Newbiggin-By-The-Sea.

The Story of Newbiggin-By-The-Sea  Lifeboat Station -  Established 1851.

The brief history of Newbiggin and it's very first Lifeboat Station (below), is taken from Mr. John Robinson's booklet "The Story of Newbiggin-By-The-Sea Lifeboat Station - Established 1851."  My sincere thanks to John for his permission to use the extract.  

The Need For A Lifeboat Station.
Like all east coast townships, Newbiggin-by-the-sea has witnessed much carnage of human life by shipwreck and fishing disaster.  The inhabitants have worked the North Sea both as an inshore fishery and trading outlet exporting fish products, grain and grindstones.  Until the sinking of a coal mine in 1908, the population consisted mainly of fisherfolk and mariners supported by a small number of businesses necessary to meet the needs of a seaside working community having facilities for holiday and day-trip visitors.

Notable churchmen in the 1770's appreciated the need for a life saving service on the Northumberland coast.  Their opinion that a fishing coble, altered to achieve unimmergible qualities, was welcomed by local inshore fishermen.  At Newbiggin-by-the-sea, the preferred coble, expertly handled by men with skills passed from father to son, was used for life-saving until 1851.

The year 1851 proved to be very important to the 'Royal Institution For the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck', so called since 1824 and changed to       'The Royal National Lifeboat Institution' in 1854.

The Provision Of The Lifeboat Station.
In 1851, the Duke of Northumberland, offered a prize of 100 guineas for the best design of a lifeboat, which was won by James Beeching.  The design, altered in 1852 by James Peake, was finally accepted after trials proved satisfactory.  The Duke of Northumberland in acknowledgement of his statement in 1851 to 'complete the coast of Northumberland with lifeboats and rocket apparatus at his own expense', ordered three of Peake's lifeboats and placed them at Cullercoats (Percy), Hauxley (Warkworth) and Newbiggin-by-the-sea.

The Duke's gift was greatly appreciated at Newbiggin, for on the 18th March 1851, the village experienced a second major fishing disaster with the loss of ten fishermen.  Five colleagues valiantly attempted to save four crews of capsized cobles.  They manned a coble used for that purpose and managed to save two men.  It was realised that more oarsmen than a five-man coble could accommodate, would have enabled recovery of other survivors just out of reach of the rescue vessel.  One of those 'new lifeboats' with ten oars was needed; hence, in 1851 local action was successful in efforts to establish a lifeboat station and the five rescuing fishermen, John Dent, Henry Brown, Philip Jefferson, William and Robert Armstrong were awarded The Institutions Silver Medal.

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