An Appeal to the British Nation on the Humanity and Policy of Forming a National Institution for the Preservation of Lives and Property from Shipwreck (1825)

by Sir William Hillary

The accomplishment of so many and such important objects, on a scale commensurate with the frequency and the extent of the misfortunes they are intended to alleviate, requires the combined efforts of numerous public bodies and zealous individuals—preconcerted arrangements on every dangerous coast, and considerable pecuniary resources.

Under these convictions, I presume most earnestly to recommend, that public meetings should be held in those maritime counties and great sea ports of the united kingdom which have not yet come forward in this cause, for the formation of district or local associations on all our coasts, regulated in their internal concerns by their own committees, as departments of, and in direct communication with, the parent Institution, having an union of funds, of object and of effort, for the most extended adoption of every means which the magnitude of the evil to be averted imperatively demands at our hands.

Nor are those whose residence is the most remote from the scenes of these disasters, less interested in the universal establishment of this system.—Where is to be found that family, of any station, even in the very interior of the kingdom, which has not some near and dear connexions, some valued relatives or friends, who, from their professions or their pursuits, may become exposed to the hazard of shipwreck, and who may be thus preserved, through the very means to which their bounty may contribute? Themselves distant from the scene of danger, they may, without effort or toil, become instrumental in the rescue of those they most value in life—equally then are they called on to take measures for the collection of funds in the midland counties as on the coasts, in order to give increased resources to the Institution, for the most effectual prosecution of its plans.

As this great national measure shall continue to establish itself in the public mind, the adoption of more extended and systematic plans will naturally impress themselves on our consideration.

From an almost universal want of foresight in our seamen, and a carelessness in providing against future dangers, naturally arising from the reckless bravery of their character, they would turn with contempt from any proposition that each should always take with him to sea, some one of those simple but practicable means by which his rescue from shipwreck might be greatly facilitated. In like manner the owners or masters of vessels, some from an ill timed parsimony, but far more, from thoughtlessness or prejudice, neglect to provide their vessels with any of the apparatus which would, in many instances, insure the safety of the passengers and crews.

What is thus the duty of every one, will, amongst such a numerous class of individuals, be either entirely neglected or imperfectly executed, and a continued sacrifice of life be the certain consequence.

Our seamen constitute one of the most valuable properties of the state. The preservation of the life of the subject is one of the most imperative duties of an enlightened government—it has therefore become indispensably requisite, in this great maritime nation, that these evils, arising from causes which no unity of opinion or of action, in the parties most interested, can ever be expected to remove, should as far as possible be obviated by legislative enactment—and that vessels should not, after a given period, be permitted to clear out at the ports from which they are to sail, until, according to their tonnage, the number of their passengers and crews, and the nature of the voyage on which they are bound, it shall have been ascertained that they have been provided by the owners, and according to established regulations, with those means of safety which shall be required.

These should consist of the most simple and effectual apparatus for establishing a communication in case of wreck, between the vessel and the shore—materials for the construction of rafts—lifebuoys—cork jackets, or other buoyant means of safety to individuals; boats in a reasonable proportion to the numbers on board, to some of which the properties of life boats might immediately and easily be given—with other measures which the great importance of the object demands, on a scale consistent with that economy which should ever attend compulsatory regulations.

The extent and nature of these precautionary measures require mature consideration, and would best be ascertained by a committee of experienced and scientific officers and individuals selected from the navy, the Trinity House, Lloyd's, the Ship-owners' Society, and other departments connected with maritime affairs, on whose reports, and after minute and deliberate investigation, perhaps an enactment could alone be founded to produce the much desired effect.—It is only by reducing into a system those measures which are now left to chance, or to the forethought or the caprice of thousands, that such effectual precautions can be taken, as will insure that at all times the danger may be promptly met by adequate means of rescue.

It has been allowed by those of much ability and experience, that it would be very important, that seamen in the merchants service should be examined, by some competent authority, to be established for the purpose, as to their possessing that knowledge of their profession, on which the safety of their vessels and the lives of their crews must continually depend, before any one, who has not already filled that office, should be allowed to take the command of a vessel, of such tonnage and description, and with such exceptions as, on more full investigation of the subject, might be deemed requisite.