The Isle of Man and will always be synonymous with the RNLI, for it was here in Douglas Bay during the early part of the last century that Sir William Hillary, the founder of the RNLI, witnessed at first hand, the plight of seafaring folk.

The waters surrounding the Island can be notoriously inhospitable.

In 1787 the Manx fishing fleet was caught in ferocious weather on the night of 21 September and 50 ships and 161 crew were lost in Douglas Bay. No one had gone to their rescue, nor did it seem possible that anyone could have helped saved lives.

No one, that is, except Sir William Hillary when he came to live in the Isle of Man in 1808 and heard accounts, not only of the tragic events of 1787, but of many other losses caused as flimsy boats struggled against in gales in the Irish Sea.

William Hillary was born in 1771 and brought up on a small farm in Wensleydale. In the 1790s he was appointed equerry to Prince Augustus Frederick, the sixth son of King George III. with whom he travelled to the Mediterranean. Returning to live in Liverpool he was made a baronet in 1805.

Sir William's first wife was an heiress whose wealth he had used to fund an army against the threatened Napoleonic invasion of England.

The marriage broke up, and a considerably poorer Sir William came to live in Douglas, Isle of Man, renting a house at the top of Prospect Hill.

He entered the commercial world of the Island, re-married to a Manx woman, Amelia, and inherited money from his elder brother Richard.

It was while mixing with the seafaring community around Douglas that Sir William learned of past tragedies, which moved him to, in his words, 'a powerful interest'.

If there is one event in Sir William's life which served as the catalyst for the founding of the RNLI it was 6 October 1822, the day the Royal Navy cutter Vigilant was caught in a storm off Douglas Bay and, in an attempt to avoid another vessel, ran onto St Mary's Isle, or Conister Rock as is it now known.

Sir William came down to the harbour to see what could be done to save Vigilant's crew. There had been no lifeboat at Douglas since the wrecking of the Atholl in 1814, but Sir William borrowed a small rowing boat, and with some Naval officers, rescued Vigilant by towing her into Douglas Bay. As the storm gathered strength. Sir William offered cash rewards for more volunteers to help other schooners in difficulty, resulting in the saving of 97 lives.

Overwhelmed The seeds were sown in Sir William's mind of the desperate need for some form of life saving society. 10 weeks later a second incident convinced him even more when the 18-gun brig Racehorse foundered on rocks at Langness Point. Five boats were dispatched, rescuing some of the crew, but on the final run one boat was overwhelmed, claiming the lives of nine men.

By now Sir William saw only too clearly the need for a national life-saving movement. He believed the three key areas for such a movement should be: the design and building of suitable lifeboats; their automatic manning by trained crews; and the payment of compensation to volunteers who were injured or pensions to bereaved families.

By February 1823 Sir William had prepared his historic proposition, entitled: 'An appeal to the British nation on the humanity and policy of forming a National Institution for the preservation of lives and property from shipwreck' which he directed to the First Lord of The Admiralty.

Response to his appeal was slow at first, but when it was recirculated some months later, to politicians, diplomats and leading businessmen of the day, it met with greater success.

The result was the momentous meeting at the tavern in Bishopsgate on4March 1824, the day the 'National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck' was formed with King George IV as its palron. 30 years later this body became the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

Under his guidance Douglas received two new lifeboats, one from the newly formed Institution, the other bought with money from insurers, but Sir William also saw the need for lifeboat stations at strategic points around the Island.

With Sir William as president, the Isle of Man District Association of what was to become the RNL1 was formed in January 1826, with the first station established in Douglas, followed by Castletown in 1827, Peel in 1828, and Ramsey in 1829.

And all the while, ships were faced with the perils of the Irish Sea. On 19 October 1825 the steam packet G'rv of Glasgow was caught in a storm outside Douglas harbour and Sir William offered fishermen £5 each to go with him in the new Douglas lifeboat, Nestor, He mustered a crew of seven and Sir William and his crew, along with Douglas' second lifeboat. True Blue, rowed out to save those on board. The rescue earned Sir William a second medal, the first having been awarded in 1825 in recognition of his work for the Institution.

During the first five years of the Institution's existence 45 lifeboats were provided around the UK coast, four of which were stationed in the Isle of Man.

Foundered Sir William received a number of awards for bravery, the most memorable following the mission to save those on board the packet St George on 20 November 1830, an event which nearly cost the 59-year-old Sir William his life.

Sir William commanded the Douglas lifeboat as it set out in a fierce gale to help the ship which had foundered on Conister Rock. Dashed against St George the lifeboat lost its rudder and six of its oars. Sir William was washed overboard with some of the crew and had to be hauled onto the packet's deck. No one perished, but Sir William was badly injured - six broken ribs and a crushed chest bone.

The heroic rescue was recognised by the award of four medals - two gold and two silver - with one of the golds to Sir William.

The St George incident prompted Sir William to construct the Tower of Refuge - the landmark in Douglas Bay - as a sanctuary for shipwrecked mariners. The proposal for the building of this life-saving station met with little enthusiasm from the harbour commissioners of the time, so Sir William launched a public subscription to pay for it, promising to meet any shortfall personally. Of the final cost of £254 Sir William paid £78.

The first stone for the tower, modelled on a 13th century c a s t l e , was laid on St George's Day, 24 April 1832. Illuminated on summer nights, the Tower of Refuge still flies the RNLI flag.

It was after the wreck of St George that Sir William moved into a major Douglas landmark - the castellated Fort Anne on Douglas Head. Fort Anne overlooked the site of what is now Douglas lifeboat station, giving Sir William a panoramic view of Douglas Bay and all that occurred out to sea.

Until he was 63 and rheumatics affected him, he remained a regular member of the lifeboat crew and came close once again to losing his life, on this occasion against the side of Parkfietd, a Douglas-built transatlantic sailing ship during a rescue mission.

Sadly, Sir William's final years were spent in less than ideal circumstances. Rheumatics confined him frequently to Fort Anne, and he lost most of his wealth when a local bank in which he was a shareholder collapsed.

Memorial The Receiver was called. Sir William's home and property were seized and his last years were spent cared for by friends in what was the new Douglas estate of Woodville.

He died on 5 January 1847 and was buried in St George's churchyard, Douglas and a bronze memorial plaque to his memory can be found on the wall of the promenade leading to the present boathouse. The red sandstone vault in which he was interred is now a national monument, and on the first Sunday in January each year the Douglas branch of the RNLI organises a memorial service in St George's church, followed by the laying of a commemorative wreath at the vault.

With the death of Sir William the RNLI lost its principal driving force and for a time went into decline, with many lifeboats falling into disrepair. But eventually the RNLI emerged from its period of crisis to become one of the world's best known life saving organisations, one which upholds Sir William Hillary's motto: 'With courage nothing is impossible.' An Isle of Man stamp issue commemorates the 175th anniversary of the RNLI, with each stamp depicting one of the Island's five lifeboats. The stamps feature photographs by the renowned marine photographer Rick Tomlinson, himself a former member of the Port St Mary lifeboat crew and also an RNLI Bronze Medallist.

Lifeboats of the Isle of Man - 1999 Douglas - Sir William Hillary, 47-032 Tyne class slipway launched lifeboat, built 1988.

illustrated on the 25p stamp Peel - Ruby Clery, 12-22 Mersey class carriage launched lifeboat, built 1991 illustrated on the 37p stamp Port Erin - Herbert and Edith, B594 Atlantic 21 rigid inflatable inshore lifeboat, built 1992 Illustrated on the 43p stamp Port St Mary - The Gough Ritchie 54-06 Arun ciass afloat lifeboat, built in 1976.

Illustrated on the 56p stamp Ramsey - Ann and James Ritchie, 12-14 Mersey class carriage launched lifeboat, built in 1991.

Illustrated on the 21p stamp.