James Haylett

James Henry Haylett (1825–1907) was the most famous lifeboatman of his age. Decorated by King Edward VII with the RNLI gold medal for his efforts in the 1901 Caister Lifeboat Disaster, which claimed the lives of nine men. Amongst those lost were two of his sons, Aaron and James Haylett, Charles Bonney George (his son in law) and his grandson Harry Knights.

Haylett was born in 1825 in Winterton-on-Sea, Norfolk, England the son of Samuel Haylett (1791-1879) and Sarah Sheales (1789-1872). Little is known about his childhood but according to parish records he married Sarah Smith (1825-1897) in August 1844 and went on to father 7 children. Somewhere between 1851 and 1861 he moved a few miles down the Norfolk coast (in common with many other Winterton boatmen and their families) to Caister-on-Sea Where he became a shareholder in the Caister Beach Company. The Beach Company men, of which there were 40, made their living from the sea in whichever manner they could. Part of this work was to salvage vessels stranded on the notorious sands off of the North Norfolk coast and a decision was made collectively by the men to save people before property regardless of the impact this could make on their lucrative salvage fees. Despite this decision they were often looked upon as mercenary. The practicality of these men is perhaps summed up by Haylett in replying to a judge during an inquest, who suggested that the beachmen profited from the "misfortune of others". Haylett replied "No Sir, We profit from their mistakes!". This uncompromising attitude linked to a real knowledge of their waters provided one of the cornerstones for the modern lifeboat service.

Haylett became Assistant Coxswain of the Caister lifeboat. His mettle was tested at around midnight on 22 July 1885. The yawl Zephyr was launched to the aid of a stranded schooner on the Lower Barber Sand. On a calm and moonlit night the crew of fifteen were on what they felt was a routine call. Haylett was at the helm and as the yawl neared the Barber he called out "now dear boys, keep a lookout for that old stump", referring to the mast of a stone-laden schooner, the crew of which had been saved by the Caister men some nine years earlier. His warnings came too late however when the yawl’s port bow struck the mast and the boat was ripped apart.

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