A memorial service has been held at All Saints’ Church beside the unmarked grave of nine men who drowned off Brightlingsea 120 years ago.

Eight crewmen – seven stokers and a steward – and a Brightlingsea bricklayer, Joseph Lock, lost their lives on the night of August 8, 1903, when their overloaded dinghy was swamped after leaving the Hard to return to the steam yacht Lorena, which was anchored in the Colne.

The then Deputy of the Cinque Port Liberty of Brightlingsea, William Miall Green,
was aboard his steam yacht, Yolande and, on hearing the men’s cries for help, sent his cutter to attempt to rescue them.

Sadly, despite the Deputy’s quick response, the rescue attempt came too late for most of the men. Only one member of the Lorena’s crew and another Brightlingsea man, who was rowing, were saved. Joseph Lock, who’d been helping to load coal, left a widow and children.

The eight men of the Lorena, most of whom came from Scotland, were buried together in one grave at All Saints’. The owner of the Lorena paid for relatives to attend. Joseph Lock was buried nearby.

Relatives spoke of the kindness of the people of Brightlingsea following the tragedy. The sister of the steward wrote: “I wish to thank all the Brightlingsea people for the kind sympathy shown by all, both to the dead and the living.”

No memorial was put up at the time, and consequently few know of the tragedy. However, the members of the Liberty have continued to remember the event, partly in recognition of the actions of a former Deputy.

At the latest memorial, Deputy Rob White laid a wreath of sea holly in the churchyard, at a service led by Catherine Graham and attended by the Mayoress of Brightlingsea, Gilly Morgan, who also laid a wreath, and Liberty members. Roger Tabor read the history of the event and gave the names and ages of the drowned men.

It’s hoped that a memorial to the drowned men may be raised at some point in the future.