| Southport Lifeboat Station | |
| Map Type: | Merseyside |
| Pushpin Relief: | 1 |
| Address: | 37 Esplanade |
| Location City: | Southport, Merseyside, PR8 1RX |
| Location Country: | England |
| Coordinates: | 53.6473°N -3.0188°W |
| Status: | Closed |
| Building Type: | RNLI Lifeboat Station |
| Opened Date: | 1812, RNLI 2 August 1860 |
| Closing Date: | 30 April 1925 |
| Owner: | Royal National Lifeboat Institution |
Southport Lifeboat Station is a former lifeboat station, located in the Victorian seaside town of Southport, situated to the south of the River Ribble estuary, historically in the county of Lancashire, now Merseyside.
A lifeboat was first stationed here by the Southport Lifeboat Society in 1812, but was removed from service by 1817. A new boat was provided in 1840. Management of the station was passed to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) on 2 August 1860.[1]
The station was closed in 1925 due to silting of the coastline.[2]
In 1812, the Southport Lifeboat Society was established, to provide a lifeboat for Southport. A boat similar to those used by the Liverpool Dock Trustees is thought to have been used, but no specifications of the boat are available. A wooden boathouse was constructed to house the boat. There is only one record of service, on 10 September 1816, when two survivors of 11 crew were rescued from the brig Sutton of Dublin, on passage to Liverpool.[3] [4]
The boat was crewed by local fishermen, and apparently was not well liked. In 1817, the boat, carriage and boathouse were all sold at public auction, raising £30.[1]
In 1840, Lloyd's agent Lt. H. G. Kellock, RN, recommended that a lifeboat once again be stationed at Southport. With the assistance of local businessman Caesar Lawson, £40 was raised. Further donations from Lloyds, and £50 from the Liverpool Dock Trustees, a boat, of a design by Thomas Costain specifically for the shallow waters of the River Mersey, was ordered from Cato of Liverpool. Lt. Kellock was appointed Honorary Secretary, and the boat, named Rescue, was housed in a wooden boathouse opposite (what is now) Coronation Walk.[1]
The first service of Rescue came on 26 October 1842, to the Liberty of Caernarfon, on passage from Poole to Liverpool. Driven ashore at Birkdale, the five crew were rescued.[5] [6]
Rescue would serve for 21 years. Service records are incomplete, but it is thought she was launched at least 25 times, rescuing 175 lives. In 1860, discussions were held between the RNLI and the Southport Lifeboat Society, and it was agreed that the RNLI would take over management of the station. This usually involved some agreement for funds to be raised locally. A new 32-foot Self-righting 'pulling and sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, one with oars and sails, costing £202, was ordered from Forrestt of Limehouse, and a 40-foot brick boathouse was constructed by William Wright and Sons, costing £150. On 7 September 1861, a grand procession took place, and the lifeboat was hauled through the town to the boathouse. The boat, and all her equipment, had been funded by a gift of Mr J. Knowles of Bolton, and was named Jessie Knowles after his youngest daughter.[1]
On 20 September 1863, Jessie Knowles launched to the aid of the barque St. Lawrence, on passage from Liverpool to Cardiff, when she ran aground on Salthouse Bank. In a full westerly gale, the lifeboat took 2½ hours to reach the vessel. The captain, chief officer and two crewmen stayed aboard, but the captains wife and child, and 12 crew, were rescued. The boat was eventually recovered to Lytham, with the help of both Southport and Lytham lifeboat crews.[7] [8]
The Jessie Knowles was launched to the aid of the barque Tamworth on 29 October 1863, on passage from Liverpool to Havana, when she ran aground on Trunk Hill Bank. 3 hours hard rowing were needed to reach the vessel, but eventually the lifeboat got alongside, and 17 crew were rescued.[9] [10]
On the 9 December 1886, the German barque Mexico was driven ashore at Trunk Hill Brow, Ainsdale. Much has been documented about the Mexico disaster. All 13 crewmen aboard the lifeboat Laura Janet, and 14 of 16 crew of the Southport lifeboat Eliza Fearnley, were lost, the greatest ever disaster for the RNLI. As it turned out, the Southport and St Annes boats need not have launched at all, as all 12 crew aboard the Mexico had already been rescued by the Lytham lifeboat. No medals or commendations were received from the RNLI at Southport, but the station was awarded a silver medal by the Societe des Sauveteurs, Medailles du Gouvernement de la Gironde, for courage and devotion to duty.[11] [12] [13] [14]
The Eliza Fearnley was returned to RNLI HQ, and subsequently broken up. The Southport lifeboat was quickly replaced, arriving on station on 22 December 1886. The new boat, a 34-foot (10-oared) Self-righting lifeboat, was provided from funds from an anonymous gentleman from Lancashire, via the branch of the RNLI, and was named Mary Anna (ON 72). She would later be housed in a new boathouse constructed in 1887, located at the southern end of the promenade. The boathouse survives to this day. In the following 18 years on station, she would be launched only twice.[1]
After the Mexico disaster, the crew requested a bigger sailing lifeboat, and a second station was established, with a 42-foot 6in long non-self-righting Watson-class (P&S) lifeboat, moored at the end of the pier. Built by the Barrow Naval Company, the boat was sailed down to Southport in June 1888. Funded from a gift of £750 from two local philanthropists, the Misses MacRae, at a ceremony on the 28 June, the boat was named Edith and Annie (ON 208). Later that same day, ceremonies would be held to unveil the memorials constructed to remember the Mexico Disaster.[1] [2]
Edith and Annie was the much preferred boat, and would launch 9 times in 14 years, and save 12 lives. In July 1902, she was immediately withdrawn, when found to be unfit for service. It would be 2 years before she was replaced, by the John Harling (ON 518), another lifeboat, which arrived on 18 June 1904. Six months later, the Mary Anna was withdrawn after 18-years service, and the No.1 station closed. A reserve lifeboat, The Three Brothers (ON 241), built in 1889 and formerly at, would be placed at the promenade boathouse, to be used for demonstration purposes.[1]
The last effective service of Southport lifeboat John Harling, was to the aid of the steamship Chrysopolis of Genoa on 21 February 1918. The vessel had run aground on Horse Bank some days earlier, but all attempts to refloat the vessel failed. When the weather deteriorated, the vessel broke her back, and the lifeboat rescued the 42 people aboard.[15]
By 1925, silting of the coast was so serious, that the lifeboat could only be launched in a 2-hour window every high tide. As a result, it was decided to close the station. Southport Lifeboat Station closed on 30 April 1025.[1] [2]
John Harling (ON 518) was sold locally for use as a pleasure boat. In 1927, the demonstration boat The Three Brothers was relocated to Cork, and the boathouse was returned to the landowner. After some years as a council store, the boathouse would later serve many years as the home of the Southport Offshore Rescue Trust, only recently becoming disused when the trust moved to new facilities.[1] [2]
The following are awards made at Southport.[1] [16]
William Rockcliffe, Coxswain - 1852
William Rockcliffe, Coxswain - 1873 (Second-Service Clasp)
William Rockcliffe, Coxswain - 1863
Southport Lifeboat Station - 1886
In memory of those lost whilst serving Southport lifeboat.
Lifeboat Eliza Fearnley, capsized on service to the Mexico, 9 December 1886[14]
John Ball
Charles Hodge, Coxswain
Henry Hodge
Peter Jackson
Thomas Jackson
Benjamin Peters
Ralph Peters, Second Coxswain
Harry Rigby
Thomas Rigby
Timothy Rigby
John Robinson
Richard Robinson
Thomas Spencer
Peter Wright
Lost when their small boat capsized, while attempting to change the lifeboat moorings, 26 June 1899
William Robinson, Coxswain (64)
John Robinson (44)
Frederick Rigby (37)
| ON | Name | In service[17] | Class | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| – | 1812−1817 | [18] | ||
| – | Rescue | 1840−1861 | 30-foot non-self-righting | [19] |
| Jessie Knowles | 1861−1874 | [20] | ||
| Pre-576 | Eliza Fearnley | 1874−1886 | 34-foot Self-righting (P&S) | [21] |
| 72 | Mary Anna | 1886−1904 | 34-foot Self-righting (P&S) | [22] |
| 208 | Edith and Annie | 1888−1902 | 42-foot 6in Watson (P&S) | [23] |
| 518 | John Harling | 1904−1925 | 43-foot 6in Watson (P&S) | [24] |
| 241 | 1905−1927 | 34-foot Self-righting (P&S) | [25] | |