On 6 March 1908, the lifeboat at Newquay was the James Stevens No.5. There was particularly stormy weather in the month when the lifeboat went out for its quarterly practice run – and a huge wave engulfed the lifeboat and capsized it.
The crew were thrown into the water and one, Mr Henry Storey, drowned. Henry Storey, aged 31, had a wife and two children. Lieutenant HF Rowley tried to save Henry Storey, but wasn’t successful. Rowley commented some years later that he himself had been pounded on the sand until he was black and blue, such was the force of the waves.
Lieutenant Rowley had become Captain Rowley by the late 1920s and Chief Inspector of Lifeboats for the RNLI.
1000 people turned out for Henry Storey’s funeral and the RNLI had a collection over the coming months for money to hand to Henry’s widow and children.
remwbay waterproof pouch
