Wolverhampton Branch of the RNLI was founded in 1863 to help shipwrecked Sailors and purchased the first Wolverhampton within three years. A second Wolverhampton was also sent to The Mumbles in 1869 which was then used by Swansea Lifeboat from Mumbles Point. Between them the two boats rescued 98 Souls on 44 launches.   

​In 1824 a Yorkshireman living on the Isle of Mann, William Hillary had been responsible for setting up a Lifesaving Institution in London for which he was duly knighted. The National Association for Shipwrecked Sailors Later changed its name to National Lifeboat Institution and received Royal patronage from King George. Sir William himself (a non swimmer) received three Gold medals during his lifetime after helping to save 305 souls.

In 1863 visiting the coast had become a popular Victorian pastime for many people, reports of shipwreck and tragedy had been brought to Wolverhampton. A group of Wolverhampton philanthropists decided to raise money to buy a Lifeboat, Street collections were organised, charity fashion shows, talks to local groups at church halls and the Town Hall, a fundraising group was formed called the Lifeboat Saturday Fund to assist the new Wolverhampton Branch of the RNLI, collections at factories was another way of raising money. The cost of a new Lifeboat was £290 and this was raised over a three year period. The money was used to buy a self righting Pulling and Sailing Lifeboat. When the Lifeboat arrived from the London based Boat Builders Forrestt & Co of Limehouse, The naming ceremony took place at Bushbury Pool. The new boat proudly bore the name Wolverhampton. The ten oared thirteen crew boat used the oars for launching and close manoeuvring whilst if wind allowed then a jib and two lug sails would speed up the time to reach the casualty. The destination had already been decided, a new Lifeboat was needed to replace the privately funded Martha & Anne at Swansea. Swansea had had a private lifeboat since 1835 which saw little service although the pilots who manned it carried out rescues on their own, the boat was kept outside the Town Hall and a proposal to house it inside a glass case brought comments from the local newspaper that the Lifeboat should be moved to The Mumbles. This proposal was accepted, and in 1863 the newly formed Swansea Branch of the RNLI received the Martha & Anne, this was a ten oared boat carrying a crew of thirteen paid for by a legacy from Mr Michael Steel of Oxford.
The Wolverhampton arrived on 31st August 1866 by free transport courtesy of the Great Western Railway and was sailed across the bay before being hauled up onto the stone slipway with a block & tackle. There was no boathouse to store the boat safely but was kept in the shadow of Mumbles Hill.
The first ‘shout’ was on 9th January 1867 to a Schooner Jeanne D’Arc of Nantes; Coxswain Jenkins took the Lifeboat alongside the casualty and called for a steam tug to tow the boat to safety thereby saving both boat and five crew. In April of the same year the Wolverhampton gave chase to a Sailing Brig ‘Wellington of Aberystwyth’ having broken her moorings, but was unable to catch her until she ran aground near to the west pier. There was no immediate danger, so the crew stood by until the tide freed the vessel; unfortunately she lost control again so a tug was called to tow her into dock.
Between 1868 and 1882 the Wolverhampton was called into service fifteen times and saved 62 lives, making a total of 78 lives saved. On a wild Saturday, 27th January 1883 whilst attempting to rescue the German Barque Admiral Prinz Adalbert of Danzig, driven onto the lighthouse rocks, the Wolverhampton capsized three times before being thrown in the Barque by the heavy seas. The Swansea lifeboat was lost along with four crew (two of them being John & William Jenkins the sons of the coxswain plus his son in law William McNamara, and William Rogers, one person was lost from the Barque). The loss of the Lifeboat left four widows, fourteen children, but also no cover for the ships sailing area near Port Eynon, The Mumbles, and Porthcawl.
The disaster inspired a local poet Clement Scott to write ‘The Women of Mumbles Head’.
In 1869 Wolverhampton produced the funds for a second Lifeboat ‘The Augusta’ which was sent to St.Davids in Pembrokeshire. This was a Lifeboat of the same type as the Mumbles boats, and the first RNLI Lifeboat to be sent to the new RNLI Lifeboat Station St.Davids. From 1869 to 1885 The Augusta saved 23 souls.

In 1883 Wolverhampton was called upon to supply a third lifeboat which they were able to do and this was also dispatched to Swansea. A similar style of boat to its predecessor, this was launched five times, saving twenty souls before having to be replaced due to the wooden planks rotting away in 1898.      
In 1894 a new boathouse was built, 1888 a new slipway was built, and in 1904 the Station was renamed the Mumbles. The Mumbles received eight more lifeboats although two were lost along with fourteen crew and thirty nine crew of the SS Samtampa.
One Coxswain Lionel Derek Scott was in more recent times moved to paint a picture of the first Wolverhampton which was reproduced as a Christmas card in the 1980’s.
    In 1885 Wolverhampton produced the funds for another Pulling & Sailing Lifeboat, which was sent to Point of Ayr in Flintshire North Wales. The H.G.Powell was launched 12 times before 1916 and saved 24 souls. The station is no longer in use.

In 1856 a cork lifejacket was introduced to help crew who may be washed overboard.

In 1903 Wolverhampton provided the ‘Mary Stanford’ a Pulling & Sailing Lifeboat which was sent to Rye in West Sussex. This was pulled through the streets to the East Park to be shown off & sailed on the lake in order to raise more funds by charging to have a ride all arranged by the Lifeboat Saturday Fund group who had received permission to use the Park for fundraising free of charge. The Lifeboat arrived at the park only to find that the mines that had been filled in with soil from the building of the GWR sheds at Oxley had drained away most of the water leaving only mud, so instead, rides were given on the boat pulled by horses on the wheeled carriage. The Lifeboat lasted for twenty years until replaced.

In 1921 after WW1 modernisation came to RNLI Lifeboats, the new Wolverhampton Lifeboat was a 45 ft 60 HP 8 Knots petrol driven motor boat, the William Evans, it was sent to Wexford in Ireland  and by 1927 had saved 80 souls. In 1922 Ireland became independent, but the RNLI was requested to carry on providing Lifeboats to the new country and received a small donation from the Irish government.
In 1927 this boat was transferred to Galway Bay where it saves a further 29 souls up to 1939.

WW2 brought a lot of changes to the RNLI most of the younger crew members were dispatched overseas for the war effort. In WW1 the average age of lifeboat crew changed to 50+ and over 500 souls were saved, WW2 Lifeboats were involved in Dunkirk and by the end of the war over 6000 souls were saved.

1969 brought a big change to the organisation, when female crew members were introduced.

It was in 1967 that Wolverhampton next raised enough money to buy a new Lifeboat when a 14 ft ‘D’ class inflatable inshore D243 was mostly paid for by Wolverhampton Rotary Club; this was sent to Rhyl reintroducing Wolverhampton to the Welsh Coast.

In 1977 Wolverhampton Raised £40,000 to buy an Atlantic 21 Lifeboat to be sent to Abersoch the actual cost was £30,000 and the extra went a long way to setting up the station with a new boathouse, and launching equipment. In 1990 The Wolverhampton was replaced by the Borough of Solihull, the Wolverhampton became part of the relief fleet until sold in 2003 with a number of boats to Iceland where as far as we know may still be in use today.

In 1998 The Sandwell Lifeline was sent to Aberdovey after being funded by the West Midlands including Wolverhampton and coordinated by West Bromwich and Oldbury Branches. Five years later the Lifeboat received a refit also funded by the West Midlands.
A crew member of Aberdovey is from Wolverhampton.
Aberdovey Lifeboat was involved in the Gloucestershire and Worcestershire floods in 2007 rescuing over 200 householders.

 

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In 2009 Wolverhampton Branch were invited to Angle to see the commemoration by HRH The Duke of Kent of the new £2.7M Tamar class named Mark Master Masons after the £1M donation. Wolverhampton was lucky enough to be able to raise £45,000 primarily due to two legacies received from generous donors.

One Wolverhampton Lady was very generous and funded three Lifeboats at a cost of around £200,000 all in memory of her two brothers and herself. 



2013 is the 150th Anniversary of the Wolverhampton Fundraising Branch having supplied a number of lifeboats to the organisation for the saving of lives at sea. To celebrate the 150th Anniversary, Wolverhampton raised money to help fund the £6.6Million Porthdinllaen Lifeboat Station on the Lleyn Peninsular, North Wales.The last Lifeboat to bear the Wolverhampton name was in 1977 and was sent to Abersoch in North Wales. Wolverhampton has been linked directly to the following Stations.

   Station   Date   Named
  
· The Mumbles  1866 - 1883  Wolverhampton
· The Mumbles  1883 - 1899  Wolverhampton
· St. Davids   1896 -    Augusta (paid for by The Earl of Dartmouth)
· Point of Air   1896 - 1916  H.G.Powell
· Rye Harbour  1903 - 1923  Mary Stanford
· Wexford   1921 - 1946  William Evans
· Rhyl            1975 -  ????  ??? (paid for by Wolverhampton Rotary)
· Abersoch   1977 – 1990  Wolverhampton
· Aberdovey   1998 – Present Sandwell Lifeline (paid for by ten Black
Country Branches inc Wolverhampton)
· Angle   2009 – Present Mark Master Masons (paid for by Black
Country, Pembroke, Hereford branches)
· The Mumbles 

Porthdinllaen Lifeboat Station (Wolverhampton donated to the Station with the help of two generous Legacies from The family of Mr Tony Guy Ex President RNLI Wolverhampton who donated £50,000, and Mr John Hickman a very special ordinary man who donated his house valued at £130,000 plus a small sum from the branch fundraising About £9000. 

                                                            

 

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