The Surf Boat Memorial Margate Cemetery

Details

878/0/10049 MANSTON ROAD 11-JUL-05 MARGATE CEMETERY THE SURF BOAT MEMORIAL MARGATE CEMETERY

II* Funerary memorial, unveiled April 1900, of white Carrara marble, manufactured by J Whitehead and Sons Ltd of Westminster.

The memorial is dedicated to the nine men, buried here, who died when the Margate Surf boat, A Friend to All Nations, capsized whilst answering a distress call from the ship Persian Empire on 2nd December 1897. The memorial is in the form of a large rock surmounted by an anchor, a rope and a lifebelt inscribed 'Margate Surf Boat'. To the right of the rock is a representation of Hope in the form of a life-sized weeping female figure in late-C19 dress kneeling and holding a laurel wreath. The inscription on the front of the rock reads:

IN / MEMORY / OF / NINE HEROIC MEN / WHO LOST THEIR LIVES BY THE / CAPSIZING OF THE MARGATE SURF BOAT / "FRIEND TO ALL NATIONS" / IN ATTEMPTING / TO ASSIST A VESSEL IN DISTRESS AT SEA / 2ND DEC 1897.

The memorial is bounded by a square white marble kerb with eight tablets bearing the names of the eight crew members who perished and a quotation, surrounded by a carved laurel wreath in relief. The name of the ninth man, Charles Troughton, who was superintendant to the Margate Ambulance Corps, is inscribed on the front of the kerb.

HISTORY: After the disaster a fund was raised by local dignitaries and councillors to support the five widows and seventeen children left destitute. Funds came from all over the world: the Daily Telegraph newspaper raised over £1,000 and a donation of £35 was received from Queen Victoria. The final total was almost £10,000. The first proposal was that the money could be used to build almshouses for the families but in the end it was decided to commission two memorials. The second memorial (listed Grade II), which is in the form of a bronze figure of a lifeboat man looking out to sea, was erected on Margate seafront by the Nayland Rock, and was cast by Messrs Elkington & Co of London. The majority of the fund was spent on the two memorials and the funeral procession, and the residual capital used to provide a meagre widow's pension of 15 shillings a week. The funeral was attended by almost 2000 people and along the route of the procession local shops were closed, blinds were drawn and bells tolled from all the churches. Because of this monument's size the road to the cemetery required strengthening and a specially designed carriage was fabricated to transport it to its site.

SOURCES St John's Cemetery Margate 1856 - 2006, 150th Anniversary Commemoration (2006) produced by The Friends of Margate Cemetery

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION The Surf Boat Memorial at St John's Cemetery, Margate, is designated at Grade II* for the following principal reasons: * Historic interest: the loss of lifeboat men at sea was a tragedy experienced by many coastal towns, and memorials to such events are poignant reminders of England's historic maritime economy, and the toll this could take on coastal communities. The Margate disaster attracted funds from over the world and touched the nation. * Artistic interest: the memorial is of considerable artistic quality, composed and executed in a manner typical of the period's exuberance and visual vitality.

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