Ex-coxswain William Brown, of Cresswell, Northumberland, died on the 18th April at the age of seventy-three. He was a member of one of two families, both named Brown, who in that small village compose the Life-boat crew, while the wives, daughters and younger sons of the crew act as launchers. Coxswain William Brown was one of the original Life-boat crew enrolled when the first Life-boat was stationed at Cresswell in 1875, and he served in it continuously for fifty years. In 1893 he was appointed Second Coxswain, and in 1908 he became Coxswain. When he retired in 1925, at the age of seventy, he had taken part in the rescue of nearly a hundred lives. On his retirement he was presented with a Certificate of Service and a Pension, while Mrs. Brown was awarded the Gold Brooch and Record of Thanks in recognition of her services both as a launcher and a collector. On the day of the funeral the Motor Life-boat from the neigh- bouring Station of Blyth, lay off Cresswell with flag at half-mast..