Henry Greathead
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Henry Francis Greathead (1757–1818) was a pioneering rescue lifeboat builder from South Shields.[1][2] Although Lionel Lukin had patented a lifeboat in 1785,[3] Greathead successfully petitioned parliament in 1802 with the claim that he had invented a lifeboat in 1790, and he was awarded £1,200 for his trouble.[4] Although his claims have been contested,[5] he did build 31 boats, which saved very many lives, and succeeded in making the concept of a shore-based rescue lifeboat widely accepted.