165 Years of Royal Assent (30/07/15)

Today marks the Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society’s 165th Anniversary of Incorporation

On the 30th July 1850 Royal Assent was given to an Act of Parliament to incorporate the members of the Society to enable them to better carry into effect their charitable designs.

At the time of Incorporation, the Society was only 11 years old, but had been able to assist more than 3000 mariners and their dependants in the previous year, at a total cost of £3,648.

The 1851 Annual Report commented that there were half a million British seamen and fishermen, and that, on average, 550 British vessels were wrecked each year.
It is no surprise therefore that the Society’s activities concentrated, as the founders had intended, on the implications of shipwreck: board and lodging for survivors, assistance with replacement boats and gear, relief for widows and orphans, the provision of lifeboats, the reward of acts of heroism in rescues, and the improved construction of fishing boats.