Weston super Mare RNLI Lifeboat - Early 1900's: The Early Years
On December 12th 1901 a legacy was received from the estate of the late Mrs Anna Sophia Stock in the sum of £4888.11.3d. It was decided to use this money to provide a new lifeboat and boathouse at Weston.
The boathouse was built by H W Pollard, cost £2575.3.0d and is still in use today. The new lifeboat, a Watson Class, cost £891, arrived on station on 29th May 1903 and was named 'Colonel Stock'
'Colonel Stock' was not called on for 12 years, but when she was, on 13th January 1915, she came to the assistance of the ketch 'The Fame' off Sand Point and the crew of 3 was rescued.
At a naming ceremony on 27th June 1935, HRH the Duke of Kent, President of the RNLI, christened a new boat ' Fifi and Charles'. She had cost £3207 and was a Liverpool Class, non self-righter, and was the sixth boat paid out of a legacy of £10,000 left to the institution by Mr Charles Carr Ashley of Mentone in France (This legacy eventually paid for TEN boats!).
In April 1950 'Fifi and Charles' was fitted with a 'Coastal Radio'
AcknowledgementThis is a very short extraction of details from a book called 'The Story of Weston-super-Mare Lifeboats' written by and produced by Jeff Morris to whom we are grateful for allowing us to reproduce the parts you have read.
This book is available at the Weston-super-Mare Lifeboat shop price £3.00
This book records a history of some of the rescues by Weston-super-Mare Lifeboat. Since 1882 lifeboats based at Weston-super-Mare have made 1353 service calls and saved 454 lives (as at December 2000)