The Tyne lifeboat at South Shields celebrates the original boat

A NOTABLE monument to Queen Victoria's Jubilee stands between the North and South Marine Parks in South Shields.

Dating from 1890 it is a baroque style clock designed by J.H Morton.

But the tower also commemorates the invention of the lifeboat at South Shields in 1790 with the names of two men – William Wouldhave and Henry Greathead.

The Victoria Jubilee Tower. Picture: DAVID SIMPSON

Alongside the monument, beneath a cast iron canopy of 1894 a lifeboat, of 1833 is displayed. The boat is called The Tyne and is of similar design to that developed at South Shields some 44 year earlier.

South Shields’ association with the development of the lifeboat dates back to 1789.

In the September of that year a Newcastle ship called The Adventure was stranded on a treacherous sandbank – the Herd Sands – in severe conditions off the mouth of the Tyne.

Sadly its crew members perished in the cold sea, with many thrown from the rigging as helpless onlookers watched from the shore.

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A committee was formed at South Shields to discuss the development of a boat that could withstand conditions necessary for the saving of lives and two men in particular rose to the challenge - Henry Greathead, a South Shields boat builder and William Wouldhave, the parish clerk of St Hilda’s in South Shields both submitted plans.

Wouldhave (1751-1821) was born across the Tyne at North Shields but had moved to South Shields by the 1770s.

Greathead (1757-1818) was born in Richmond in North Yorkshire and in his earlier life travelled the seas as a ship’s carpenter - at one point finding himself captured by the Press Gangs at New York and forced to work on board a British sloop. He remained in service until the end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783.

There is some argument over which of the two men, if either, should take the credit for the design of the first lifeboat.

The Tyne lifeboat is of similar design to the ‘The Original’ but was built over 40 years later. Picture: DAVID SIMPSON

At the time it was certainly Greathead who was given almost all the credit, partly due to the support of Newcastle’s Literary and Philosophical Society.

Greathead had made efforts to secure the society’s support and they backed him in parliament, securing him £1,200 in the process - much to the anger of Wouldhave, who was offered a few coins for his efforts but claimed the lifeboat was his design.

From the descriptions of those who knew him at the time, Wouldhave seems to have been very pasionate and engaged in developing the lifeboat and invested much effort into its design.

It seems he was of comparatively humble background and perhaps less articulate in his mannerism than the other members of the committee who had issued the lifeboat challenge.

Greathead had his detractors, though, and some have claimed his only contribution to the design was the rounded keel and that even that was a mistake.

The general consensus in South Shields today seems to be that Wouldhave, should have, taken most of the credit.

Who it was that actually perfected the design will continue to be debated but Greathead was certainly skilled in building boats and went on to build around 31 lifeboats beginning with The Original, the world’s first lifeboat. Hundreds of lives were certainly saved by Greathead’s craftsmanship if not by his design.

Perhaps in the first place the real credit for inventing the lifeboat should go to the town of South Shields, for forming a committee and encouraging the development of lifeboats with the intention of saving lives.

Incidentally, the world’s oldest surviving lifeboat dates from 1802 and can still be seen in the North East of England. Called The Zetland, it was built by Greathead at South Shields and can be seen in a museum at Redcar on the Cleveland coast.

* Thanks to North East historian David Simpson for his help in compiling this feature. Visit his website at englandsnortheast.co.uk for more on the history and culture of the region.

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