As one of our nation’s favourite charities, the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) is part of our island’s national identity. We readily drop coins in their boat-shaped collection boxes when they are rattled under our noses, or rattle boxes under other people’s noses. We may even visit one of the RNLI stations on days out to coastal resorts, wondering what it feels like to be a member of the crew as that lifeboat launches into stormy seas to save a stranded vessel.
But what do we know about the man who started it all? Given the charity’s iconic status, the answer is generally very little. This fact was brought home to me, when I, like thousands of others before me, joined the ranks of the RNLI’s volunteers. I was assigned to the RNLI Heritage Department at their HQ, the RNLI College in Poole, who asked me to transcribe a collection of letters. These were written by Sir William Hillary, who founded the RNLI in March 1824. As far as anyone knew, these letters had never been comprehensively studied or deciphered before. One of the first I read was dated October 1825, a year after the foundation of the institution. Hillary had set out in an open rowing boat in a tumultuous sea off the Isle of Man to rescue 50 people stranded on a boat called the City of Glasgow. This was the first of many rescues in which he actively took part. Hillary, I discovered, wasn’t a man to willingly watch from the safety of the shore.
Over the months that followed the unexpectedly colourful life of this philanthropic pioneer emerged. He was a man of his age, straddling the two centuries in which he lived: imbued with 18th century acceptance and regard for status and social convention, yet also a mover and shaker, embracing the new century’s spirit of humanitarian and scientific endeavour.
Fittingly for a philanthropist who would make the sea a safer place, he was born into a Quaker family in Liverpool on 4 January 1770. During the 18th century, the city’s prosperity relied on trade in slavery, and like many, Hillary’s father was a participant. He was one of Liverpool’s principal ship owners with interests in the West Indies that included a sugar plantation manned by enslaved people.
William showed little interest in the family enterprise. A handsome young man with great personal charm, he yearned to travel, and to rise in society. Aged 26, he left Liverpool and set off, like many young men of his class, on a Grand Tour of Europe, making well-connected friends along the way. It wasn’t long before his plan bore fruit: he became equerry to George III’s son, Prince Augustus and he met his future wife, the heiress Frances Disney-Ffytche. They married soon after his return to England in 1800 and moved into her ancestral family home, Danby Place in Essex.
Hillary became a member of the local gentry, filling the grand Tudor house with old master paintings and lavish furnishings. As the threat of Napoleonic invasion became imminent, Hillary saw a further opportunity to boost his social standing. He raised a regiment of 1400 men to deter the French, should they decide to land on the Essex coast. It was the largest private militia in the country - an expensive undertaking, which he couldn’t afford.
Rather than lose face, Hillary borrowed money from friends. But eventually they ran out of patience at the unpaid debts and broken promises. His grand life imploded. He was forced to sell his art collection. Then his marriage to Frances fell apart with the discovery that her third child had been fathered by another man.
Looking for an escape, Hillary took refuge on the Isle of Man, a fashionable summer holiday destination where living was cheap, and debtors were safe from British law.
On this wind-swept island, set in the Irish Sea, maritime perils were inescapable. There are more than 2,000 shipwrecks recorded in the waters surrounding it. Hillary helped in the rescue of HMS Vigilant when she ran aground on Conister Rock in October 1822, and two months later he witnessed the wreck of HMS Racehorse in which six seamen and three rescuers drowned. The need for well-designed purpose-built lifeboats seemed obvious, yet at the time only a scattering existed in British coastal towns. In impoverished communities, the financial benefits of allowing ships to founder and salvaging their cargo could easily outweigh humanitarian concerns. As a result, the few boats that existed, were often poorly manned and maintained.
Something needed to be done, Hillary decided. His vision was to create a nationally coordinated organisation supplying, supervising and maintaining lifeboats around the coast of Britain. With proper rescue boats and crews many more lives could be saved. The organisation would also offer rewards and acknowledge the bravery of rescuers, as well as taking care of bereaved families.
Hillary was not the first to turn his attention to the subject of shipwreck. The Royal Humane Society (founded in 1774) had paved the way, issuing publications about saving people from water. Other philanthropists, including Captain George Manby (1765-1854), had devised lifesaving apparatus that would be fired from shore to stricken vessels. But Hillary was the first to approach the problem in such a coherent way.
Ever the optimist, and with connections to the Liverpool’s maritime fraternity as well as links in royal echelons, Hillary felt well placed to promote his scheme. He set out his ideas in a pamphlet entitled: An Appeal to the British Nation on the Humanity and Policy of Forming a National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck. Scraping together enough money to print 700 pamphlets, he sent them to the Admiralty Board, the merchants of Liverpool, Trinity House (which looked after lighthouses), government ministers and the press.
The essence of the RNLI remains broadly unchanged from the original vision described in his 1823 pamphlet: a voluntary association, funded by private subscription, equipped with the most advanced technology and run by a central committee.
To begin with offers of practical support were scant. Only when Hillary returned to London, to petition in person, did momentum gather. A public meeting was arranged, more support trickled in. Finally, on March 4, 1824, the Archbishop of Canterbury presided over an assembly at which the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck was formally founded. In the audience were numerous illustrious figures of the day, including the MP William Wilberforce and Captain Manby, who were informed that King George IV had agreed to be patron, and the Prime Minister would be president.
Over the years that followed Hillary’s commitment to the institution and hands on approach never faltered. By the time of his death in 1847, he had been awarded four gold awards for his personal efforts in saving lives. Not until the following century was this record overtaken by Henry Blogg of Cromer.
Since 1824, over 144,000 lives have been saved around the UK by the RNLI. Poole is home to the RNLI College, a centre of training excellence for lifeboat crews and lifeguards offering world-class training facilities, including the Sea Survival Centre and lifeboat simulator. And there are five RNLI lifeboat stations along the Dorset coast at Lyme Regis, Weymouth, Swanage, Poole, and Mudeford.
Back on the Isle of Man, where Hillary is buried, a statue of the lifeboat baronet looks out to sea from above the harbour at Douglas; larger than life, like the man himself, clad in oilskin and boots as if preparing for a rescue. Below, in the RNLI boathouse (one of five on the island) sits the current lifeboat Jay and Charles Beeby awaiting the next shout.
The Lifeboat Baronet: Launching the RNLI by Janet Gleeson is published by The History Press at £14.99
200th Anniversary Events
March 15: The Shout
Written and performed by the Wareham Whalers Sea Shanty group, this evening concert at the RNLI College in Poole celebrates the RNLI’s anniversary and history.
Book at Eventbrite
May 18-19: Poole Lifeboat Festival
Hosted at the RNLI College in Poole, this two-day event featuring inspiring exhibitions and interactive experiences from across the RNLI. Visit the place where their lifeboats are made, soak up the festival atmosphere with its live music, food and drink and talk to some of the fantastic people who make the RNLI what it is today.
RNLI Podcast: 200 Voices
There are currently 238 lifeboat stations, and lifeguards watching over 242 beaches as well as thousands of hardworking fundraisers supporting this lifesaving charity. Listen to their 200 Voices podcast series, to hear stories from supporters, volunteers and crew as well as remarkable tales from those whose lives have been saved.
Find more details and how to support the organisation at rnli.org
