No. 7. Major Herbert Edgar Button, O.B.E., RE., Hon. Superintendent of the Tynemouth Motor Life-boat.

No county in Great Britain has a finer record of Life-boat service than Northumberland. It was at Bamburgh, in Northumberland, that the first efforts were made by Archdeacon Sharp, in 1786, to devise schemes for the rescue and succour of the shipwrecked, and a coble, converted by Lionel Lukin, of London, into a safety-boat, was employed there for some years as a Life-boat. It was at the mouth of the Tyne that the first permanent Life-boat Station was built and established in 1789, thanks to the public spirit of Mr. Fairles and Mr. Rockwood, of South Shields. It was William Wouldhave, also of South Shields, who played the chief part in the design of that first Life-boat, and who discovered the self-righting principle. Last, but not least, the Dukes of Northumberland have had a long and honourable connection with the development of the Institution.

To these distinguished Northumbrians, who have contributed so notably to the work of saving life from shipwreck, must be added the name of Major Herbert Edgar Burton, O.B.E., E.E., Hon.  Superintendent of the Tynemouth Motor Life-boat, who for nineteen years has been closely identified with the work of the Service.

Though he is not a Northumbrian by birth, the county may fairly claim him as a Northumbrian in his Life-boat work. Commissioned from the ranks in June, 1902, Lieutenant Burton, as he then was, was posted to the Tyne section of the Royal Engineers at Clifford Fort, North Shields, and, being a keen yachtsman and holding a Board of Trade Master's Certificate, he soon became acquainted with the surrounding coast.

When the first experiments were made with Motor Life-boats, the then Chief Inspector of Life-boats, Captain Nepean, R.N., recognising that in Lieutenant Burton the Institution had an honorary officer possessing intimate knowledge of motor power and great initiative, decided to station at Tynemouth the first experimental Motor Life-boat. This was a converted Pulling and Sailing Life-boat, the McConnell Hussey, with a two-cylinder two-stroke Fay & Bowen motor of 9 h.p., and it is interesting and instructive to remember that the old traditions and superstitions effectually prevented any Tynemouth fishermen from manning her. Their dislike of "Motors" was solid "and complete. But Lieutenant Burton was not dismayed. He manned the experimental craft with a crew of his own sappers for eight months, and during that period effected the rescue of a shipwrecked crew, which resulted in the award of Binoculars to himself and a Barometer for the sappers' mess-room. This striking example of the value of motor-power so appealed to local seamen that a full crew of pilots at once volunteered for service, on condition that Lieutenant Burton remained as Superintendent of the Boat.

Eventually the Henry Vernon Motor Life-boat superseded the experimental craft, and many good services were rendered by her under the personal supervision of Major Burton. Notable among them was the service to the s.s. Dunelm, wrecked off Blyth in January, 1913. On that occasion the Blyth Pulling and Sailing Life-boat could not get up to the vessel, and, after a perilous voyage of some ten miles round the coast, the Henry Vernon reached the wreck in time to see the last man saved by the Rocket Brigade. The weather on that occasion was so bad that only five men, all told, would accompany Major Burton, who, in the absence of the Motor Mechanic, was in sole charge of the motor.

For this service he was awarded the Silver Medal of the Institution, and was given the Gold Medal of the Tynemouth Trust. The Coxswain and crew were liberally rewarded by the Institution, and the townspeople showed their appreciation by the presentation of medals and watches.

The story of the wreck of the Government Hospital Ship Rohilla off Whitby at the end of 1914, and of the rescue of its fifty survivors by the Tynemouth Motor Life-boat, has been told so often that we shall content ourselves by simply reproducing the inscription on the Silver Salver and Tea and Coffee Service presented by Tynemouth inhabitants to Major Burton : (Tynemouth Borough Arms.) Presented to CAPTAIN H. E. BURTON, R.E.

Hon. Superintendent of the Tynemouth Motor lite-boat Henry Vernon from Moneys raised by Public Subscription in recognition of gallant and heroic services rendered by him on the evening of the 31st October and the morning of 1st November, 1914, in conjunction with Coxswain R. Smith and the crew of the Henry Vernon Motor Life-boat.

In response to an appeal for help, the Life boat was manned, and left the Tyne for Whitby, a distance of 45 miles, in the teeth of a South-easterly gale, and, under circumstances of the utmost difficulty and danger, rescued from the wreck of H.M. Hospital Ship Rohilla 50 men who had been on board the Vessel for 50 hours and were despairing of help.

The services rendered oil this occasion additional lustre to the annals of heroism and humanity in connection with the Life-boat.

For this service Captain Burton was awarded the Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum and its Gold Medal, the highest award which is in its power to make. A signal honour was also paid him by the United States of America in its award of its Gold Cross of Honour.

The distinction is the greater since Major Burton was the second of two men in Great Britain to receive this award.

The Henry Vernon has now been superseded by a much more powerful Motor Life-boat in the Henry Frederick Swan, which has rendered valuable service. Largely owing to the indefatigable Sorts of Major Burton, this Boat is now housed on a suitable site, has a first, second and reserve crew, and is ready for service at any hour of the day or night.

As further evidence of Major Burton's untiring zeal and activity for the service, it should be recorded that Tynemouth now has a strong Ladies' Life-boat Guild, organised in sections, consisting of " Captains and Crews," who take it in turn to attend to the creature comforts of the Crew whenever they assemble for service.

Major Burton retired from the Royal Engineers in September, 1919, but such are his enthusiasm and activity that he has returned to the service, and is now Adjutant of the Northumbrian Divisional Royal Engineers at Newcastle- on-Tyne. In addition to his great qualities as a seaman, Major Burton is a powerful swimmer, and in 1904 received the Bronze Medal of the Royal Humane Society for rescuing an exhausted bather who was being carried rapidly out to sea.

No Honorary Secretary on the coast has brought to the work of the Service gifts of greater distinction and value, or has devoted them more wholeheartedly to the Life-boat cause..