Modern Independent Lifeboat Crewman

Lifeboat
'For Those in Peril on the Sea'

It took a ferocious easterly gale, which drove a sailing ship onto the rocks at the mouth of the River Tyne in 1789, with the loss of everyone on board, to spur a local club – whose clubhouse overlooked the mouth of the Tyne – to offer a reward to anyone who could build a very seaworthy boat that could be used for rescue work. The prize, 1 Guinea (or 2.50 US Dollars), was presented to William Wouldhave (a schoolteacher) who submitted a plan for a self-righting lifeboat, although the plan was never used. The idea of positioning very strong, seaworthy boats propelled by oars at strategic points along the coast of Britain was not a new one.

Archdeacon Sharp of Northumberland managed a large estate, the profits of which were devoted to charity. Around 1780, he decided that some of this money should be used to rescue sailors in peril. He arranged for a fishing boat to be converted into an 'unsinkable' rescue boat, which was stationed at Bamburgh on the coast north of Newcastle, in an area where shipwrecks were all too common. This boat, with a volunteer crew of local fishermen, was first used to save lives at sea in 1786. Soon, other lifeboats were being constructed. Henry Greathead of Newcastle became famous as a lifeboat builder, and his first boat, called the 'Original', was launched in 1789 and rescued its first sailors from the sea on 30 January 1790.

With mounting pressure to take action to reduce the large number of seamen drowned each year due to shipwrecks, Lloyd's of London provided £2,000 to construct lifeboats, and Greathead, in fact, built 30 over the next 14 years. However, it was not until 1823 that Lt.-Col. Sir William Hillary launched an appeal from his home on the Isle of Man for the formation of a National Lifeboat Service. In the following year, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (R.N.L.I.) was founded. Hillary himself was a member of the volunteer crew of the Douglas lifeboat until he was 60 years old and won the Gold Medal for Gallantry three times for his part in saving more than 300 lives at sea.

The modern lifeboat bears little or no resemblance to the oar-propelled boats that provided the service for over a hundred years. But other things have not changed. The Captain of each boat is elected each year from these volunteers, and he holds powers of life and death over his crew while the lifeboat is at sea. Sea rescue is a very dangerous business, and the decisions made by a Captain must always be the wisest and be accepted without question by his crew. On a number of occasions, lifeboats have been lost at sea with all their crew, but nevertheless, new boats and new crews always come forward to take their place.

Every Ballantynes sculpture is completely handmade and finished to the highest possible quality.

All our sculptures come attached to a wooden base. We offer the choice of a presentation base, or you can upgrade to one of our fine Mahogany bases.

Complete your piece by adding a brass plaque to the front of the base, personalised with your own message!

We have three finish options:

Cold Cast Antique Bronze – This is our most popular style. The sculpture is made with powdered bronze added into the composite. Then it is buffed and polished to highlight the bronze. The colour is similar to that of a Victoria Cross Medal.

Hand Painting – The sculptures are cast in a white ‘China clay’ finish. They are then hand painted using a combination of air brushing and hand application. We use high quality oil paints, that are designed to our particular specification. We add in shading and distressing to achieve a realistic effect before applying a 20% satin over-finish to protect the piece from the effects of time.

Electroformed Silver – Our Electroformed Silver Sculptures make magnificent pieces. We take a China white casting and cover it in a thick (300) micron layer of pure sterling silver. Before the items are hand polished to achieve a high shine. These pieces require a clean every so often with a silver polish such as ‘Silvo’. These pieces are presented on a Mahogany or Granite base. Complete with a Silver plaque on the front.