Henry Trengrouse

Lifesaving in the 19th Century

Henry Trengrouse was born on March 18 1772 in Helston, and was a cabinet-maker by trade. Henry was an inventor of early life-saving equipment. The Museum is glad to hold a large collection of objects related to Henry and his inventions so please read on to find out more about this wonderful local figure of global importance.

In 1807, Trengrouse witnessed the wreck of the HMS Anson and immediately set to designing equipment that would prevent such a tragic loss of life so close to shore. In addition to this, after seeing the bodies of the dead buried in the dunes at Loe Bar, he petitioned local MP Davies Gilbert to change the practice of burying shipwreck victims in unconsecrated ground near the site of a wreck – and this was successfully abolished the following year in 1808.

Trengrouse’s life-saving designs, which he subsequently developed, included: a rocket, which would help form a line of communication between a ship and the shore; a ‘life spencer’, a cork buoyancy aid which has since been developed into the life-jacket, and a ‘Bosun’s chair’, a seat you could sit in to be helped ashore using the line communication established by the rocket, which is an early form of Breeches Buoy. You can see these items close up in our collection tour recorded in 2020 by Museum of Cornish Life Director, Annette MacTavish or have a look at some of the items below.

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Henry lobbied for his equipment to be installed on all sea vessels, noting the importance for ships to have their own means of rescue when wrecked on uninhabited shores. This is exampled by a collection of essays that we have in our collection, where he argued passionately for his inventions to be adopted and also gave clear instruction on how they were to be used.

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Trengrouse is known to have conducted several public experiments of his inventions between 1818 and 1819 in Hyde Park, across the Serpentine. Most of these were held in front of members of the Royal Humane Society and other important dignitaries such as the Duke of Sussex, the Duke of the Kent, the Vice-Admiral of England and a Russian Prince (New Times London, 1818 & 1819, British Press, 1819).  It was most likely the attendance of this last person at an experiment in July 1819 that led to Trengrouse’s inventions sparking the interest of the Emperor of Russia. The emperor was sent a set of the apparatus in December 1819, and news of a present of a diamond ring was reported on the following year (Morning Post, 1819). It was also noted that a set of his equipment was sent with Captain Ross on his expedition to the North, and he received a medal a small gratuity of £50 from the Society of the Arts (Leeds Intelligencer – Monday 29 October 1821).

The idea of projecting a line to a ship in distress was not brand new at the time of Trengrouse’s developments, and had been first explored by Captain John Bell, and then by Captain Manby. The latter is well known for his inventions, and working in the same time period as Trengrouse, developed a line to be fired using a shot by a mortar from shore to a ship. However, Trengrouse’s proposal to use a rocket, and for this apparatus to be kept on board the vessel would be more likely to succeed regarding wind direction and had great success in reaching the distances required in circumstances of wreck.

Although Trengrouse’s apparatus was positively received by many mariners, with support in Cornwall and across the country, and the early adoption by Russia and some of major names in the admiralty, Trengrouse continued then to lobby to get his inventions employed more widely. He took a petition to parliament via the MP Mr Tremayne to encourage the use of his apparatus and to request renumeration for his expense of developing it in 2025. This was not successful, despite recommendations from the Elder Brethren of Trinity House and support from several Lords. This was due to some members of the house thinking it entirely useless, or secondary to that developed by Captain Manby, and deciding that Trengrouse is clearly after fame, which the petition would surely provide him.

This unsuccessful petition did not stop Trengrouse from pursuing the government to use his apparatus, and in a letter written in 1837 to Henry Harvey he mentions that he had submitted evidence to the shipwreck committee and was expecting an order from parliament for the use of his inventions. However, it is also clear from this letter that Trengrouse at this point was hoping for an order of equipment from from Mr Harvey. It appeared that Trengrouse spent a lot of his own wealth, in the realm of £3000 (today’s equivalent would be at least £132,000) in developing and trialling his inventions. It is evidenced that this may have impacted his trade, with his attempts to sell his entire Ironmongery stock in 1813, and, due to a dislocated elbow, his entire cabinet making business in 1816 (Royal Cornwall Gazette). We do not know if these sales were successful, but Trengrouse remained in Helston until his death in in 1854. On his deathbed he said to his son “If you live to be as old as I am, you will find my rocket apparatus along our shores”, and he was correct that his designs became widely used and continued to be developed, saving numerous lives at sea.

In 1965, the cannon from the HMS Anson was gifted to the Helston Museum – now the Museum of Cornish Life, Helston, and this is where it still stands today. This was made possible thanks to donations and support of the community and Trengrouse’s living relatives, the Shillito family, who also donated a large number of the objects we hold of Trengrouse’s in the collection.

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The Trengrouse collection forms part of our permanent display, and we hope all of our visitors learn a little about this brilliant Helstonian and his legacy.