Friend To All Nations - Fundraising and Monument

Fundraising and Monument

At the time of the disaster a fund had been set up locally and sponsored nationally by ‘The Daily Telegraph’ for the widows and orphans of the lost Margate boatmen, and although most boatmen religiously belonged to the ‘Ancient Order of Oddfellows’, or one of the Friendly Societies for support in exceptional times.

As news of the disaster of the wreck filtered through to the press, interest in the story drew National support and subsequent publicity at the plight of the Margate boatmen’s families provided some ten thousand pounds that was raised in their name.

The funds that had been collected should have ensured that those dependent relatives of the deceased were suitably cared for, for the rest of their days, however the money was mis-appropriated into the management of an Executive Committee of local Dignitaries and Councilors of the Margate Corporation and in this way the grief-stricken boatmen’s wives, and their children were robbed a second time.

With the town in tatters, the committee finally resolved to have erected a very large monument in the cemetery. This was carved from Italian marble, which in itself posed many problems in delivery and transport to its final resting place. Roads had to be strengthened and a special carriage constructed for the undertaking and were of little benefit to the six widows and fourteen children left in want, and out of whose pity the cost of these extravagances were met. The cost of this grand proposal could not have been undertaken without the mercy payments and it is notable that many of the boatmen’s families were reported as saying that they had wished for something far less ornate.

It was Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee year, when pomp and ceremony might have been given free rein and thus to some degree explains the decision to erect such a worthy monument, and even given that the Queen herself had sent some £35/~ into the fund goes no way at all in justifying the rational in depriving the boatmen’s families of their wishes.

Given the costs of the road improvements, the monument itself besides the splendid funeral, and that the corporation it seems did not match a penny to these expenses having control of the Surfboat-men’s money, it is a lamentable indictment to Thanet’s officials that although their still should have been money enough left over, had it been wisely invested, to have yielded an income for life to the widows and orphans, who in the end personally received nothing out of the fund.

It was argued at the time that 15 Shillings a week could at least be offered to the widows and a half crown to each of the orphans, but Margate Corporation was having none of it and rejected the idea out of hand. In a clear vindication of these charges, who but the meanest profiteer would dispute the need of John Dyke’s widow, who before the turn of the 19th to 20th century had to apply to ‘The Sarah Kidman Bounty’, then a local charity able to make single payments to the destitute.

A well-deserved suspicion of those in authority was not lost on the local press, who were also outspoken in their criticism of the way the funds had been squandered although this seems to have had no outward effect and the whole sorry incident. Some consolation to the survivors was forthcoming in the form of a booklet entitled ‘The loss of nine gallant lives’ and sold to raise a sum to reward the four survivors. 400 copies of which were sold on the day of the funeral. They also each received silver medals, and a marble clock was given to each by the mayor. The RNLI also made a considerable independent donation to the general disaster fund.

A centennial service was held in remembrance of these events in 1997 when several hundred persons turned out against a very nasty wind to warm their hearts to that far off day and remember the families that suffered as a consequence of their bold and fatal endeavor.