The Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society’s record of care for seafaring families has stretched the length and breadth of Britain’s shores for 185 years. Few places reflect this lasting impact more vividly than Shetland – a community deeply entwined with the fortunes, dangers and tragedies of the sea.
In the summer edition of “Coontin Kin,” the magazine of the Shetland Family History Society, historian Alan Beattie – whose own family links span several generations of local shipping – explores the Society’s unique contribution to Shetland’s seafaring heritage.
Responding to TragedyThe hazardous nature of fishing and shipping has shaped Shetland’s story for centuries, with tragic losses in the 19th and early 20th centuries leaving deep scars on the islands. In 1839, moved by such disasters, the Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners’ Royal Benevolent Society (now known simply as the Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society) was launched to provide practical relief and comfort to those left behind. From the beginning, Shetland was included among the far-flung outposts supported by the Society’s growing network of voluntary agents.
By the late 1840s, hundreds of Shetland mariners proudly carried their Society medallions – tokens of membership sometimes worn around the neck for identification if disaster struck. The local agents were often postmasters, merchants or ship agents – trusted figures who maintained subscriptions, administered relief, and corresponded with London on behalf of those in need. Legendary island names resound through the records: William Rae Duncan, Lerwick postmaster and the first resident Shetland agent, later followed by Joseph Leask and the local shipping firm Hay & Co.
The Society’s impact is captured in remarkable stories from newspaper archives. In 1840, a Shetland fishing boat, blown off course by a gale, survived a harrowing 36-hour ordeal before landing, exhausted, on the coast of Norway. With the help of the British Consul and, crucially, the Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society, the crew were clothed, fed and made their way home. In other cases, the Society responded rapidly to support widows and orphans, as seen when two boats were lost on a July day in 1842, leaving dozens of dependents.
By the late 19th century, agents in Shetland were distributing thousands of pounds in grants at a time when the local membership could only raise a fraction of the sum – evidence of the Society’s broad charitable reach. Typical support included annual grants to widows and children, help for elderly parents, and funds for men stranded or injured far from home.
Archival ledgers in Shetland still preserve poignant glimpses of the Society’s influence: lists of members, records of appeals and relief provided, and names of donors who rallied to the cause. Alan Beattie’s article highlights these precious sources and testifies to the Society’s vital role not only in providing material support, but in knitting together the maritime community in times of hardship.
That tradition continues today. Last year we received nearly 900 new applications for assistance, and distributed grants amounting to £1.4 million in over 2,000 cases of need.
With heartfelt thanks to Alan Beattie and the Shetland Family History Society for sharing this chapter of mutual history. The full article is available in the latest issue of “Coontin Kin.” Shetlanders and all whose lives have been shaped by the sea can take pride in the legacy of kindness and solidarity that endures through the Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society to this day.
For more about the Society’s ongoing work, or to discover how you can support seafarers in distress, please visit www.shipwreckedmariners.org.uk.
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Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society President, Admiral Sir George Zambellas GCB DSC DL FRAeS, has been appointed Lord Warden and Admiral of the Cinque Ports.
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The One Hundred and Eighty First Annual General Meeting of the Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners’ Royal Benevolent Society will this year be held online on Tuesday, 6th October 2020.
Further details and a link to view proceedings will be posted in due course.
Chief Executive, Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society, 1 North Pallant, Chichester PO19 1TL
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The One Hundred and Eightieth Annual General Meeting of the Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners’ Royal Benevolent Society will be held at Fishmongers’ Hall, London Bridge EC4 on Tuesday 1st October 2019 at 1200.
Members and friends of the Society wishing to attend should notify The Chief Executive at Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society, 1 North Pallant, Chichester PO19 1TL
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National maritime charity seeks personal contributions from the seafaring community to celebrate its 180th anniversary.
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On Monday 19 November, the Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society welcomed the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth, Councillor Lee Mason and the Lord Mayor of Newcastle upon Tyne, Councillor David Down, to its Chichester head office for the first time since their appointments as ex-officio Vice-Presidents of the charity.
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The Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society recently received a very interesting enquiry from Mr Bill Diack, a great grandson of Mrs Jane Whyte, who, as a 40-year old mother of 9, was responsible for saving the crew from the homeward bound Dundee steamship William Hope at Aberdour beach, near Fraserburgh, in 1884. Mr Diack informed us he knew his great grandmother received £5 from the Society in recognition of her bravery that year and he asked if we had any records mentioning her actions and her award. Such a fascinating and remarkable act of heroism was well worth investigating and after searching through the archives we were delighted to let Bill know that yes, we had indeed found mention, by way of the following extract from the Society’s minute book dated Friday November 21st 1884 detailing Jane Whyte’s ‘’act of heroism’’,
Under the head of General Proceedings Correspondence, the Secretary submitted Documents reported as follows-
Correspondence dated Nov 10th, with Harbour Master at Rosshearty, and the Society’s Honorary Agent at Fraserburgh in regard to an “act of heroism” as recorded in the Public Press, by Mrs Whyte, wife of a local Farm-Servant, on occasion of wreck of the SS “ William Hope” of Dundee, in Aberdour Bay, where, during a gale on Oct 28th, Mrs Whyte courageously exposed herself to great danger in securing rope for rescue of the crew of 6 men, all told, and subsequently housing and humanely providing for the poor fellows – in recognition of which most praiseworthy services The Honorarium of the sum of £5 was unanimously awarded her.
The full story about Jane Whyte can be found here along with press coverage detailing the events and information about a storyboard being erected by the local community council detailing Jane Whyte’s heroic actions.
A memorial plaque can also be found on the site of her croft. The 100th anniversary of Jane Whyte’s passing will be this August.
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National maritime charity, the Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society, is calling on members of the maritime and rescue communities to nominate those who have demonstrated outstanding courage and expertise in aiding those in peril at sea, for its 167th Skill and Gallantry Awards.
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Towards the end of last year we received an interesting enquiry from the Queen’s Archives. They wished to reproduce the ‘commonplace books and books of cures’ of Lady Augusta Murray (1768 – 1830) and following research had ascertained the Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society had, in the very distant past, been granted the copyright to said publications and to facilitate reproduction online rights permission from the Society had to be sought.
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