William Wouldhave is a rival of Lionel Lukin

Lionel Lukin

Lionel Lukin Lionel Lukin Lionel Lukin (18 May 1742 (Great Dunmow, Essex, England) - 16 February 1834 (Hythe, Kent, England) is considered by some to have been the inventor of the lifeboat (although see William Wouldhave for the competing claim)....

 for recognition as inventor of the lifeboat

Lifeboat (rescue)

A rescue lifeboat is a boat rescue craft which is used to attend a vessel in distress, or its survivors, to rescue crewmen and passengers. It can be hand pulled, sail powered or powered by an engine...

. His tombstone, erected thirteen years before Lukin’s, describes William Wouldhave as;

‘Inventor of that invaluable blessing to mankind the Lifeboat’

Personal History

William Wouldhave was born in Liddle Street in 1751 and baptised in Christ Church, then in the parish of Tynemouth. The boundaries have since changed and both are now in North Shields

North Shields

North Shields is a town on the north bank of the River Tyne, in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, in North East England...

, Northumberland

Northumberland

Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...

, England

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...

. He was apprenticed as a house painter before moving to become parish clerk in South Shields

South Shields

South Shields is a coastal town in Tyne and Wear, England, located at the mouth of the River Tyne to Tyne Dock, and about downstream from Newcastle upon Tyne...

, County Durham

County Durham

County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...

. Wouldhave married with Hannah Crow on 1 March 1775 at the parish church of St Hilda, South Shields. After his death a memorial was erected and that stone still exists (2010) in the former graveyard of St Hilda’s Church, South Shields.

Lifeboat Invention

He did not succeed with the practical application of his invention until 1789, three years after Lukin’s converted coble

Coble

The coble is a type of open traditional fishing boat which developed on the North East coast of England. The southern-most examples occur around Hull The coble is a type of open traditional fishing boat which developed on the North East coast of England. The southern-most examples occur around Hull...

 was presented to Dr Sharpe. In this year a competition was launched to reward any inventor who could provide a craft for the purpose of saving lives from a shipwreck. This following the tragic fate of the doomed Newcastle

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...

 ship, the Adventure that had gone aground near the coast at the Tyne River inlet. From the shore, although clearly visible, little could be done to save the passengers and crew who were seen to be dropping from the rigging into the sea.

Other Claims

Wouldhave's boat was to be built of copper, made buoyant by the use of cork, and incapable of being capsized. Although it did not meet with full approval, Wouldhave was awarded one guinea

Guinea (British coin)

The guinea is a coin that was minted in the Kingdom of England and later in the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom between 1663 and 1813...

 for his trouble. Henry Greathead

Henry Greathead

Henry Francis Greathead was a pioneering rescue lifeboat builder from South Shields. Although Lionel Lukin had patented a lifeboat in 1785, Greathead successfully petitioned parliament in 1802 with the claim that he had invented a lifeboat in 1790, and he was awarded £1,200 for his trouble...

also made a submission, which was deemed the most satisfactory, and was rewarded by being employed to build a boat as directed by the committee.

Other Inventors

Wouldhave's claims to have invented the lifeboat were hampered by his poverty and violent language. Mr. Hailes, a mathematician familiar with marine architecture, supported Wouldhave's claim to the invention, and believed that the curved keel was an error.In a letter to the editor of The Monthly Magazine dated Feb.16,1807, Hailes says that around the time of Greathead's recognition in parliament in 1802, he had asserted Wouldhave's right to the invention, and invited Greathead to prove otherwise. He had not done so, apart from some letters to newspapers, and editors continued to present Greathead to the public as the inventor of the lifeboat. In 1806 Hailes published a pamphlet titled "An enquiry concerning the invention of the lifeboat". In July of that year a letter was published in the Gentlemans Magazine claiming the invention for Lukin.