Newhaven History
1803 The first lifeboat arrived in May.
1809 The station closed when the lifeboat moved to Brighton.
1825 On 29 January the first ever lifeboat to be ordered by the RNLI, from William Plenty of Newbury, arrived on station.
1827 A Silver Medal was awarded to Seaman J Sullivan for rescuing three people from a capsized boat on 15 November 1826.
1829 The lifeboat station closed after the lifeboat was sent to Cowes.
1833 11 February
Silver Medals were awarded to Lt Rawston RN, Lt Grandy RN and Thomas Morgan for rescuing five people from the wrecked smack John.
16 June
A Silver Medal was awarded to Lt James Read RN for rescuing three people from the wrecked sloop Industry.
1849 A Silver Medal was awarded to Coastguard Abraham H Young for rescuing six men from the wrecked La Fayette on 29 November 1848.
1852 A lifeboat was provided to the town and was taken over by the RNLI in 1854.
1860 A Silver Medal was awarded to Gunner Charles Leese for rescuing two crew from the brigantine Annie and for saving a boy from the wrecked schooner Woodside on 2 June.
1867 A new boathouse was built.
1904 The first RNLI lifeboat to be fitted with an engine, J McConnel Hussey, was sent to Newhaven for trials.
1907 The station’s first motor lifeboat arrived.
1910 Crew Member Joseph Richards died from exposure after a service on 3 December.
1924 A Bronze Medal was awarded to Coxswain Richard Payne for rescuing the crew of the tug Richmere.
1926 A Bronze Medal was awarded to Mr CJ Skinner, a passing motor cyclist, for plunging into the breakers and saving two people from the yacht Fidelity.
1928 A Centenary Vellum was awarded to the station.
1930 A Silver Medal was awarded to Coxswain Richard Payne for rescuing 10 men from the schooner Mogens Koch on 7 December 1929.
1940 The lifeboat Cecil and Lilian Philpott was one of the 19 lifeboats that took part in the evacuation of British Forces from Dunkirk.
1943 Signalman B Clark was washed out of the lifeboat and drowned while on service to HM Trawler Avanturine on 23 November.
1944 A Silver Medal was awarded to Coxswain Leonard AJ Peddlesden and Bronze Medals to Crew Members Frederick Parker, Richard Lower, Alfred Eager, Stephen Holden, Harold Moore, and Stanley Winter for a service on 23 November 1943 to the trawler Avanturine in a gale with very rough sea. Several members of the crew were injured and the lifeboat suffered severe damage during the service. Signalman Benjamin Clark was awarded a posthumous Bronze Medal after he was washed out of the lifeboat and lost.
1952 A Commemorative Vellum was awarded to the station for 150 years service.
1955 A Silver Medal and The Maud Smith award for the bravest act of lifesaving in 1954 were awarded to Coxswain William Harvey for rescuing eight crew from the schooner Vega on 27 November 1954.
1988 A Framed Letter of Thanks was awarded to Coxswain Leonard Patten when the lifeboat rescued the five crew from fishing vessel La Francoise in a violent storm and very rough seas on 16 October 1987.
2003 A Vellum was awarded to commemorate 200 years as a lifeboat station.
2004 A new boathouse was completed in April.
2006 Coxswain Ian Johns was awarded a Framed Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman for his part in saving two people who had been swept out to sea on 1 August.
Station honours
At Newhaven lifeboat station the following awards have been made:
Framed Letter of Thanks 2
Bronze Medal 9
Silver Medal 10
