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Marten Syme

The Colony of New South Wales established the first government supported lifeboat service. The Colony of Victoria confidently moved to provide its coast with a well supported resource from 1856 until the decommissioning of the last lifeboat in 1979, although with diminishing interest.

Other than brief essays organised by the Australian Association for Maritime History in 1900-92 and published in their Newsletter, there has been no detailed attempt to record the history of the Victorian lifeboat service. The lifeboat service was financed and supplied by the government. Disappointingly few official records remain, although those fragments that do, make it clear that written reports of practices, services and requisitions were an essential part of the management process.

With the sensational rescue of the 'Admella' survivors, Victoria's lifeboats proved their value. The boats, crews and events are brought to life in this history of Victoria 's oldest volunteer service.