William Birnie Rhind’s Promenade Lifeboat Memorial, St Anne’s on the Sea: Public Sculpture, Identity and Memory by Andrew Walmsley

In recent years there has been a significant output of monographs and articles on public monuments from the perspective of history or cultural geography. However, few seem to investigate sculptors, designers, and artists in depth. In researching and writing a thesis on the story of the lifeboat memorial by William Birnie Rhind (1853–1933) on the promenade at St Anne’s on the Sea, I have examined both the career of Rhind and the monument as a piece of public sculpture. My talk will explore these elements as well as the role of the monument in forging an identity for St Anne’s, a Lancashire seaside town established in 1875. I will also speak about how it has endured as an object of commemoration and heritage despite spatial and cultural challenges.’

Andrew Walmsley is a PhD researcher in the final stages of his studies at Lancaster University. He worked as a Local Studies Librarian, Community History Manager, and Community Heritage Manager for Lancashire County Council before pursuing a History MA at Lancaster in 2016, followed by his part-time PhD in 2019. His thesis focuses on the life of the Mexico Lifeboat Memorial on the promenade at St Anne’s on the Sea, Lancashire, unveiled in May 1888, one of the early works of noted Scottish sculptor William Birnie Rhind (1853-1933). It commemorates the thirteen local men of the lifeboat Laura Janet who died attempting to rescue the crew of the stricken German barque Mexico, blown into the Ribble Estuary in violent storms in December 1886. Andrew’s thesis is a rare study of the whole life of a public monument and explores complex associative meanings within changing cultural and spatial setting.
https://research.lancaster-university.uk/en/persons/andrew-walmsley