Palling Volunteer Rescue Service
History of the Silver medal awarded to Thomas Bishop (second coxswain) by the R.N.L.I. in 1894
5th January 1894 the Danish brigantine Sofia of Frederica on passage from Sundswall to Aberdovey with a cargo of timber went ashore about a quarter of a mile from Happisburgh, Norfolk, in a east-south-east gale and a very heavy sea. The Bacton Life Saving Company and the Coast Guards tried three times to get a rocket over the wreck and even when they finally succeeded their effort was doomed to disappointment as just before the warp was hauled aboard the rope parted.
At this juncture the Palling no.1 self righting lifeboat "GOOD HOPE" went out to the brigantine and, in spite of heavy sea floating wreckage, succeded after several attempts of taking off six crew men and landing them safely. A report at the time rated the rescue amongst the bravest ever effected on the East Coast on account of the intense cold and the heaviness of the gale.
Mr. Bishop was in charge of the life boat on this sevice, and the award was also "in recognition of his gallant services during the past 18 years in assisting to save 272 lives from shipwrecks".
