Jane Hay was a pioneering feminist and internationally known humanitarian campaigner who campaigned tirelessly to establish a lifeboat in St Abbs. She died on 26^th January 1914, three years after she saw the first lifeboat launched, and she is buried in the churchyard at Coldingham.

The Alfred Erlandsen, a two masted steam ship (registered tonnage 954) was on route from the Russian port of Riga to Grangemouth with a cargo of timber pit-props for Messrs Kirkwood and Co., Glasgow. On board was the captain of the vessel, J Larsen, 17 crew, a woman passenger and a Great Dane dog. Only the Great Dane survived by swimming ashore. 

It was not entirely clear why the Alfred Erlandsen hit the rocks of Ebb Carrs reef just off St Abbs on Thursday 17^th October 1907, as she was well off her proper course. Miss Jane Hay of The Haven, St Abbs wrote to the Edinburgh Evening News on the matter “As one of those who witnessed the tragedy which occurred at St Abbs on Thursday night, I write to say that personally I shall never rest content till we have a lifeboat and rocket apparatus of our own in St Abbs”.

The Rev Dean presided at a meeting in the village hall on 25^th January 1908 alongside Miss Hay and other local people. The general committee and the executive committee for the Lifeboat were appointed after a presentation by Lieut Basil Hall on how the lifeboat would be launched and future procedures. The crew appointed were as follows: John Wilson (coxswain), Alex Rae (2^nd coxswain), Robert Aitchison, David Wilson, Alex Collins, James Colvin, Alex Rae, Peter Rae, John Nisbet, Hugh Rae, Alex Hood, Robert Blain, James Rae, Thomas Wilson, John Aitchison and Alex Hood. Later that year the committee agreed on the size of the new lifeboat to accommodate the engine. In recognition of her campaigning efforts, Miss Jane Hay became the honorary secretary of the new station. After her death the new Memorial Shed was erected by the RNLI in her memory.

On 15^th April 1911 a meeting was held to decide on two crew members (Thomas Wilson and Hugh Rae) who were to collect the lifeboat from Harwich with £10 to cover their costs. The St Abbs Lifeboat Station then opened on 25^th April 1911 and the boat was formally christened the Helen Smitton on 5^th August 1911 in the presence of the Great Dane who had survived the sinking of the Alfred Erlandsen. The boat was no ordinary one, it was a motor lifeboat and motor lifeboats were sufficiently rare along the coast to be a source of considerable interest. The Helen Smitton was a 38 ft Watson Class built in 1910 at the Thames Ironworks, Blackwall and was open-decked with sails, oars and an engine. During her service between 1911 and 1936 she undertook 27 launches and saved 37 lives.

The St Abbs Lifeboat’s first call to service was on 19^th March 1912 when it assisted four fishing cobles off St Abbs Head.  

HMS Pathfinder, a Royal Navy Scout Cruiser, was about 15 miles off St Abbs Head when there was a sudden explosion, witnessed by the coastguard in St Abbs. She was the first ship to be sunk by a marine-fired torpedo in WW1 and 246 men died as a result, with 18 known survivors. The War Office at the time tried to play down the sinking for fear of public panic at the efficiency of German U-boats. An account by a survivor, Lt (E) Edward Oliver Sonnenschein described how the ship “gave a heavy lurch forward and took an angle of about 40 degrees down by the bow. Water came swirling up to the searchlight platform. The Captain said ‘jump you devils, jump!” The Captain and his secretary remained with the ship until the end and somehow both survived.

Aldous Huxley witnessed the explosion and recorded the following in a letter to his father sent of 14^th September 1914 “The St Abbs lifeboat came in with the most appalling accounts of the scene. There was not a piece of wood, they said, big enough to float a man – and over acres the sea was covered with fragments – human and otherwise. They brought back a sailors cap with half a mans head inside it. The explosion must have been frightful”

Annie Ronald and Isabella Forrest was launched. She was a Liverpool Class – single engine, built at J Samuel White, Cowes. This boat undertook 28 launches during its service and saved 73 lives.

J B Couper of Glasgow was launched. During its 4 years of service it undertook 4 launches and saved 1 life. The boat was a Liverpool Class – twin engine boat built by Groves and Guttridge of Cowes.

W Ross MacArthur of Glasgow was launched. Also a Liverpool Class twin engine built at Groves and Guttridge. She undertook 32 launches and saved 16 lives.

Jane Hay was the fifth boat in St Abbs. She was a 37ft Oakley-class built at William Osbourne of Littlehampton. The Oakley was a recent self-righting design which combined great stability with the ability to self-right in the event of capsizing by using a shifting water ballast. She made 20 launches and saved 8 lives.

The boats from 1974 – 1986 were all inshore boats and of a different type altogether. As they were relief boats, they were unnamed. The first was a D-class (RFD PB16) inflatable. The second was a D-class (zodiac III) and the third was a C-class.

In 1986 a new Atlantic 21-class boat, Dorothy and Katherine Barr (B-572) arrived. This was the first generation of Rigid Inflatable Boats (RIBs). Still and inshore boat, she served St Abbs from 1986 to 2001.

Two more Atlantic 21-class boats followed. The Institute of London Underwriters (B579) from 2001 – 2002 and the Burton Brewer (B-568) for a short time in 2002. These were also relief boats.

Another Dorothy and Katherine Barr II (B-783) (named after benefactors from the Barrs Iron Brew family) arrived in 2002. She was an Atlantic 75-class, the second generation of RIB boats, which now had a ballast tank at the front of the boat .

The last RNLI lifeboat at St Abbs was The Boys' Brigade , another Atlantic 75-class. She was here for only a few months before the closure of the Lifeboat Station

In May 2015 the RNLI determined that the station in St Abbs should be closed and instead a second inshore boat would be put in Eyemouth. The crew, community and public were alarmed and fought a strong campaign to persuade the RNLI to reverse its decision. They felt that the unique nature of St Abbs demanded a boat close by and a crew with local knowledge. Despite tremendous support from many, including the British Sub-Aqua Club, the National Trust for Scotland, local MPs and MSPs, Scottish Borders Council and a petition signed by 13,500 people, the RNLI was unmoved. The boat was removed on 8^th September 2015. After 104 years and over 330 lives saved, there was no lifeboat in St Abbs.

Deeply disappointed, but undaunted, the campaign changed tack and instead started to raise funds for a new independent lifeboat. Support and generosity was tremendous and a five year plan was cut short to just one year after a significant donation from Boyd Tunnock which enabled a new boat to be purchased. The new boat, The Thomas Tunnock, was launched on 17^th September 2016.

The story of our campaign is documented in more detail in our News section.  Donations from individuals, community groups, local businesses, diving, canoeing and angling communities continue and are essential to the operation of the lifeboat. The “Support St Abbs Lifeboat” merchandise, designed to raise funds at the start of the campaign, continues to be incredibly popular and is now sold through the lifeboat shop in the harbour, and online. This income is also an essential part of the funding to keep the lifeboat in St Abbs in perpetuity.