Extreme weather and the growth of charity: insights from the Shipwrecked fishermen and Mariners' Royal Benevolent Society, 1839-1860

By its very nature, the Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners’ Royal Benevolent Society has a close relationship with extreme weather events. Instituted in 1839, it was formed to assist shipwrecked persons who came ashore in the British Isles: to feed, clothe, and transport them to their homes. The Society also gave much needed support to the widows and orphans of fishermen who died at sea ‘in storms or in shipwreck’. In years of extreme gales, the Society were hard-pressed to keep up with requests for relief from shipwrecked mariners and widows. Pleas for donations were often printed in the news, along with announcements of the Society’s activities. These reports brought public attention to the large numbers of shipwrecks on the British coast, which in turn influenced attitudes towards humanitarianism and philanthropy to include seafarers. Using newspaper reports, shipwreck narratives, and the previously unexamined records of the Society, this chapter investigates the ways in which gales and shipwrecks were recorded, transmitted and employed by the Society. It will show how the extreme weather events of the nineteenth century influenced the development and growth of an important charitable institution in the Victorian era.