Lifesaving, Vessel Loss

Memorial: M1434

Memorial at the Priory Church, Bridlington commemorating six men drowned in the capsize of the lifeboat ‘Harbinger’ during the gale of 1871

Location

Priory Church, Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England

Transcript

[South side] 'IN REMEMBRANCE OF / ROBERT PICKERING, / JOHN CLAPPISON, / RICHARD ATKIN, JAMES WATSON, / DAVID PURDON / WILLIAM COBB / WHO LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE / HARBINGER LIFEBOAT / WHILST NOBLY ENDEAVOURING TO / SAVE THOSE WHOSE BODIES REST BELOW ' [East side] 'IN LASTING MEMORY / OF / A GREAT COMPANY OF SEAMEN / WHO PERISHED IN THE FEARFUL GALE / WHICH SWEPT OVER / BRIDLINGTON BAY, / ON FEBRUARY 10TH, 1871. / THE WAVES OF THE SEA ARE MIGHTY AND RAGE HORRIBLY, / BUT THE LORD WHO DWELLETH ON HIGH / IS MIGHTIER' [North side] 'THE ARROW OF SUNDERLAND / CAROLINE OF WHITBY / JOHN OF WHITSTABLE / LAVINIA OF SEAHAM / DELTA OF WHITBY / MARGARET OF IPSWICH / PRODUCE OF FOLKESTONE / TERESITA OF HARWICH / WILLIAM MAITLAND, WHITBY / AND AN UNKNOWN ENGLISH SCHOONER, WERE WRECKED ON THE 10TH / OF FEBRUARY, 1871, WITH LOSS OF LIFE IN BRIDLINGTON BAY. / THIRTEEN OTHER VESSELS WERE LOST IN THE BAY IN THE SAME GALE' [WEST SIDE] 'FORTY-THREE BODIES / OF THOSE WHO ON THAT DAY / LOST THEIR LIVES LIE IN THIS / CHURCHYARD, NEAR THIS MONUMENT'

Details

Description: Obelisk on pedestal and four-stepped plinth, within an enclosure of iron posts and chains.
Type: Memorial
Position: Churchyard
Materials: Stone
Vessel: Arrow, Caroline, Delta, John, Lavinia, Harbinger, Margaret, Produce, Teresita, William Maitland

People

Atkin, Richard
Age:
Date of Death: 10/2/1871
Cause of Death: Maritime accident
Rank / Occupation: Lifeboatman
Organisation:
Clappison, John
Age:
Date of Death: 10/2/1871
Cause of Death: Maritime accident
Rank / Occupation: Lifeboatman
Organisation:
Cobb, William
Age:
Date of Death: 10/2/1871
Cause of Death: Maritime accident
Rank / Occupation: Lifeboatman
Organisation:
Pickering, Robert
Age:
Date of Death: 10/2/1871
Cause of Death: Maritime accident
Rank / Occupation: Lifeboatman
Organisation:
Purdon, David
Age:
Date of Death: 10/2/1871
Cause of Death: Maritime accident
Rank / Occupation: Lifeboatman
Organisation:
Watson, James
Age:
Date of Death: 10/2/1871
Cause of Death: Maritime accident
Rank / Occupation: Lifeboatman
Organisation:

Extra

Notes: Erected by public subscription. It commemorates the men of the lifeboat 'Harbinger' which capsized while attempting rescue the crews of vessels struck by the great gale of 1871.
Bibliography: W. Sharrah and J.W. Day 'Tales of the Sea: being an account of the great storm in Bridlington Bay when thirty vessels were wrecked', (Hull, 1876) pp. 9-10, 16-28.
Recorder: See biblio and Chris Newall 2003
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