Reverend Edward Lyon Berthon
In addition to ministering to his parish, the Reverend Edward Lyon Berthon of Romsey, Hampshire, ran a boatbuilding and engineering enterprise. In 1877, he started a company in Romsey, building folding lifeboats and "other floating machines", which (originally designed as lifeboats) were the mainstay of his business.
The prototype was developed by him at HMS Excellent, Whale Island, Portsmouth where he was chaplain. A seaman was drowned in an early trial in 1854 after the boat was overloaded with a 13-inch mortar.
Berthon was related to the mid-twentieth century engineer, Peter Berthon, who developed the ERA racing car in the 1930s and the BRM post-war.
The Berthon Boat Company is still operating today on the same site and is still a boat yard with a workforce of 70 skilled craftsmen specialising in the refit and repair of yachts of up to 150 feet. It also has a 280 berth deep water marina and a yacht sales division.
Read more about this topic: Berthon Boat
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