LIFEBOAT STATION

The Port Fairy lifeboat was built at Williamstown in 1857. The design and construction is possibly by William White, an emigrant member of the well-known family of Cowes boat-builders. The design differs from the plans of the James Peake design, provided by the Royal national Lifeboat Institution, which arrived after his lifeboat had been delivered to Port Fairy in September 1857. It was originally moored at the Government wharf on the river Moyne. In 1861 a cantilevered boat house to house the lifeboat was built on East Beach jetty. The jetty was poorly positioned and was abandoned in about 1873 and the shed moved to its present position on the east bank of the river. The rocket crew was in practice in 1860 and the rocket house was built in 1886 by James. Bolger for the Public Works Department. The lifeboat is 30 feet in length and built of kauri planks, laid diagonally to provide excellent strength. It carried a complement of 10 oarsmen, 2 sweep oars, a bowhand and coxswain, and could carry 24 survivors. The lifeboat shed is timber framed with a wrought iron bow truss roof and vertical weather boards affixed in four panels to the sides between massive timber posts. Metal faced wooden double doors are situated at the west end. The rocket house is a simple bluestone building about 15 feet x 13 feet, with gabled roof and wooden double doors. The stonework is plain but finely worked with regular coursing, contrasting corner stones and a two course projecting base. The lifeboat shed and rocket house contain a large amount of rescue equipment which has been on site continuously from its functioning days as a lifeboat station.

How is it significant?

The Port Fairy Lifeboat Station is of historical, technical and architectural significance to the State of Victoria.

Why is it significant?

The Port Fairy Lifeboat station is of historical importance as a rare and remarkably intact reminder of the important role of local oared lifeboats with volunteer crews in the days of hazardous sail-powered coastal shipping. It has a strong historic association with the economic importance of coastal shipping to Port Fairy in the 19th century, before this trade was largely destroyed by the spread of railways. The lifeboat in association with the 1861 boat shed built to house it and the 1886 rocket shed with hand rescue equipment, form an exceptional collection of artefacts and structures, which represents a specialised maritime industry. The lifeboat is believed to be the oldest self-righting lifeboat in the world and is directly related to the beginnings in Britain, of specialised lifeboat design. This is the only early lifeboat surviving in its original context and location in Victoria.

The lifeboat has considerable technological interest, as it has innovative design features produced from an 1851 lifeboat design competition, which were recognised as a great advance at the time. Built of double Kauri planks, laid diagonally from gunwale to gunwale; it can self right within three seconds after capsize and contains six self draining valves, allowing all inboard water to be drained within sixty seconds. The rocket house is one of a very few such buildings surviving in the state and reflects the advances in sea rescue techniques in the late nineteenth century, particularly in the method of passing a line to ships in distress by rocket.

The lifeboat shed and rocket house are of architectural importance as fine intact examples of rare building types.

See 2008 Site Monitoring Event and initial survey (attachment) for further details of the collection.

Group

Transport - Water

Category

Objects (movable)