J C Madge (ON 536) was a Liverpool class, non-self righting lifeboat stationed at Sheringham

Sheringham lifeboat station

Sheringham lifeboat station is an RNLI operated lifeboat station located in the town of Sheringham in the English county of Norfolk.Since 1992, the station has been inshore operations only - currently with an Atlantic 85 rigid inflatable - offshore lifeboats are to the east at Cromer and the west...

 in the English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 county of Norfolk from December 1904 until June 1936 during which time she was launched on service 34 times and saved 58 lives. J C Madge was replaced by Forester’s Centenary ON 786.

Design and Construction

J C Madge was built at the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company

Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company

The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Limited was a shipyard and iron works straddling the mouth of Bow Creek at its confluence with the River Thames, at Leamouth Wharf on the west side and at Canning Town on the east side...

 in Blackwall

Blackwall, London

Blackwall is an area of the East End of London, situated in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets on the north bank of the River Thames.The district around Blackwall Stairs was known as Blackwall by at least the 14th century. This presumably derives from the colour of the river wall, constructed in...

 in 1903 at the cost of £1,436 16s 6d. She was paid for from a legacy of £2,000 left to the RNLI by a Mr James C Madge, a chemist, of Southampton. The design was a Liverpool class, non-self righting, pulling and sailing lifeboat. J C Madge was 41 feet (12.5 m) in length, making her the largest of the Liverpool type lifeboat built. The boat was built using the Clinker

Clinker (boat building)

Clinker building is a method of constructing hulls of boats and ships by fixing wooden planks and, in the early nineteenth century, iron plates to each other so that the planks overlap along their edges. The overlapping joint is called a land. In any but a very small boat, the individual planks...

 method of constructing hull

Hull (watercraft)

A hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type...

s. The boat was fitted with two sliding or drop-keel

Keel

In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...

s and two water-ballast tanks. The lifeboat had two masts of which the fore-mast carried a dipping lug sail and the mizzen mast a standing lug sail. She pulled 16 oars which were double banked for heavy weather. Her Launching carriage was built by the Bristol Wagon Works Company
, which was delivered separately by rail to Sheringham. This carriage was constructed with larger front wheels installed with a series of flat metal plates around circumference of each wheel. There purpose was to help prevent the boat sinking into areas of soft sand. Ropes were attached to the carriage, and a team of 30 or more men would haul her into the waves at launch times.

Delivery

The J C Madge left the yard of the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company on the 30 November 1904, crewed by the Coxswain William "Click" Bishop and six crewmen. She was sailed around the east coast from the Blackwall yard in fair weather, with overnight stops at Harwich

Harwich

Harwich is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south...

 and Great Yarmouth

Great Yarmouth

Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...

, arriving in Sheringham on the 2 December 1904. When she arrived at Sheringham she was housed in a new purpose built lifeboat shed at Old Hythe which was a mile west of Sheringham. The new lifeboat was inaugurated on the 13 December 1904 at a ceremony at Old Hythe were J C Madge was christened by the daughter of the president of the local RNLI Branch Mr H R Upcher. JP.

Service

The Lifeboat J C Madge was on station at Old Hythe, Sheringham for 30 years and she was launched a total of 34 times and she is credited with saving 58 lives. The first service was on the 6 January to the Barge Gothic and Teutonic, both of London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. The crews were removed and landed in Sheringham and later the J C Madge and the fisherman’s lifeboat Henry Ramey Upcher towed both barges to Great Yarmouth.

SS Uller

One notable service was to the steamship SS Uller of Bergen on 24 February 1916. The steamship was bound for La Pallice from Sunderland with a cargo of coal and had foundered on a Dudgeon sands. Amid heavy snow storms and gale force winds the J C Madge stood by her all night in appalling conditions. In the morning the lifeboat escorted SS Uller to the Humber Estuary fifty-three miles away.
The last service by J C Madge was to the Sheringham fishing boat Little Madge on the 2 April 1936. Little Madge had got into difficulties and the lifeboat had taken of her crew of two and taken her in to tow, only for both vessels to be towed to safety by the Cromer Lifeboat H F Bailey III.

Retirement

After her retirement from service at Sheringham, Lifeboat J C Madge was replaced by the Foresters Centenary. The lifeboat remained at Sheringham for over a month before being sold out of service for £80 to W Gillard of Wembley

Wembley

Wembley is an area of northwest London, England, and part of the London Borough of Brent. It is home to the famous Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena...

, Middlesex

Middlesex

Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...

 . She was converted into a private pleasure craft with a cabin added. The boat was used around the coast of Norfolk and Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...

 for many years. In 1988 J C Madge was displayed at the Sheringham stations annual lifeboat Day. Following her appearance there, £30,000 was raised and she was repurchased for restoration in 1989 by the Sheringham Museum Trust. In the summer of 1989 the J C Madge was sailed from Brancaster

Brancaster

Brancaster is a village and civil parish on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk. The civil parish of Brancaster comprises Brancaster itself, together with Brancaster Staithe and Burnham Deepdale...

 around the coast to the Lowestoft

Lowestoft

Lowestoft is a town in the English county of Suffolk. The town is on the North Sea coast and is the most easterly point of the United Kingdom. It is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and south-east of Norwich...

 international boatbuilding collage at Oulton Broad

Oulton Broad

Oulton Broad refers to both the lake and the suburb of Lowestoft in Suffolk, England located 2 miles west of the centre of the town.-Oulton Broad:...

 were she was restored to her former lifeboat appearance and use. On 14 August 1999 the National Historic Ships Committee added the J C Madge to the National Register of Historic Vessels (Certificate no 1763) . She is now a member of the Historic Fleet

National Historic Fleet, Core Collection

The National Historic Fleet, Core Collection is a list of museum ships located in the United Kingdom, under the National Historic Ships register.The vessels on the National Historic Fleet are distinguished by:...

of the United Kingdom. From March 2010 she is on permanent display at the new Sheringham Museum