ALL associated with the life-boat service will have heard with the greatest regret of the death at Worthing, on the 29th November, 1939, at the age of 69, of Sir George Shee, late secretary of the Institution.

Sir George Richard Francis Shee was born in London on the 31st December, 1869. He was the second son of Richard Jenery Shee, barrister-at-law, and of Marie, nee Baroness Laur von Munchhofen.

He was educated at St. Augustine's College, Ramsgate, Feldkirch, Austria, Stonyhurst, and London University, where he took his M.A. in 1892. He was first engaged in teaching. Then in 1898 he wrote The Briton's First Duty, advocating compulsory military training for home defence. This book started the movement in favour of national service, and led in 1902 to the foundation of the National Service League. Sir George was the league's first secretary, and he organized the British committee of enquiry into the Swiss militia system, which visited Switzerland in 1906 and was received by the Swiss Government.

In 1910 Sir George left the league to become the secretary of the Institution.

It was there that his chief public work was done. He took over the secretaryship at a very difficult time, when the independent organization of the Life-boat Saturday Fund had just been dissolved; and his first task was to take into the Institution's own organization the branches and voluntary workers of the fund.

He was its secretary for 21 years, including the difficult years of the war of 1914-1918, and he gave himself to its organization with immense energy, enthusiasm and success. His work will still be fresh in the memory of many life-boat workers, and an appreciation of it, by Lieut.-Col. C. R.

Satterthwaite, O.B.E., the present secretary of the Institution, appeared in The Life-boat, when Sir George retired.1 To show the immense development of the Institution during his secretaryship it is sufficient to say that the motor life-boats in its fleet were increased from nine to 107, its branches from under 400 to over 1,100 and its income from £53,000 to £275,000. Sir George received his knighthood, in recognition of his work for the life-boat service, shortly before he retired.

At his funeral the Institution was represented by the Hon. George Col- 1 See the uumber for December, 1931.

ville, its deputy chairman, and Lieut.- Col. C. R. Satterthwaite, O.B.E., its secretary.

At the meeting of the committee of management on 14th December the following resolution was passed: " That the deepest sympathy of the committee of management of the Royal National Life-boat Institution be conveyed to Lady Shee, on the death of her husband Sir George Shee, secretary of the Institution from 1910 to 1931, to whose outstanding ability, enthusiasm, and powers of organization the present satisfactory condition of the life-boat service is largely due." Lady Shee has presented to the Institution Sir George's binoculars, and they will be used on board the Torbay life-boat George Shee..