the i report says, " were deterred from doing i so by a large body of females who, apprehensive of danger, created a panic." I The Life-boat was thereupon launched, it being then dark, and after an hour's struggle against sea and wind, reached the vessel to find her deserted, with the sea washing over her. It was then discovered that the crew had taken to the long boat, and the Life-boat, dropping astern, rescued the whole crew of nine men. The Life-boatmen tried to save the vessel, but presently she struck * Algernon, Duke of Northumberland, the " Sailor Duke," became President of the Institution in 1851, and did an immense service in reviving the activity and efficiency of the Lifeboat Service.—ED.and became a total wreck. She proved to be the Sheraton Grange, from Sunderland to London with coal.

The Report concludes by the hope that "the present happy result will give the crew that confidence in their noble boat which she so well merits." Unfortunately the hopes expressed by the newspaper and all interested in the Society were not realized, the crew expressing dissatisfaction as to the sailing and sea properties of the new boat, and eventually refusing to go off in the Harriett, whatever alterations might be made in her. At the same time, strangely enough, they declared themselves quite willing and ready to go off in the old boat, notwithstanding that she had been practically condemned.

The Southwold Society then found themselves in a dilemma ; they possessed two Life-boats, one considered unseaworthy, which the men were quite willing to use, and the other a brand-new self-righting boat of the latest type, which the men absolutely declined to go off in. Under these circumstances they took the wisest course possible, and applied to the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION for advice and assistance. Correspondence and interviews took place, and ultimately the Institution offered to contribute £200 towards the building of a new boat, which should be satisfactory to the men, and to take over the Southwold Society with its assets and liabilities, provided the Local Committee would have the boat built and find the rest of the money locally.

This offer was considered at a General Meeting of the Southwold Life-boat Society on the 21st October, 1854, and was unanimously accepted. j After fourteen years, therefore, of I very useful work, harassed throughout by impecuniosity, this gallant little pioneer Society made its bow and the Southwold Station becamethe Southwold Branch of the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFEBOAT INSTITUTION, and was endowed with fresh energy and better finances.

To comply with the rules of the Institution it was necessary to return the number of wrecks which had occurred in the Southwold District during the preceding six years, and this return sets out the names of twenty vessels lost between March, 1848, and April, 1854.

On the 31st December, 1855, was delivered the first Life-boat built for South wold through the Life-boat Institution.

She was a non-self-righting boat, 40ft. long, lift. 6 in. beam and 3 ft. 11 in. deep amidships, built of oak by Beeching, of Yarmouth, at a cost of £215 without gear or outfit. She was also named the Harriett, and continued to do good service at Southwold until 1893.

The new Harriett and the old Solebay were what was known as the wet type of Life-boat. The former was filled with air-cases, except for a narrow compartment fore and aft in the middle of the boat; she had ten relieving tubes through the bottom, closed by 4-inch plugs when launched, but as soon as the boat was afloat these plugs were pulled up and the water flowed in all over the boat, and she floated on her air cases. Any water shipped overside displaced some of the water inside, which found its way out through the holes in the bottom, and thus relieved the boat. If the boat was filled with water she freed herself in thirty seconds. It will be obvious that this type of boat was completely waterlogged, and went through the waves rather than over them, so that they were very properly described as wet boats. The loose water also rushed from end to end of the well, and was a source of danger, as will be seen later on.

On the night of the 9th February, 1857, distress signals were seen and the Life-boat was launched in a moderate S.S.W. gale. She found the brig PensJier, from Sunderland for London, coal loaded. The captain said she had 7 feet of water in her and was sinking fast. Twenty men jumped on board and pumped her until she was got safely into Lowestoft harbour.

On Saturday,the 27thFebruary, 1858, about 2 P.M., occurred a most lamentable accident, when three gentlemen were drowned through the capsizing of the Life-boat while returning from exercise.

An eye-witness has told me it was a beautiful day, with a fresh breeze at E.N.E. and rather a rough sea, which, caused the waves to break on the shoal; but it was not by any means bad.for aLife-boat. It appears that the crew bad put in the plugs and baled and pumped most of the water out of her, leaving about 8 inches in. The Coxswain stated that he felt the rudder (which hung 2 feet below the keel) touch the ground, but there appears to be no doubt that the boat ran on a breaking sea on the shoal, which lifted her stern and shot what water there was all into her bows. The weight being then all forward she broached to, broadside on to the sea; the following sea broke over her and into her sails, and she went over on her side.

She remained so about five minutes, but as soon as her masts touched the ground they broke off and she capsized completely, and so drifted ashore. The men were all thrown into the sea except one visitor, the Rev. Hodges, curate of Wangford, who was found under the boat with his legs entangled in the gear ; the other two gentlemen, Capt. Ellis's son and a Mr. Ord, having no life-belts on, were drowned, but the Life-boatmen wearing belts were all saved, five by swimming to the shore and the others by the Reliance yawl which was launched for that purpose.

Full enquiries were made by Admiral McHardy and Capt. Ward of the Lifeboat Institution, who entirely exonerated the local officials from any blame and gave it as their opinion that the accident was caused by the boat running too fast before a broken sea in shoal water, aided by the loose water ballast rushing to the bows, which they pointed out was one of the defects of that class of boats. Capt. Ward thought the with thirty-two men standing on one gunwale, and thirty-six men hauling on a rope from the masthead.

The Life-boat, however, received a much severer test on the 17th September, 1859, when a message was received at night stating that a vessel was ashore at Misner Haven, it blowing a heavy gale at N. by W. The boat was launched at 10.30 P.M. and found the wreck about midnight, when with much difficulty they succeeded in saving the crew of ten men and the captain's wife, who was quite exhausted, landing them on Misner Beach at 1 o'clock in the morning. One man was drowned before the Life-boat arrived, and the whole crew must have had a terrible experience, as they were probably in the greatest peril and distress for some eight or nine hours. It was reported that the boat behaved nobly, being frequently buried in the surf, and the sea making a complete breach over the ship's masthead.

When in the act of landing, a wave swept the Coxswain, John Cragie, overboard, but being a powerful man he hung on to the tiller and so was able to get on board again.

The vessel proved to be the Prussian brig Lucinde, belonging to Memel, of 318 tons burthen, bound to Rochester with sleepers.

John Cragie, who was acting Coxswain that night, was awarded the Institution's Silver Medal, and Benjamin Herrington received the Second Service Clasp, having earned the medal in 1853; in addition to this the Prussian Consul sent £30 for the crew, the Institution awarded Coxswain should have reduced sail be- j double pay, £30, and a visitor collected fore getting into broken water.

Readers who recollect the phraseology of that period will not be surprised to hear that " the sad event was improved by the Rev. J. Talbot Johnston, Rector of Beccles, on Sunday evening." As a result of this accident various alterations were made in the Harriett, the chief being the making of bulkheads across the well, with solid chocks of wood weighted to the specific gravity of water, and the men appeared to have their confidence in the boat quite restored by these alterations, which were put to a severe test in the harbour on May 19th, when she refused to capsize a purse of £20 for them in London.

Another good service was rendered on the morning of the 28th January, 1862, when, after a blowing night, the men on look-out in the cliff houses observed a boat drifting outside the outer shoal; the Life-boat was launched at 7.30 A.M. and rescued the crew of five men and a dog from the boat of the Ipswich schooner Princess Alice, which, it appeared, had struck on Sizewell Bank about 1.30A.M., and had almost immediately filled and sunk. The crew took to the boat ,and drifted through the night in the greatest danger until rescued.

During that summer a new Housewas built on the South Denes in the present position and the Life-boat has not since then been kept in front of the town.

A distressing case occurred on the 13th January, 1866, when, about 11 A.M., a brig was observed running from the southward with an ensign in her rigging. The Life-boat crew was immediately summoned, but before they could get the boat off the brig struck on the inner shoal, opposite the town (the wind being south-west, a very heavy gale), and her masts immediately went overboard. The Life-boat crossed the shoal and let go her anchor to windward, but owing to the violence of the wind and sea, the anchor would not hold, and she missed the wreck; the Coxswain then recrossed the shoal and fifty men on the beach towed the boat up again into a position to reach the wreck. The closereefed sails were then set, and the boat sailed off again outside the wreck and once more let go the anchor, veering away sixty or seventy fathoms of cable; again the anchor would not hold, and the Life-boat drove past the wreck a second time. Again the men on shore towed the Life-boat up to windward, and another anchor was put on board; the boat then sailed off the third time, and let go both anchors, the sea breaking clean over the Life-boat. She then veered down to the wreck, but by this time all the crew except one had been washed overboard and drowned. They hailed this survivor to go to the stern of the wreck so that they could rescue him, but while in the act of climbing on to the stern a sea carried him overboard.

The cable was immediately cut in order to try and save him, but the poor fellow sank instantly, and the Life-boat was beached in front of the town, at 3 P.M., after four hours of the most strenuous efforts to save this distressed crew in a sea which the veteran Coxswain, Ben Herrington, declared was the heaviest he had ever been off in.

After this distressing event the Institution decided to place a small rowing carriage boat at Southwold, and a new house was built for its reception.

The surf boat sent to Southwold by the Institution was a self-righting carriage boat provided by a fund raised by the " Quiver " Magazine, and appropriately named the Quiver.

On the 15th January, 1869, a man ran from Dunwich to Southwold, and informed the Coxswain that a boat was driving down from Dunwich with men in her. A strong gale was blowing with heavy sea, and the Harriett was launched after two unsuccessful attempts, and proceeded across the shoal, where she found a boat with the master and three men of the schooner Lord Coke, of Middlesbro', which had struck and sunk on Sizewell Bank that morning; the men were safely landed.

During this year it was announced by the Institution that the Coal Merchants of London had raised and presented to the Institution ,£700 to defray the cost of a Life-boat establishment, and that they had decided to take up as their Life-boat the large boat stationed at Southwold. The Harriett was thereupon re-christened, and received the somewhat prosaic title of the Coal Exchange, by which name she was known during the remainder of her career.

On the 6th November, 1871, a brigantine called the Robert Cattle came ashore opposite New York Cliff and went to pieces. Three men were saved, but several were drowned, and it was evidently a case in which the surf boat Quiver should have been used; but she was not launched, apparently in consequence of the Southwold men's rooted objection to a self-righting-boat.

One of the three saved from this wreck was a boy who came ashore on a plank, and in 1908 this boy came into the new harbour at Southwold as Capt.

Fulcher, of the s.s. Glencona, and remarked that the last time he paid us a visit he came on a plank, and the whole population were out to receive him.

Notwithstanding the prejudice it does not appear that the Quiver was removed until 1882, but in the meantime she was launched on the 19th January, 1873, and was successful in saving the lives of eight men, the crew of the brig Belle Isle, of Shoreham, which stranded and sank near Misner.

On the 16th December, 1873, the Coal Exchange was launched to theassistance of the Prussian schooner David, which was seen to have a flag in her rigging, and was successful in saving the vessel and six men and carrying her into Lowestoft.

The year 1874 appears to have been a record year for the number of lives saved by the Southwold boat, for on the 15th April, the Coal Exchange saved the crew of ten of the barque Alma, of Tonsberg, stranded on Sizewell Bank.

The Thorpe self-righting boat Ipswich was launched, but was unable to do anything, and a messenger was sent to Southwold at midnight to say the Thorpe boat was missing. The Coal Exchange was launched, and at daybreak saved nine men and the pilot, the Thorpe boat saving the rest.

On the 21st October the Life-boat was launched and saved the crew of five of the schooner Pandora, of Portsmouth, sunk on the Barnard. No sooner had they rescued this crew than they saw a three-masted schooner strike close to them, viz., the Glenville, of London, with a crew of ten. The Southwold boat immediately proceeded to her assistance, and succeeded in getting the vessel off and into Lowestoft Harbour, where she sank.

On the 18th January, 1881, occurred the memorable easterly gale and blizzard, undoubtedly the heaviest within living memory; in the height of the gale a barque, the Martina Maria, was driven upon the shoal opposite Centre Cliff, and her masts very soon after went overside. The crew were seen hanging on, and their cries could be heard from the shore. The Quiver was got out, horses procured, and she was dragged up into the town in order to get on to the shore under the lee of the vessel, but before she could be got there the vessel went to pieces, and all the crew disappeared; three men were washed ashore in a terrible state, the sole survivors of the Martina Maria.

The beachmenand Coastguards showed great daring on this occasion in their efforts to save the survivors from the raging sea, as the following extract from a contemporary account will show.

" The first of the men to be cast ashore was a Dane, and many were they who got wet through in pulling him from the wash. Mr.

! Smith, the Captain of the Brigade, was i entangled with the lead line, but was happily j rescued. The next poor sailor was close in, i but was killed by a spar. Number three held I on to an immense baulk, and was close ; on the breakers. Then occurred one of the ' most gallant acts ever recorded. Coastguard i Sargeant boldly dashed through a mountainous | wave to his rescue, but man and baulk swept '. over the bold fellow, whose daring had all but cost him his life, for when swept to the beach | the beam was -on his line and held him down.

Dodd, his 'chum,' ran in, underhauled the line, and got out the half-drowned man, who was at it again; and when the fourth man came he was knocked down by a beam, but, undaunted, he was ever seeking a drowning | man. Twice the latter appeared under the I sea, and the third time Sargeant grasped him j and held on. The man thus rescued was ali but dead." On the 4th April, 1882, the Coal Exchange rescued three men and a Southwold fishing-punt, and in December of that year the self-righting Quiver was replaced by a carriage-boat also named the Quiver, of the Norfolk and Suffolk type.

On the 2nd May, 1887, the Norwegian barque, Nordhavet, of Porzgrund, stranded on the shoal and Sam May brought nine of the crew ashore in his punt, the captain and two mates refusing to leave her. At midnight the Quiver Life-boat was launched and brought the captain and others ashore, it having in the meantime come on to blow.

On the 15th August, 1890, the Quiver assisted to save the brigantine Vectiz, of Harwich, and her crew of five men, which was in difficulties off Dunwich in a strong gale at S.W.

On the 16th January, 1892, she rescued the crew of four in the local punt Mary Ann.

The 15th February, 1892, was marked by strenuous efforts to assist a vessel in distress, when, during a strong gale at S.E., a schooner was observed in the bay, and as it was considered impossible for her to get off the lee shore, the Quiver was brought out, horses were obtained, and she was taken through the town and kept abreast of the schooner along the shore and up on to Fjaston Cliff, over hedges and ditches for two miles, nearly to Easton Broad, when the captain, seeing it was impossible for him to get out of the bay, put his helm upand ran the vessel ashore straight for the Life-boat, and the men were got ashore by ropes, so that the Life-boat was not required.

On the 27th December, 1896, the Coal Exchange was launched in a terrible gale and snowstorm and rescued four men of the schooner Day Star, of Ipswich, abreast of Sizewell Buildings.

While at this wreck Cragie was again washed overboard, but his leg being entangled in some of the gear his comrades were able to haul him on board again without damage beyond the lass of his sou'-wester. This breeze put three vessels ashore in Sizewell Bay ; the Day Star, all rescued ; the Magnet, all drowned except one washed ashore alive; and the Trixie V.

This was the last successful service performed by the Coal Exchange, which was placed on the station on the 31st December, 1855, and had seen thirtyseven years of active service, during the course of which she had saved seventysix lives.

The Institution having consulted the wishes of the men, ordered a new boat to be built of the Norfolk and Suffolk type, 44 ft. long and 13 ft. beam.

The new boat was built by Messrs.

Beeching, of Yarmouth, and is of the improved Norfolk and Suffolk type, with confined water ballast and scuppers, as well as relieving valves. She is rigged like the former boats with dipping forelug and standing mizzen., and carries a crew of eighteen hands. She has turned out to be the finest boat of her type ever launched, easy to float off the beach, dry and fast and as stiff as a church at sea.

After nearly twenty years'service, during which time she has performed some very heavy work, she still retains the confidence and admiration of the Solemen, and if she had only been built with centrekeels she would have been a perfect sailing Life-boat.

This boat was formally handed over on Easter Monday, 1893, and was christened Alfred Corry. Being somewhat larger than the Coal Exchange, it was found necessary to enlarge the house, which was done at a cost of £143.

The Alfred Corry cost £800, or more than thrice as much as the Coal Exchange.

The new boat was not long on her station before her services were required, for on the 21st November, 1893, the Coxswain being informed that a vessel was drifting about in a S.S.E. direction with no sails set, he launched at 9 A.M.

in a strong gale at N.E., and proceeded to the wreck, arriving about 12.30 P.M.

She was about eighteen miles from the land, and was found to be the Norwegian barque Alpha. She had been on the Leman and Ower Sands, and abandoned by her crew, and was then in tow of two fishing-smacks. The Life-boat assisted to get the vessel into the neighbourhood of Harwich, and returned home at 4 P.M. on the 23rd, having been absent fifty-five hours.

The 24th October, 1894, was a memorable day at South wold, it blowing a strong gale at S. by E., with very heavy sea and rain, when at 6.30 A.M.

it was reported that a vessel was flying signals of distress off Dunwich. The Alfred Corry was launched at once and found the vessel to be the Norwegian barque Nina, of Christiania, which had been in collision and was abandoned.

Ten Southwold men were put on board, who let go the anchors and commenced to stow the sails, but she dragged in until she struck, and com menced to break up. The Southwold Life-boat then took the men off, and landed at Southwold about 3 P.M. The vessel went to the main, where she immediately broke up, and her cargo of firewood strewed the shore for a couple of miles.

In the meantime, at 12.30 P.M., a large beach yawl was seen running past the town showing signals of distress.

The Quiver was immediately launched, and found the yawl unmanageable and half full of water. The five men were taken into the Life-boat, which towed the yawl to Lowestoft.

(To be continued.).