- Written by Victoria Hollins
- bbc news
image source, Getty Images
The Royal National Lifeboat Society Charity was first founded on 4 March 1824 in a London tavern.
Two hundred years ago, the Royal National Lifeboat Society, a charity, was founded. The service’s motto is ‘Saving lives at sea’, but its beginnings were right on land – in the heart of the City of London.
The lifeboat service was the idea of Sir William Hilary of the Isle of Man, who published a pamphlet detailing his plans in 1823. But it wasn’t until he persuaded a group of influential people in the City of London that his story fell on deaf ears. Focus on it.
A year later, on the evening of March 4, 1824, a meeting of the great and good of London’s high society met at the London Tavern in Bishopsgate to discuss the plans.
They included the Archbishop of Canterbury, Southwark Liberal MP Thomas Wilson and anti-slavery campaigner William Wilberforce, whose names can be found in the meeting’s archives held in the RNLI’s archives. .
RNLI archivist Hayley Whiting said the bicentenary was a “hugely significant” event.
The minutes of that first meeting set out what the charity would become.
RNLI archivist Hayley Whiting said: “The minutes tell us what they wanted their charity to do, and 200 years later we still believe strongly in it. It’s saving lives for everyone, and it’s saving lives at sea.”
“This is a volunteer organization with volunteer staff and has been supported by charitable donations since 1824. This is a truly significant event and an important part of the history we celebrate.”
London’s taverns are now gone, replaced by skyscraper office buildings. However, at its base there is a carved stone monument paying homage to those who started the RNLI on that site 200 years ago.
The minutes of the March 4, 1824 meeting set forth the founders’ principles for charitable organizations, which continue today.
The London Tavern may no longer exist, but a stone plaque remains, carved on the spot where the RNLI was founded 200 years ago.
The city has a long history with the RNLI, with its headquarters in London.
The RNLI also had a store yard at Poplar, east London, where lifeboats damaged during rescues at sea were taken for repair from 1882 to 1939.
Additionally, the area had a thriving shipbuilding community, with local companies such as Forrest in Limehouse and Wolf in Poplar used to build lifeboats.
However, these boats are usually not based in London and are transported to other parts of the country.
For a purpose-built lifeboat service to be considered in the capital, a disaster would have to occur on the River Thames more than 160 years after the charity was established.
On August 20, 1989, the Marquise’s party boat collided with the dredger Bowbell, resulting in the loss of 51 lives.
A fundamental review of emergency response procedures at the River Thames has been undertaken following a campaign by some of the victims’ families and an inquiry into Thames safety by Mr Justice Clarke.
Janet Kelly was appointed Tower Pier’s first manager and ran the station for 14 years
As a result, the Government requested a Thames search and rescue operation involving the Maritime and Coastguard, Port of London Authority and RNLI.
Three years later, on 2 January 1992, four lifeboat stations were opened on the River Thames: Teddington, Chiswick, Tower Pier on the Victoria Embankment, and Gravesend.
Janet Kelly was appointed Tower Pier’s first manager and ran the station for 14 years. She remembers how lucky the RNLI was to be able to purchase Tower Pier.
“The Thames Region, which is part of the Metropolitan Police, did not want a Waterloo Police pier next to Waterloo Bridge. The police were very generous and allowed the RNLI to buy the pier for a token £1. I gave permission.”
“Being there was invaluable for us in the middle of London. There was no better place to set up a lifeboat station,” she says.
Sir William Hillary first came up with the idea for the RNLI in 1823, the year before it was established.
Before its opening, some people questioned the need for a lifeboat dock in a major city, but Tower Pier is now the busiest in the country. Since launch, there have been approximately 10,500 deployments and approximately 400 lives saved by the crew.
Like Chiswick and Gravesend stations, the station is staffed 24 hours a day, with 98% of roles filled by volunteers. The goal is for him to reach the river within 90 seconds after the crew receives an emergency call.
The RNLI currently works with all other river agencies tasked with keeping rivers safe, including the police and the Port of London Authority. We also still rely on volunteers and are entirely funded by charitable donations.
Sir William Hillary was living on the Isle of Man when he came up with the idea for this service.
To mark its 200th anniversary, a Thanksgiving service is being held at Westminster Abbey with a congregation made up of representatives from the RNLI lifesaving community across the UK and Ireland.
So, two centuries after its creation, what would the philanthropists and politicians of 1824 make of the RNLI today?
“They’ll be really proud of how far we’ve come,” says Mark Dowie, the charity’s chief executive.
“They will also recognize the big elements of the RNLI today and what they were thinking about many years ago.”