Lifeboats - In Settle?

T. Harold Foxcroft

JOURNAL
2013

North Craven
Heritage Trust

Recently I was handed a medallion and asked whether I could throw any light on its background. It was made (I think) of pewter, about 5cm in diameter, weighing 42g. It carried the following inscriptions. On the one side - ROYAL NATIONAL LIFEBOAT INSTITUTION SETTLE BRANCH - CHRISTOPHER BROWN HON SEC. This inscription surrounds a relief engraving of a lifeboat being rowed by ten oarsmen, each at an oar. On the reverse the inscription is - THE CHRISTOPHER BROWN LIFEBOAT WAS PRESENTED TO THE NATIONAL LIFEBOAT INSTITUTION AT SETTLE APRIL 14^TH 1868 AND THE LIFEBOAT ‘ELLEN AND MARGARET OF SETTLE’ NAMED AFTER THE MOTHER AND SISTER OF THE HON. SECY ON MAY 26^TH 1875.

Through correspondence with the Lifeboat Enthusiasts’ Society, I found that the Society not only concerned itself with producing models of lifeboats but had an Archivist who was an expert on the history and records of the lifeboat stations themselves. He provided me with copies of books that he had written which are relevant to this story - The Closed Lifeboat Stations of Yorkshire and The Story of The Penmon and Beaumaris Lifeboats. He also generously provided me with copies of the Annual Reports of the RNLI showing the subscription and donations of the relevant local Lifeboat Fund. After mentioning this to Anne Read, the Honorary Curator of the Museum of North Craven Life at the Folly I found that there were pictures of Lifeboats and crowds taken in the Market Square.

From these sources I have been able to put together a story showing that the Settle area, under the tireless efforts of a Christopher Brown, was able to fund a succession of seven Lifeboats in all, carrying the name ‘Christopher Brown’ or ‘Ellen and Margaret of Settle’ which were placed at Penmon on Anglesey and Hornsea (on the East Coast) respectively. I was also able to find some background to Christopher Brown (1815- 1886) - who was of Stainforth, having been baptised at Giggleswick, but buried at Stainforth. The RNLI started life in 1824 as the National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck and was given the prefix Royal in 1854 by Queen Victoria.

Penmon Lifeboat Station and the ‘Christopher Brown’ Lifeboats

The records show that by 1868 Settle had a Lifeboat Branch and had established a ‘Christopher Brown Lifeboat Fund’. At Penmon in Anglesey the existing self-righting 28ft x 6ft, 6-oared lifeboat had suffered an almost disastrous capsize and its crew requested a replacement, and this was the ‘Christopher Brown’ (self-righting 30ft x 7ft 7inches, 10-oared, costing £251) named in Settle on Easter Monday, April 14, 1868. An RNLI photograph shows the naming ceremony on that date taking place in the area behind the Shambles. After several call-outs, resulting in the saving of 20 lives, this first boat was substituted in 1880 by a second ‘Christopher Brown’ also funded by Settle Lifeboat Fund (self-righting 34ft x 8ft, 10-oared, costing £363). After saving some 20 lives, this boat was also replaced, becoming the third ‘Christopher Brown’ in 1896 (self-righting 37ft x 9ft 3inches, 12-oared, costing £514), which in turn saved 45 lives. Following the provision of a 45ft motor lifeboat which was stationed at Beaumaris in 1914, the ‘Christopher Brown’ was withdrawn from service and the Penmon station was closed in 1915.

Hornsea Lifeboat Station and the ‘Ellen and Margaret of Settle’ Lifeboats

The very active fund-raising Settle Branch of the Institution continued with its work to such good effect that it was able to provide a second named Lifeboat - the ‘Ellen and Margaret of Settle’ - named after the mother and sister of Christopher Brown. This boat was stationed at Hornsea and replaced an existing one, the crew of which were stated to ‘be of a fiercely independent character’ and had been dismissed after an Enquiry in 1871. This new Lifeboat was sent north to Settle by rail and paraded throuh the ‘gaily decorated streets’ to the Market Square where she was dedicated and named on 20 May, 1875. She was then taken by rail to Hornsea, where on 9 May she had a trial launch watched by many Settle well-wishers who had travelled by several special trains . This boat was also a self-righter, 32ft x 7ft 6inches and 10-oared, costing some £286 and her launching carriage costing £112.

This vessel was replaced in 1887, following a number of challenging rescues. The new vessel (34ft x 7ft 6inches, 10-oared and costing £406) was again funded by Settle. This vessel was only launched four times but was badly damaged in a difficult launch and temporarily taken out of service. Her replacement in 1905 was by the third ‘Ellen and Margaret of Settle’, costing £765 - a 10-oared self-righter size 34ft x 8ft 6inches.

There were a number of problems with the siting of the Hornsea station and with obtaining sufficient crew. It was therefore crewed by a team from Bridlington who were transported by car to Hornsea where the Lifeboat had been prepared for launch. The Bridlington men preferred the design of their own boat, after a near disaster had occurred on an exercise launch. So in 1912 a fourth ‘Ellen and Margaret of Settle’ was provided by the Settle Branch ( 35ft x 8ft 3inches, 10-oared self-righter costing £1,015).

The last launch of this boat was in 1921. A reduction in the number of call-outs, the provision of a motor-lifeboat at the Humber Lifeboat station and continuing difficulty in recruiting a crew finally resulted in the closure of the Hornsea Station. The final outing of the final ‘Ellen and Margaret of Settle’ was in the Lord Mayor’s Procession in November 1924 which marked the Centenary of the RNLI.

The Background of Christopher Brown

The wonders of the internet revealed that a family tree of Christopher Brown existed in the archives of Ripley Castle. This details the connection with Lord Ingleby of Ripley Castle, and also with a Thomas Ingleby of Lawkland Hall. Christopher Brown was the son of James Batty-Brown of Stainforth and Ellen Abbotson-Ingleby and grandson of John Abbotson-Ingleby of Lawkland Hall. Christopher Brown of Stainforth was born 2 July 1815, baptised at Giggleswick, died intestate and unmarried on 20 June 1886 and was buried at Stainforth. He had six brothers and sisters, three of whom died at less than a year old. His sister Margaret Brown was born on 28 August 1827, baptised at Liverpool and died 5 January 1841 and was buried at Giggleswick.

The internet also revealed that the web site of Penmon had a picture of Christopher Brown with a model of the first Christopher Brown lifeboat.

Service record of the ‘Christopher Brown’ Lifeboats at Penmon

	Cost	Period	Services	Lives Saved
Christopher Brown (1)	£251	1868-1880	9	20
Christopher Brown (2)	£363	1880-1896	18	30
Christopher Brown (3)	£514	1896-1915	19	45

Service Record of the ‘Ellen & Margaret of Settle’ Lifeboats at Hornsea

	Cost	Period	Services	Lives Saved
Ellen & Margaret of Settle (1)	£286 +£112*	1875-1887	7	37
Ellen & Margaret of Settle (2)	£406	1887-1905	4	5
Ellen & Margaret of Settle (3)	£765	1905-1912	5	0
Ellen & Margaret of Settle (4)	£1015	1912-1924	5	11
*£112 is cost of launch carriage

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements and grateful thanks for the photographs and for information made available for this article are due to Mrs Anne Read - Honorary Curator of the Museum of North Craven Life based in the Folly, Settle. Mr Jeff Morris - Archivist for the Lifeboat Enthusiasts’ Society, gave permission to use information from his published books - (1) The Closed Lifeboat Stations of Yorkshire and (2) The Story of the Penmon and Beaumaris Lifeboats and (3) copies of relevant pages from the RNLI Annual Reports showing branch accounts for the Settle Fund. The books listed above are available from Mr Jeff Morris Esq., 14 Medina Road, Coventry, CV6 5JB at a cost of £3.00 each, including p. & p.