Presentation of Vellums signed by the Prince of Wales.

TEN presentations of Centenary Vellums to Stations have taken place during the past summer, making the total of such Vellums presented forty-three. Nine of these ceremonies were reported in the last issue of The Lifeboat, and the tenth, at Guernsey, is described below.

Each Vellum is signed by the Prince of Wales and bears a record expressing the Institution's appreciation of the voluntary work of the Officers and Committee and of the devotion and courage of the Life-boat Crew.

The number of lives rescued and of medals awarded (as given in the follow- ing reports) is up to the date of the Ceremony, but it is not in every case possible to give the total of lives from the date of the establishment of the Station, as the early records are not always complete. The medals are in each case all medals awarded to Life- boatmen and others from the foundation of the Institution in 1824.

We also give some additional interest- ing facts about the history of the Stations at Cromer and Blyth, which we have received from the Honorary Secretaries of the Stations since their Vellums were presented in July, 1929, and November, 1928, respectively.

Guernsey (Channel Islands).

The first Life-boat Station on the Island was established in 1803 at St.

Sampson and it was provided with a Life-boat built by Henry Greathead, the builder of the Original, which was stationed at Tynemouth in 1789. In 1861 the Station was taken over by the Institution, which, in 1881, closed the St. Sampson Station and opened the present Station at St. Peter Port. Since 1861 there have been six Life-boats, including the present Motor Life-boat, which went to St. Peter Port last year.

From 1916 to 1929, while the Life-boat was still provided by the Institution, the States of Guernsey held themselves re- sponsible for the employment and pay- ment of the Crew. With the arrival of the New Motor Life-boat—a fifty-one feet Barnett (Stromness) boat—the States of Guernsey agreed to make a voluntary contribution of £300 per annum towards its upkeep. The Institution has no records of the first Life-boat, but there have been nineteen launches since 1861, and eight lives have been rescued. Six Silver Medals have been awarded. The ceremony of presentation took place on board the Life-boat on 20th Septem- ber, in the presence of over 2,000 people, who lined the quay ; the speeches being relayed by loud speakers. Commander S. B. Mainguy, M.V.O. (Jurat and Vice- President of the Branch) presided, and presented the Vellum to the Lieutenant- Governor (Major-General the Lord Ruth- ven, C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O.). In doing so he gave a history of the Station, referred to the interest shown in it by the Lieutenant-Governor, and said that the Vellum would be hung on the out- side of the administrative block of buildings on the New Jetty.

In accepting the Vellum, the Lieutenant-Governor said that he had always taken the keenest interest in the Service, and had been a member of the Crew of the Life-boat near his home in Scotland. He then handed the Vellum to the Lieutenant-Bailiff, Colonel R. F. McCrea, who received it on behalf of the Bailiff, and the people of Guernsey. The Motor Life- boat then went for a trip, with the Lieutenant-Governor on board, and the public weie allowed to go over her. On the same day the first Life-boat Day was held in Guernsey, £116 being raised.

Among those present at the Ceremony were Lady Ruthven, and several of the Jurats of the Royal Court, Captain J. Penstone Franklin (Harbourmaster of St. Peter Port), Mrs. Sylvester (Hon. Secretary of the Ladies' Life- boat Guild), together with members of the Guild, and Mr. W. Frampton (Honorary Financial Secretary of the Branch).

Cromer, Norfolk.

A Centenary Vellum was presented to Croiner on 19th July, 1929, and in the report of the Ceremony, which appeared in The Lifeboat for September, 1929, it was stated that Cromer was first provided with a Life-boat in 1829, but of this boat the Institution had no particulars. Since then the Hon. Secre- tary at Cromer has heard from Mr. B. T.

Rust, a member of a very old and prominent Cromer family, which has always been interested in the Life-boat Station, that he has found references in a notebook of his great-grandfather to a Life-boat service at Cromer in 1810, and to a subscription for a Life-boat in 1804. The latter simply says, " Decem- ber 3rd, 1804, Subscription towards a Life-boat, £2 2 0." The record of a Life-boat service in 1810 is as follows : " November 3rd, 1810. A stout Brigg came on shore at Runton, and the hands, including one woman, were saved by the Life-boat from Cromer." There is also an entry under the previous day of the rescue of the crew of a schooner by firing the mortar.

Blyth, Northumberland.

A Centenary Vellum was presented to Blyth on 21st November, 1928. In the report of the Ceremony in The Lifeboat for June, 1929, it was stated that a Life-boat Station was established at Blyth in 1826, when the Newcastle Branch Association applied to the Institution for a Life-boat. The Hon.

Secretary at Blyth has since written to say that he has seen papers at the Ridley Estate Office which have only just been discovered, and these show that, as a result of great loss of life from ship- wreck in 1808, a subscription list was opened by Sir Matthew White Ridley to provide a Life-boat, and that Henry Greathead, the builder of the Original, at Tynemouth, in 1789, was invited over to give advice and to tender for a Life-boat. It appears that a 30-feet ten-oar boat, weighing a ton, was bought..