Henry Greathead

Henry Francis Greathead
Born(1757-01-27)27 January 1757
Richmond, North Yorkshire
Died1818
NationalityEnglish
OccupationBoat builder
Known forLifeboat design

Henry Francis Greathead (1757–1818) was an English pioneering rescue lifeboat builder from South Shields.[1][2] Although Lionel Lukin had patented a lifeboat in 1785,[3] 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.[4] Although his claims have been contested,[5] he did build 31 boats, which saved very many lives, and succeeded in making the concept of a shore-based rescue lifeboat widely accepted.

  1. ^ "History of coastal lifesaving" (PDF). RNLI website. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 August 2008. Retrieved 20 November 2008.
  2. ^ Mackenzie, Eneas; Ross, Marvin (1834). An Historical, Topographical, and Descriptive View of the County Palatine of Durham. Vol. 1. Newcastle upon Tyne: Mackenzie and Dent. pp. 51–52.
  3. ^ Edmund Burke, ed. (1835). Annual Register, 1834. London: Baldwin and Craddock... p. 213. Retrieved 24 November 2008.
  4. ^ Cobbett's Parliamentary Debates. Vol. XX, May – June 1811. London: R. Bagshaw. 1812. Retrieved 19 November 2008.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference mackenzie1825 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).