Boat rescue survivors' relatives thankful to RNLI

A man whose relatives were saved during an historic RNLI rescue in Cornwall has been able to thank the great-grandson of one of the lifeboatmen.

On 17 March 1907 the Suevic steamship got stuck on a reef near The Lizard during a fierce gale and dense fog.

All 456 people on board were rescued, a RNLI record for most lives saved in one shout.

Galen Bartholomew, whose two relatives were on board, said he owed those who saved them a “debt of gratitude”.

Twelve-hour rescue

Mr Bartholomew’s great-grandmother Agnes and great-aunt Jean were among the Suevic’s passengers and crew when the rescue mission happened.

Lifeboats from stations at The Lizard, Cadgwith, Coverack and Porthleven all responded to the ship’s distress call.

Crews rowed out in open lifeboats to carry out the 12-hour rescue mission, with no loss of life recorded.

Galen Bartholomew (right) said he owes John Harris’s family a debt of gratitude

Upon meeting John Harris, whose great-grandfather John Stephens took part in the Suevic rescue, Mr Bartholomew said: “Your great-grandfather rescued my great-grandmother and my great-aunt.

“So my family has a real debt of gratitude to your family.”

Mr Bartholomew added: “My grandmother was 52 and my great aunt was 17 at the time.

“They would both have had to climb down the outside of the Suevic on a rope ladder and when it came to the bottom basically jump into the lifeboat.”

‘Remarkable’ operation

Mr Harris, himself a retired RNLI Lizard lifeboatman, said he was proud of his great-grandfather’s involvement.

He said: “Late at night, it was in the dark, and they had to row out through a lot of rocks to get to it so local knowledge was a big advantage in those days.”

Seventy babies were evacuated from the grounded ship, with Mr Harris explaining that “some of the crew of the Suevic had to carry babies down rope ladders into the lifeboats below”.

He said: “It was remarkable nobody was lost.”

Mr Bartholomew, who lives in Evesham, Worcestershire, said it was known in the family that his relatives had been involved in a shipwreck.

He found out more about it while researching his family history.

“Once I knew they were on the Suevic I wanted to find out what they’d been through,” he said.

“My great-aunt subsequently married and had a daughter and she wouldn’t obviously have been born if my great aunt hadn’t been rescued.”

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