LifeboatIn 1790, the first lifeboat - built specially to rescue people from stormy sea, the Original, was first tested at sea by its English builder, Henry Greathead of South Shields. The Original was 30ft long, twelve oars, self-righting, and had seven hundredweight of cork for buoyancy. She went out to wrecks for forty years, saving hundreds of lives. It was built based on the design of William Wouldhave, parish clerk of South Shields, who won the prize offered by Newcastle businessmen following a local tragedy on Mar 1789. At the mouth of the river Tyne, the ship Adventurehad ran ashore in a violent storm. Though in sight of help, the crew of eight all perished. Spectators offered local boatmen rewards to save the crew, but none would venture out to face certain death. |
