From 1803 when a Lifeboat Station was first established at Rye Harbour, The Royal National Lifeboat Institution’s Committee of Management has awarded among other things three Gold Medals and six Silver Medals for bravery and a framed letter of appreciation. That is a total of 217 years of saving lives at sea.
The “Mary Stanford Lifeboat” was placed on service at Rye Harbour in 1916. She was a non-self-righting 14 oar pulling and sailing Liverpool class surf boat chosen by the crewmen for the conditions at Rye Harbour. She was donated at a cost of £5,000 by a Mr. John F. Stanford of Regents Park following the death of his beloved mother Mary and named in her honour. John was also to donate money for the building of the Mary Stanford Wing at his local hospital at Paddington. This hospital wing is still saving lives today, whilst on the 15th November 1928 the lifeboat Mary Stanford was to capsize with the loss of all 17 crewmen, and was to be the biggest loss of life from a single lifeboat in the history of the RNLI.
Mary Stanford Lifeboat (courtesy RNLI Archive)
On 15th November 1928, the Mary Stanford Lifeboat launched with her crew from Rye Harbour, into a south-westerly, force 10-11 gale with winds in excess of 80 miles per hour raging in the English Channel.
The maroons were fired at 5 a.m. and the men ran in driving rain the 1.25 miles to the beach and after three attempts they got the Mary Stanford away into the heavy seas at 6.45 am. The 17 men were making their way to rescue the crew from the vessel ‘Alice of Riga’ which had been involved in a collision with a large German Ship ‘Smyrna’, suffering the loss of her rudder and a hole torn in her side, 8 miles south west of Dungeness.
However, at 6.50 a.m. Rye Coastguard received a message saying that the crew from the ‘Alice of Riga’ had been rescued by the ‘Smyrna’ a nearby ship. Frantic efforts were made by the Signalman to recall the Lifeboat all to no avail. With the blinding spray and driving rain coupled with all of the action going on in the Lifeboat, keeping her head to sea with the oars while the mast and sails were raised, the crew did not see the recall signal.
At approximately 09.00 a.m. the mate of the S.S. Halton saw the Lifeboat 3 miles W.S.W from Dungeness and all appeared okay. The Lifeboat was also seen by a boy sailor on the Smyrna a little later. Then at about 10.30 a.m. a young lad, Cecil Marchant, collecting driftwood at Camber looked out to sea and in a bright shaft of sunlight saw the Lifeboat capsize. He ran home and told his parents what he had seen, and his father reported it to Jurys Gap Coastguard.
Soon rumours were going around Rye Harbour Village that the boat had ‘gone over’, families ran to the shore with the Vicar and prayed for the lives of the crew. By midday, the Mary Stanford could be seen bottom up floating towards the shore, and over the next 2 hours 15 bodies washed ashore, including two in the upturned lifeboat. The army doctor and soldiers were summoned from Lydd to help and no effort was spared in trying to revive the crewmen, but all died. Three months later the sea gave up the body of Henry Cutting, which washed ashore at Eastbourne, but the body of the youngest crewman John Head aged 17 has never been found.
The impact of the disaster on the Rye Harbour community was devastating and deeply affected all who lived there. The disaster was also felt world-wide and was front page news over the days that followed.
The bodies of the 15 crew were laid in state in the Sailors Institute and Tom Pope, who was 8 when he lost three brothers in the tragedy was to recall being taken along with the other children to pay their respects to the crewmen. One of the other children would have been William Stonham who years later was to recall that he was the only child to wake up as his father was preparing to leave and walk the mile and a half to the Mary Stanford lifeboat after hearing the maroon calling the lifeboat crew on duty. He sat at the top of the stairs and watched his father struggling into his coat. He said to Joseph, “Here Dad, take my torch.” Joseph replied, “It’s alright, I won’t need it. I won’t be long.”
On the day of the funeral, Tuesday 28th November it was decided that the children should not attend, and instead were given a lunch party at Ma Tunbridge’s Tearoom in the village. This was a lady who loved the boys on the crew, and would get the younger ones into her tearoom to keep them out of the pub… now she was protecting the young ones from the outpouring of grief at the funeral. The funeral was attended by thousands including the Latvian Minister Fridricke Vesmans with his laurel wreath bound with the Latvian colours. Black storm clouds gathered as the 15 flag-draped flower-laden coffins were carried from the Mission Hall to the church by 120 pull bearers from the RNLI, the Hastings lifeboat crew wearing their red woollen caps, and British Legion to the strains of “Lead kindly light”. The church was filled with the flowers that had been sent from all over the country whilst the service took place in the churchyard with the 15 friends laid to rest sharing one communal grave as they had the Mary Stanford Lifeboat. The weather held for them as they were gently lowered, and laurel leaves and chrysanthemums were scattered. One newspaper correspondent was to report “few ceremonies could be simpler and none more impressive than that which accompanied their burial… To no Prince or Emperor has more sincere homage been paid than that today to the memory of these simple hardworking fisherfolk who died on an errand of mercy to save others”. Three months later when the sea gave up Henry Cutting’s body, Henry was also laid to rest there with his friends and crewmates.
A tablet of black marble and Manx stone the border interlacing based on the design of Manx crosses was given by the people of the Isle of Man and placed inside the Church having been previously unveiled by Sir Claude Hill, Governor of the Isle of Man On 24th June 1929. Funds were collected and three years later the memorial designed by James Wedgwood was unveiled by Lord Blanesburgh during a service of dedication attended by thousands once again. (Lord Blanesburgh also paid for a memorial window in St. Thomas’s Church Winchelsea which was dedicated on Saturday 21st October 1933), but one person who would not be present at that unveiling was Julia Pope three of whose sons had perished, and was dead herself before the first anniversary. She was lovingly laid to rest close to her boys, and Tom Pope, who I was to meet years later lost his mother and three older brothers to that tragedy.
So, each year on the Sunday after Remembrance Sunday the village of Rye Harbour honours their heroes who so many are related to. The Mary Stanford Memorial Service has been held since the disaster, except for the years during World War 2. Families, friends, and strangers come to pay their respects to the 17 brave men of Rye Harbour, who gave their lives, whilst attempting to rescue others. Unfortunately, this year thanks to the pandemic there was no moving church service or lighting of candles for Richard Tollett to organise, but the lifeboat crew still honoured the men as they do every year by placing 17 red roses, one for each memorial stone including young Jackie Head. And others including family, RNLI, British Legion, Icklesham Parish Council, and the Friends of the Mary Stanford Lifeboat still laid wreaths and bowed their heads.
Following the disaster the Lifeboat House was never used again, and the lifeboat was taken by road to the RNLI in Poplar, London and broken up as it was felt it was not appropriate to use it again.
However, John Stanford was to donate another £11,000 to the RNLI and the name was used again when on 7th July 1930 another lifeboat was dedicated in honour of the Rye Harbour men and placed on service at Ballycotton in Ireland. A few years ago, I stood on that lifeboat moored in a large dock in Dublin before it was taken back to Ballycotton to be restored.
As for the Mary Stanford Lifeboat House, the Friends achieved Grade II Listing, we have our project design for the restoration, and our restoration builders in place thanks to our wonderful Civil Engineer for Canterbury Cathedral, Brian Morton who loved the building and gave us so much of his time for free before his death. Brian would be upset to know that the Lottery turned us down for funding, he had been previously been a committee member and was convinced this was the kind of project they loved. However, we are undaunted and will raise the £100k to restore it, and there will eventually be a permanent Museum to tell the story of these heroes of Rye Harbour.
Cllr. Jacqueline Stanford – Icklesham Parish Council
If you want to know more, or are interested in donating to the restoration please contact: jacqueline.stanford@sky.com or telephone 07979 524108