Looking back at Hunstanton’s first lifeboat
In our weekly Picture This feature, Lynn Museum looks back at a town’s first-ever lifeboat...
The first lifeboat station to be established in Hunstanton was formed by the Norfolk Shipwreck Association in 1824. In 1867 the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) took over the running.
The station’s first lifeboat was named the Licensed Victuallers, funded from donations by the Licensed Victuallers’ Lifeboat Fund (an association of pub owners).
The boat was delivered free of charge to the station by the Great Eastern Railway. Licensed Victuallers operated from 1867 to 1887 during which time it launched 21 times and saved 86 lives.
The large expanse of shore at low tide made launching at Hunstanton difficult, and horses were used to pull this boat out to sea.