One of the early volunteer crews of Poole Lifeboat Station (click image to enlarge)

Past Crew at Poole

The RNLI first established a lifeboat station at Poole in 1865, and has been providing a life saving service for Poole Harbour and surrounding waters ever since. Please follow the links below to read about some of the volunteer crew members who have served in Poole over the past 140 years.

Poole's first crew of 1865
Chronological tables of crew members by role
Biographies of past crew members

Poole's first crew of 1865

Coxswain Richard Stokes
Second Coxswain Jim Matthews
Assistant Coxswain Thomas Hart
John Oates
John 'Fudgy' Brown
Bobbie Blundell
Thomas 'Cairo' Matthews
Bill Brown
Henry 'Parker' Matthews
Francis (Frank) Wills
Jim 'Slutter' Brown
Dick Hughes
Tom 'Happy' Cartridge
Tom Trigger
Thomas Wills Junior
James Tilsed
John Condon
John Wills
John Holloway
John Vickery

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Chronological tables of crew members by role

Volunteer and full-time coxswains

Name	From		To
Richard Sutton Stokes		1865		1882
John Hughes	March	1882	September	1899
Richard Wills	August	1899	July	1922
John Hayes	August	1922	September	1926
Samuel Wills	October	1926	March	1931
Richard Henry Hayes	March	1931	June	1946
Francis William Hayes	July	1946	June	1948
Albert Arthur Brown	July	1948	December	1968
Reginald Brown	December	1968	February	1975
Frank Patrick Ide (full-time Coxswain/Mechanic)	July	1974	September	1989
Steven Trevor Vince (volunteer Coxswain)	September	1989
Steven Trevor Vince (full-time Coxswain/Mechanic)	April	1990	April	1998
Jonathan Clark	October	1998	To date	To date

Volunteer second coxswains

Name	From		To
Richard Wills	September	1865	August	1899
John Stickland	August	1899	April	1902
John Hayes	April	1902	August	1922
Samuel Wills	August	1922	October	1926
Henry Samuel Redmond	October	1926	March	1931
Thomas James Wills	March	1931	June	1940
Francis William Hayes	June	1940	June	1946
Reginald Brown	July	1948	December	1968
Albert Arthur Brown	June	1946	June	1948
Richard Wills	December	1968	September	1973
Francis William George Hayes	October	1973	March	1975
George Buckby	November	1974	March	1975
John Anthony Clark	March	1975	July	1990
John Buckby	July	1990	August	1998
Mark Cole	September	1998	March	2006
Andrew Elton	April	2006	February	2009
Paul Singleton	February	2009	To date	To date

Full-time mechanics

Name	From		To
Frank John Hayes	June	1962	October	1974
Frank Patrick Ide (Coxswain/Mechanic)	July	1974	September	1989
Robert George Ide	August	1989	March	1990
Steven Trevor Vince(Coxswain/Mechanic)	April	1990	April	1998
Andrew Elton	September	1998	April	2004
James Haw	May	2004	March	2005
Paul Taylor	September	2005	To date	To date

Bowmen

Name	From		To
John Cockridge	Not known	1891	August	1899
George Matthews	August	1899	January	1914
Samuel Wills	February	1914	August	1922
Thomas James Wills	August	1922	March	1931
James Charles Matthews	March	1931	June	1940
Fred Brown	June	1940	July	1946
Albert Brown	April	1941	October	1945
Richard Wills	July	1948	Not known	Not known

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Biographies of past crew members

First Coxswain Richard Sutton Stokes, 1865–82

Richard Stokes lived in a cottage at Sandbanks near Harvey's tea room
His job was to look after the North Haven light, a duty which he carried out faithfully for 37 years
First coxswain in 1865; retired in March 1882 when the boathouse moved to the Quay. His duties at Sandbanks probably precluded his remaining an officer of the lifeboat now it had moved.
On 11 March 1886, in bitter weather, he went to see to the light and did not return. His son found him lying dead as he had fallen on his way to his duty.
His body was placed in a coastguard galley and taken to the churchyard of St Mary's on Brownsea Island where he was buried.

Coxswain John Jackson Hughes, 1882–99

Died in 1908
The epitaph on his tombstone bears the words 'Lifeboatmen never turn back'

Crew Member James Hughes

On 9 October 1884, James Hughes, a crew member at Poole Lifeboat Station, tragically died when he fell under the launching carriage during a lifeboat exercise
James is one of over 85 in the RNLI's South division and one of a total of 778 people commemorated on the RNLI memorial from all corners of the UK and RoI

Coxswain Richard Wills of City Masonic Club, 1899–1922

Served on the lifeboat crew for 37 years
He was so well liked by the crew that when he wanted to retire they would not let him
Perhaps the most outstanding personality of all the Poole coxswains
Man of fearless character and a splendid seaman
Four of his sons were also crew members
He was buried at St Mary's Church, Longfleet, Poole, and the citation on his tombstone read: 'Richard James Wills – Coxswain of Poole lifeboat – July 8 1922 – 71 years'

Coxswain John Hayes, 1922–26

Coxswain Samuel Thomas Wills, 1926–31

Coxswain Richard Henry Hayes, 1931–46

Coxswain Francis William Hayes, 1946–48

Second Coxswain Bill Hayes, 1973–75

Francis William George Hayes joined the crew in 1939
Age 53 in 1974
Coxswain of Poole Pilot cutters
Latter part of the War, served in the Merchant Navy
Was a full-time fisherman
His father, Frank Hayes, was coxswain
His two brothers were crew members
Attendance at VE Day opening ceremony, 6 May 1995

Reg Brown, Frank Hayes and Bill Hayes receiving Certificates of Service

Mechanic Frank Hayes (brother of Bill Hayes above)

Joined crew at 16
51 (in 1974)
Mechanic – full-time
Lived in Lagland Street
Served in Merchant Navy
Brought up with the sea and fishing

Second Mechanic Bill Wills

Worked at South Coast Yacht Services
Lived in Stanley Road
Crew member for 23 years (in 1974)
Father was second coxswain
Four uncles also served on Poole lifeboat

Coxswain Albert Arthur Brown

Not related to Signalman Arthur Brown
Appointed Second Coxswain, 30 April 1946
Appointed Coxswain, 1 July 1948
Retired, 18 December 1948

Coxswain Reginald Brown, 1974

Took over the appointment of coxswain after the death of his brother Arthur in January 1973
Age 53 in 1974
He and his brother followed in the footsteps of their father, Albert Brown
Born and lived in Green Road

Family members of Brown, Wills, Hayes and Matthews served as lifeboat crew for 109 years from the establishment of the lifeboat station at Poole in 1865 until 1974.

Second Coxswain George Buckby (John Buckby's father)

1946–75
Retired at age of 50
Emergency mechanic (in 1974)
Lived in Stanley Road
His wife's father was Arthur Brown, the lifeboat's last signalman
Merchant Navy
'Net' man catching salmon with the Wareham River Authority

Signalman Arthur Brown (John Buckby's step grandfather)

1933–63
Lifeboat's last signalman
Served on lifeboat for 30 years
Retired at age of 69
Died the same month as Poole lifeboat station's 100th anniversary
John Buckby's grandfather was a sign writer – painted/wrote most of the service boards
Albert Brown – Coxswain – not related

Second Coxswain John Buckby

Joined 4 June 1965
1965–98
Retired at age of 51
Appointed emergency mechanic, 27 October 1989
Royal Garden Party, 17 July 1997

Andrew Hawkes

Joined 28 July 1965
His father was DLA
Andrew's grandfather was in the Rotary and part of the boat committee
Fundraising AGM @ Dolphin Hotel (top of High Street) for Ladies Lifeboat Guild. The crew didn't mix with the guild at the time but Andrew went to the meeting and was told off!
Payment for shouts – 10 shillings a call
Andrew wrote to HQ (in London) when they hadn't been paid for a long time. It turned out that the money had been given to the Mechanic to hand out to the crew at the pub (the Gas Tavern); however, Andrew hadn't gone to the pub so his pay had been used as drinking money!

Second Coxswain/Assistant Mechanic John Clark

Diver with Max Marine
Joined in 1971
Appointed second coxswain/assistant mechanic on 15 March 1975
Retired, 22 July 1990
Family of seafarers (his father served on a fire boat during the War)
John at sea when 16 (Merchant Navy)

Jim Kellaway

Member of Bournemouth Inshore Lifeboat crew, 12 May 1965–31 October 1972
Deputy Launching Authority, November 1988–November 1995

Coxswain Frank Ide

1 July 1974 – appointment as Coxswain of Poole Lifeboat Station (following appointment as Second Coxswain/mechanic at Dover Lifeboat Station)
Wage of £26.85 per week!
Nickname of Winkle
Retired at 58 on 10 September 1989
Entry in his diary on his retirement day: 'My thanks to all hands for their work, support and enthusiasm during my 15 years with the Poole life-boat. I hope the station will go on in the future in a happy and smooth manner, and I wish everyone all the best, and safe and successful operations.'
Spent 27 years as lifeboatman
15 years at Poole
Became interested in lifeboats as a young lad at Hastings
Lifeboat service at Dover and Tynemouth
Leading stoker in the Navy
Served in the Army in Korea
Spell of sea trawling
Long service badge for Coxswain/Mechanic Frank Ide June, 1983
Buckingham Palace Garden party, 12 July 1984

Coxswain/Mechanic Steve Vince

Appointment on ILB crew, December 1981
Appointed as coxswain, 10 September 1989
Appointed full-time Coxswain/Mechanic, 23 April 1990
Retired, April 1998

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