INSPIRATION continues to flow from a courageous Southport crew’s role in a Victorian lifeboat tragedy.
A chapter in a new book is devoted to the 1886 Mexico Disaster, when 13 men on the resort’s Eliza Fernley vessel perished in a brave rescue bid off Ainsdale beach.

A painting of the memorial to the Eliza Fernley’s crew in Duke Street Cemetery, by Philip Berrill

And John Shawcroft, a supporter of Southport Offshore Trust – which runs Southport’s independent lifeboat service – describes the events of that December night as part of the “proud and dramatic history” of lifesaving off our shores.
Twelve men from the stricken German ship the Mexico Barque were saved, but in the process 27 crewmen died from Royal National Lifeboat Institute vessels from Southport, Clytha and St Annes.
Using just oars and sails the Eliza Fernley’s crew battled to within about 20 yards of the Mexico, which was breaking up on its voyage from Liverpool to South America.
Then a huge wave capsized the lifeboat, throwing its crew into the raging sea.
Only three members managed to get out from under the upturned boat and cling to the underside until they were eventually washed ashore, although one of the men later died in hospital.
They were all fishermen, except Henry Lodge, a 43-year-old greengrocer and fishmonger from Lord Street.
In age, the men ranged from 18-year-old John Robinson of Boundary Street to 62-year-old Thomas Rigby of London Street.
A surge of public grief followed, and almost £31,000 was raised after an appeal by Southport’s mayor, John Unwin, for a fund to provide for the widows and dependants of those lost.
Queen Victoria was moved to personally contribute £100 to the collection.
Physical monuments stand in Southport to what was one of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution’s worst-ever disasters.
The Fisherman’s Rest pub in Weld Road draws its name from being the place where the bodies of those who died were laid out, when it was part of the now-demolished Palace Hotel. A memorial to the crew of the Eliza Fernley stands in Duke Street Cemetery, and has been painted by local artist Philip Berrill.
He said: “One must remember that today, with all the advantages of modern technology, 120 years ago they had just their raw and natural seafaring skills.

Cargo being unloaded from the wrecked ‘Mexico’ on Southport beach

“The disaster reminded me that although the sea is somewhat distant from Southport’s shores these days, we must not forget the important work today of the crew of the Southport inshore Lifeboat and would hope that the people can support that as a way of honouring the role of the crew that died 120 years ago.”
John Shawcroft told LookBack of how the grief caused by a series of deaths off Southport’s coast in the 1980s – around a century after the Mexico Disaster – spurred the formation of Southport Onshore Trust.

‘Eliza Fernley’ and crew

Mr Shawcroft, a retired firefighter from Portland Street, said of the 1886 tragedy: “It was a terrible happening.
“A huge amount of suffering was caused, not only to the brave men who laid down their lives for others who they didn’t even know, but also to the families of those who perished.”

John Jackson, one of the three surviving crewmen, who lived at 21 West Street

The Mexico Disaster is a chapter in Tales Of Old Lancashire, by Blackburn author Elizabeth Ashworth. It is published by Countryside Books and costs £7.99 from local booksellers or via www.countrysidebooks.co.uk

• Post to:
•  del.icio.us
•  Digg
•  Newsvine
•  Nowpublic
•  Reddit