Memorial to Terrible Disaster!

I opened the lid of one of my many treasure chests and found this fascinating piece of history. It is a glass plate negative of an impressive memorial for the 1901 Caister Lifeboat Disaster. Taken shortly after the memorial was unveiled, it is slightly over exposed. An adjustment or two in Adobe Photoshop allowed me to see the words on the memorial and the stones alongside. I publish both here, together with a fine modern day view by photographer, Evelyn Simak. I note that the surrounding metalwork in Evelyn's image if different to the original metal border. Perhaps, a Second World War salvage drive saw the original railings removed for scrap and then restored some time after the War? Click twice on the black and white images for a closer look.

On November 13, 1901, the Caister lifeboat, Beauchamp was launched to go to the aid of a vessel on the Barber sands. It took four hours and two attempts and, as the launching crew watched, the lifeboat was forced back towards the beach. Fifty yards from the shore, it capsized, breaking off the masts and trapping the crew beneath the boat.

Two onlookers - one a 78-year-old former assistant Coxswain, James Haylett - dashed into the sea and pulled three crewman from under the craft. Despite their bravery, the remaining crew members were drowned. Eight bodies were recovered at the scene with another body that had been washed away being recovered four months later. Haylett had saved his son-in-law and a grandson, but failed to save his two sons and another grandson who were in the boat. A good account of the heart-rending tragedy can be found HERE.

The victims were buried in Caister Cemetery where a monument raised by public suscription was unveiled in 1903.

Photograph by Evelyn Sirak