The disaster that spurred brave locals to start Anglesey’s first rescue service
A North Wales community came together to mark the 200th anniversary of a maritime tragedy that claimed the lives of up to 140 people. Such was the loss of life off the Anglesey coast that it led to the development of the island’s first rescue service.
Watching the tragedy unfold from the shore was a local vicar and his wife, so moved by the tragedy that they begain raising funds for a lifeboat, which they would both subsequently crew. On Sunday, a service was held at St Mary’s Church, Llanfairynghornwy, to remember the tragedy and reflect on its contribution to the modern RNLI, which was established the following year.
On March 26, 1823, the Alert sailing vessel was travelling from Dublin to Liverpool when she was caught in an ebb tide east of the Skerries lighthouse, struck rocks and began taking on water. Efforts to keep the ship afloat were in vain and passengers leapt overboard in an attempt to reach a tow boat sent out to help.
Joining them in the water was the ship’s skipper, Captain Morgan, and five crew. As the tow boat was full with rowers already, Capt Morgan was thrown a rope and, with his five crew, and 10 passengers, he was then towed to shore.
When the boat returned to the wreck site, three more passengers were found unconscious but still alive, clinging to egg crates. More boats were launched and, after hours of searching, they retrieved the bodies of 23 men, women and children.
Many were found floating with their luggage. It was, said the North Wales Gazette at the time, a “shocking and most appalling sight”. Carts were ordered to the shoreline to convey the dead to St Mary’s Church. The final death toll is thought to be between 110 and 140.
Watching from shore at Llanfairynghornwy was Rev James Williams, great, great grandfather of Anglesey artist Sir Kyffin Williams. With his wife, Frances, they began raising funds and secured a lifeboat for Cemlyn in 1828.
Rev Robert Townsend, a volunteer at Beaumaris RNLI, said: “It was the desire to avert this sort of terrible event that drove the bravery and vision of people like James and Frances Williams.
“I hope their example - providing a rescue service with only horses and oars - can inspire other people to volunteer or support the RNLI in North Wales today, so we can continue to save lives at sea.”
Soon after the Cemlyn lifeboat was launched, an Anglesey branch of the RNIPLS (Royal National Institute for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck) was formed. That same year, Rev Williams also oversaw the construction of the first lifeboat ever built in Holyhead. He was the first coxswain of Cemlyn’s lifeboat, and it was not unknown for Frances to join him as a volunteer rower. In October 1835, the RNIPLS awarded Rev Williams a gold medal for a rescue from fishing vessel Active, which had run aground near Cemaes Bay seven months earlier.
After several unsuccessful attempts to launch the Cemlyn lifeboat, the Rev Williams arrived and, ignoring mountainous seas, he rode a horse into the crashing waves to get near enough to throw a grappling hook over the vessel’s bow.
Using the rope, the rescuers pulled their boat to the Active and plucked to safety five crew members, all too exhausted to move.
Rev Williams’ son, Owen Lloyd Williams, followed his father into the church and the RNLI, successor to the RNIPLS, which was established in 1824. As Vicar of Llanfairynghornwy, he took charge of the Cemlyn lifeboat at the age of 20, rescuing 34 people in 1862. Later, he become honorary secretary of Abersoch RNLI and, in January 1870, helped save 13 men from the cotton-loaded Kenilworth ship after it grounded near Barmouth. For this, he was awarded an RNLI silver medal.
As the Cemlyn anniversary approaches, the RNLI has launched an appeal to locate the gold and silver medals won by the Williams family, hoping to track them down for its bicentenary in March 2024.