Mullion Lifeboat Station was located at the harbour and hamlet of Mullion Cove (), part of the village of Mullion, which sits on the west coast of the Lizard Peninsula, overlooking the eastern side of Mount's Bay, approximately south of the town of Helston, in Cornwall.

A lifeboat station was established at Mullion by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1867.

After 41 years of operation, Mullion Lifeboat Station closed in 1908.

History Since its founding in 1824, the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (RNIPLS), later to become the RNLI in 1854, would award medals for deeds of gallantry at sea, even if no lifeboats were involved.

In a hurricane on 27 April 1824, the brig Olive of Tenby was driven ashore under a cliff at Halzephron, near Gunwalloe, just north of Mullion Cove, whilst on passage to Littlehampton. Two men went to the aid of the vessel, and after getting a rope aboard, eight people including one woman were rescued. William Rowe and James Freeman were the first two recipients of the new RNIPLS Silver Medal.

On 5 January 1867, the schooner Margaret foundered off the Lizard Peninsula, with the loss of all four crew. The following day, two schooners collided off Mullion. The crew of the Ebbw Vale, on passage from Liverpool to Caen, France, were rescued by the smack Hearty of Jersey, but the crew of the Cherub, also on passage to Caen, were not so fortunate. The vessel was beached, but ultimately with the loss of all hands.

Representations were made to the RNLI for the provision of a lifeboat. At a meeting of the RNLI committee of management on Thurday 7 February 1867, it was decided to establish a new station at Mullion Cove.

As if to reinforce the requirement for a lifeboat, just 6 weeks later, on 25 March 1867, before the lifeboat arrived on station, the Dutch Eastindiaman barque Jonkheer Meester van de Wall van Putterschoek, on passage to Rotterdam, was wrecked off the Men-y-Grib rocks south of Poldhu, when it was driven ashore during a storm. A Greek sailor, Georgio Buffani, was the sole survivor of the 19 crew and 7 passengers.

A boathouse, costing £183-4s, was constructed on a site provided by T. J. Agar-Robartes, MP for East Cornwall. A 33-foot self righting 'Pulling and Sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, one with sails and (10) oars, was dispatched to the station, transported free of charge by the Bristol and Exeter, South Devon, Cornwall, and West Cornwall Railway Companies, calling first at Penzance.

The cost of the Mullion lifeboat station establishment had been defrayed from a fund raised by the Wesleyan Methodists, via their Methodist Recorder publication, in memory of the late Rev. Daniel James Draper, who had been lost when the SS London was wrecked in the Bay of Biscay on 11 January 1866, whilst on passage from Gravesend to Melbourne. On 10 September 1867, a grand procession and celebration took place, the day coinciding with a public holiday in Penzance, for the inauguration of the New Public Buildings. The boat was drawn through the town to the beach, where the mayoress named the lifeboat Daniel J. Draper, before it was launched, and then joined by the lifeboats from , and .

The timing of the placement of the lifeboat was fortuitous. Just eleven days later, on 21 October 1867, the lifeboat successfully rescued three of the crew of the barque Achilles, which had stranded on Polurrian Beach in fog, the remaining crew being rescued by the Rocket Brigade.

The station would also receive a new Negretti and Zambra barometer in 1867, which was to be made visible to the local seafarers. The basic principle was that of prevention rather than cure. If the locals knew the weather was about to turn, then they would be less inclined to set sail, and therefore not need rescuing. The Barometer is still visible in the village.

A poem in memory of Rev. Draper and for the Daniel J. Draper lifeboat, was published in "The Lifeboat" journal of 1 January 1869:–

Two further lifeboats would come to serve at Mullion. In 1887, the Daniel J. Draper was replaced with a larger 37-foot 12-oared lifeboat. The boat was funded by an anonymous lady from London, and was named Edith (ON 106).

Funded by the bequest of the late Mr E. A. Newbon of Islington, a 38-foot lifeboat Nancy Newbon (ON 365) was placed on service in 1894. The estate would fund an additional four new lifeboats, Ann Newbon (ON 357) at , Lucy Newbon (ON 360) at , Betsy Newbon (ON 361) at and Bob Newbon (ON 372) at .

Mullion Lifeboat Station was closed in 1908. The lifeboat was launched a total of just 14 times in a period of 41 years, and completed just one effective service, saving 3 men in the rescue carried out just eleven days after opening in 1867. The boathouse still stands, and is now a private residence. The last lifeboat on station, Nancy Newbon (ON 365), was transferred to , where she would serve for another four years.

Station honours The following are awards made at Mullion.

RNIPLS Silver Medal William Rowe, seaman – 1824 James Freeman, seaman – 1824

Mullion lifeboats Pulling and Sailing (P&S) lifeboats ON Name Built Class Comments 1867 1867−1887 33-foot x 8-foot 7in (10-oared) Peake-class self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, gift of the 'Methodist Recorder' LB fund, built by Forrestt of Limehouse, London, costing £283. 106 Edith 1870 1887−1894 37-foot Self-Righting (P&S) 37-foot x 8-foot (12-oared) self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, legacy of Lady Emile Windham-Quinn, built by Forrestt of Limehouse, London, costing £454. 365 Nancy Newbon 1894 1894−1908 38-foot Self-Righting (P&S) 38-foot x 8-foot (12-oared) self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, legacy of Mr R. A. Newbon of Islington, built by Forrestt of Limehouse, London, costing £545.

See also List of RNLI stations List of former RNLI stations Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboats

Notes

References

External links The Lizard RNLI Lifeboat Station