The wreck of the South Shields schooner Coupland in Scarborough Bay

At 4 p.m. on 2nd November, 1861, the South Shields schooner Coupland attempted to enter Scarborough harbour during a northerly gale. As she rounded the pier-end, the wind blew her sails inside out, and she was taken aback. The vessel was thrown helplessly across the South Bay, and she finally struck the rocks opposite the Spa, some thirty yards from the sea wall. The lifeboat Amelia was manned and launched at once, and was soon within reach of the wreck amongst great foaming waves that had actually dislodged some of the stones of the sea wall. Within seconds, the lifeboatmen realised that they had taken on more than they could handle; the boat was being hurled from side to side, and they were unable to control it. One man - Thomas Clayburn - was hurled from the boat, and was washed ashore where he was rescued by a lifebelt that was thrown to him. All hopes of effecting a rescue had gone; the Amelia was repeatedly thrown against the sea wall, and three more men were hurled from the boat. One of these was crushed to death between the boat and the wall, another scrambled back into the boat, and the third was washed ashore exhausted, but alive. Eventually the lifeboatmen realised that their only hope of survival was to strike out for the shore whilst they still had strength in their bodies, and accordingly they left the lifeboat, one by one. A large crowd of spectators had assembled on the sea wall by this time, and the braver ones waded out through the surf to try and help the lifeboatmen reach safety. Amongst these was Lord Charles Beauclerk who lost his own life trying to save others. Two other men, W. Tindall and J. Iles, died similarly in the surf, and a second lifeboatman failed to reach the shore.