New Brighton History
1851 Silver Medals were awarded to Coxswains Peter Cropper, Thomas Evans and Joseph Formby for their long service on the Liverpool Dock Trustees lifeboat.
1863 The RNLI established a lifeboat station and the tubular lifeboat was kept on moorings in the River Mersey.
Silver Medals were awarded to Coxswain Thomas Evans, Thomas Evans Jnr and William Evans for their efforts in rescuing 55 people from the stranded John H Elliot.
1870 A Silver Medal was awarded to Coxswain Richard Thomas for rescuing two people from the schooner Elephant on 19 October 1869. He had jumped aboard and rescued one man from the rigging as it crashed over the side.
1877 A Silver Medal was awarded to Hiram Linaker for ‘his long and intrepid services’.
1883 In heavy seas Crew Member Charles Finlay was washed out of the lifeboat and drowned.
1893 The steam lifeboat Duke of Northumberland was placed on service.
1894 A Silver Medal was awarded to Coxswain William Martin for his ‘gallant services’.
1905 Crew Members Allan Dodd and John Jones, acting as night watchmen, died from the fumes from a fire they had lit to keep themselves warm.
1923 Crew Member WJ Liversage died as a result of exposure on a lifeboat service.
The station’s first motor lifeboat was placed on service.
1925 Assistant Mechanic Herbert Harrison drowned after he was thrown out of the boarding boat.
1928 A Silver Medal was awarded to Coxswain George Robinson and Bronze Medals to Crew Members John Nicholson, George Carmody, Ralph Scott, Wilfred Garbutt, Samuel Jones, William Liversage, and John Moore for rescuing 24 men from the steamer Emile Delmas.
1938 A Silver Medal was awarded to Coxswain W Jones and Bronze Medals to Second Coxswain J Nicholson, Mechanic W Garbutt and Second Mechanic J Mason for rescuing three men from the fishing boat Progress and four men from the schooner Loch Ranza Castle that was drifting towards shore on 23 November 1938.
1947 A Bronze Medal was awarded to Second Coxswain WS Jones for evacuating the crew of six from a fort in the River Mersey.
1950 A Bronze Medal was awarded to Acting Coxswain William S Jones for rescuing four people from the schooner Happy Harry.
1954 A motor boarding boat was provided for the station from the proceeds of Panto Day, an annual event organised by Liverpool University students; it was named Panto.
1957 A Bronze Medal was awarded to Coxswain George Stonall for rescuing the crew from the coaster J B Kee.
1962 Second Mechanic FK Neilson lost his life on 6 March when he fell overboard from the boarding boat while approaching the lifeboat.
1963 A Centenary Vellum was awarded to the station.
1973 The all weather lifeboat was withdrawn from service and the station became an inshore lifeboat (ILB) station. An Atlantic 21 B class lifeboat became operational on 19 May.
1974 Silver Medals were awarded to Coxswain Edward Brown and Crew Member Robin Middleton, and Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum to Crew Members Clifford Downing, Alan Boult and Ian Campbell for rescuing three men from the fishing vessel E B H.
1975 The figure of 100,000 people rescued by the RNLI was reached when the ILB rescued a 13-year-old boy from a rubber dinghy. A Framed certificate to mark the occasion was presented by the boy, Stuart Nixon, to the station.
1976 The Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum was awarded to Helmsman Edward B Brown for a search for the yacht Annalivia.
1982 A Bronze Medal was awarded to Helmsman Edward B Brown and the Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum to Crew Member Michael Jones for rescuing two crew from the yacht Ocea.
1988 The Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum was awarded to Helmsman Anthony Clare and Framed Letters of Thanks to Crew Members Geoffrey Prince and Anthony Jones for rescuing the three crew from the yacht Samsal on 6 October 1987. The crew were also awarded the Ralph Glister Award for the most meritorious service carried out in a lifeboat under 10 metres in 1987.
1990 A new boathouse was built for the Atlantic 21 lifeboat and launching tractor and also provided a souvenir sales outlet and improved crew facilities.
1994 The following awards were made after a car had plunged through the railings at Egremont: Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum to Crew Members Michael Jones and Tony Clare; Framed Letters of Thanks to Crew Members Neil Jones and Barry Shillinglaw and Shore Helper Tony Jones.
1995 For landing and resuscitating an unconscious man in rough seas the following awards were made: The Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum to Helmsman Michael Jones; Framed Letters of Thanks to Crew Members Howard Jones, Neil Jones and Michael Haxby, and the crew of the private rescue service boat County Rescue, Richard Finlay and John Goodwin.
1996 An Atlantic 75 lifeboat, B-721 Rock Light, named after the lighthouse at the entrance to the River Mersey, was placed on service on 9 January.
2000 After an unconscious man was recovered from the sea early on Christmas morning 1999 the Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum was awarded to Helmsman Michael Jones for helming the lifeboat at the very limit of the operational capabilities of a B class lifeboat. A collective Framed Letter of Thanks was awarded to Crew Members Barry Shillinglaw, Paul Wright and Howard Jones. Eight shore helpers received a collective Letter of Appreciation from the Director, and the Station Honorary Secretary received a Letter of Appreciation from the Chief of Operations.
2005 The inshore rescue hovercraft, H-005 Hurley Spirit, was placed on service. This is the RNLI’s fifth hovercraft and was donated by Mrs Kay Hurley MBE. The hovercraft works alongside the ILB covering the many areas around the coastline where a conventional lifeboat cannot operate.
2007 Lifeboat Press Officer Philip Hockey was awarded the MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours.
Station honours
At New Brighton lifeboat station the following awards have been made:
Framed Letter of Thanks 11
Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum 10
Bronze Medal 14
Silver Medal 13
