RNLI Henry Blogg Museum

05/02/2026

Henry Blogg was born on 6 February 1876. 150 years on and he is still remembered.

He lived all of his life in Cromer but became well known throughout Britain and further abroad. He went to school at the Goldsmith's school and left at the age of 11 to work on the fishing boats along with his family. His stepfather was 2nd Coxswain of Cromer lifeboat and Henry joined the Cromer crew at 18. By 1909 Henry was Coxswain and was awarded his first medal for gallantry in 1917. A gold award for leading the rescue of 11 men from the ship Fernebo. His determination, knowledge of the sea and leadership skills resulted in many lives saved from drowning. During his 38 years on the lifeboat, he and his crew rescued 873 people. Throughout two world wars Henry made sure Cromer lifeboat launched to those in need. He was given many more medals in recognition of his bravery and is still the RNLI's most decorated crew member. Henry Blogg retired in 1947 after volunteering for 53 years.

05/02/2026

07/10/2025

Repairs approved for Cromer building housing RNLI museum - BBC News

Councillors hope the work, which will cost more than £350,000, means the attraction will reopen.

26/02/2025

Have you ever visited the Grace Darling Museum? It tells of the rescue to the Forfarshire by the lighthouse keeper and his daughter Grace. Look out of the great events they run too!

19/02/2025

There was a post on eBay recently that appeared to offer Henry Bloggs’ medals and awards for sale, which caused some confusion.

We want to say that thes are replicas made to honour Henry Blogg, and his actual awards are still in the care of RNLI Heritage and are safely in storage.

The eBay post has been amended to say they are replicas.

21/01/2025

During the RNLI's 200 year Anniversary, Thanet Chamber Choir sang in the Sailors Church, Ramsgate Royal Harbour - "The Bravest Man" by the composer Douglas Coombes and Librettist Paul Rosier. It was recorded by Ramsgate Radio.

The Bravest Man tells the story of Henry Blogg, the most-decorated lifeboatman in history, and his heroic 1917 rescue. Written by Paul Rosier with music by Douglas Coombes, this dramatic work, recorded at Ramsgate’s Sailors Church, celebrates courage and selflessness through powerful performances ...

08/01/2025

On this day 108 years ago, two of the most dramatic rescues were carried out by Henry Blogg and the Cromer Lifeboat crew.

Over a gruelling 14 hours Cromer lifeboat crew rescued 27 people in January 1917. The world was at war and the young men were fighting at the front, so it was mainly men in their sixties and seventies who took an oar to battle the raging seas. The first rescue was to the Greek ship Pyrin. As the lifeboat returned with 16 survivors the Swedish ship Fernebo broke into two halves. The lifeboat had to be launched again and again into the freezing surf. They tried to get alongside the pieces of the ship but the timber cargo spilling into the sea increased the danger.

As night fell efforts became desperate as with no light to work in the rescue would become impossible. A search light was supplied by a battalion stationed nearby and positioned on the cliff. The rescue of 11 men was finally made at 1am on the 10 January.

Part of the wreck of the Fernebo can still be seen at low tide.

28/11/2024

Christmas is heading this way and we are delighted to announce The Grove will once again be hosting an evening of Carols and festive cheer on December 18th - so please come along! Full details can be found on the link below:

https://rnli.org/news-and-media/2024/november/25/cromer-rnli-annual-christmas-carol-concert

Plus don't forget the Christmas Bazaar this Saturday at the Cromer Parish hall from 10am.

We hope to see you there! As well as being great events you will be helping support our lifesaving work and our volunteer crew who will be on call 24/7 over the festive period. 💙

21/11/2024

Explore RNLI archives online!
We are excited to announce, that for the very first time, the RNLI are making parts of its extensive archive collection available via the Ancestry website for everyone for free. The partnership with Ancestry will allow people to connect with their roots and share our unique 200 year history of saving lives a at sea. Opening access will mean many will discover their family connection to the RNLI and explore records of their ancestors in our collection.

Tens of thousands of pages of the RNLI’s Archive collection have been digitised and have been made accessible. This includes:

historic records of our lifeboat crews across the UK and Ireland (1890s-1940s)
summary service (rescue) records from the 1850s to the 1990s
records of gallantry medals awarded for bravery (1824-1980s)
records of those who have funded lifeboats (1850s -1930s)
records of awards given to volunteers (1905-2000)
The records on Ancestry are not all the records we hold relating to our volunteers, and with any indexing process it’s not always 100% accurate. If you spot any errors or are seeking further information on our records please contact us at [email protected]

To enjoy viewing our historic records you will need to sign up for a free Ancestry account but no subscription is required:
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62701/?_gl=1*w5eqp5*_gcl_au*NjAxMjU2MDE4LjE3MjQ0MDg5NTY.*_ga*NDM1Mzk0NzU1LjE3MjQ0MDg5NTg.*_ga_4QT8FMEX30*Y2M3NjMzMTYtNDYyNy00ODU5LWJiYzUtZTcwMzQyM2U4NTFjLjEuMC4xNzI0NDA4OTU3LjYwLjAuMA..*_ga_LMK6K2LSJH*Y2M3NjMzMTYtNDYyNy00ODU5LWJiYzUtZTcwMzQyM2U4NTFjLjEuMC4xNzI0NDA4OTU4LjAuMC4w&bm=R&geo_a=r&geo_s=us&geo_t=uk&geo_v=2.0.0&o_iid=41013&o_lid=41013&o_sch=Web+Property

20/11/2024

Getting in the mood for Christmas!

Folk band Police Dog Hogan have released a special Christmas single for the RNLI, commemorating our 200th anniversary year. The song, called Pull Away, tells...

15/11/2024

Tony Webster was a great supporter of the museum over many years. He was instrumental in bringing home the historic lifeboat H.F.Bailey. He was a man of passion and action who is very much missed.

Tony Webster, President and Past Chairman of Cromer RNLI, sadly passed away peacefully on 24 October 2024. Tony had been Chairman of Cromer RNLI for 36 years and President for the past seven years.

14/11/2024

Volunteers and staff met for a relaxing lunch today at Friends Bistro About With Friends. The team are keen to keep in touch while the museum is closed. We chatted about holidays, plays, movies, family....oh and the museum too!