[2] Following a number of shipwrecks on the Norfolk coast, including the Alexandrine of Caen, Rev, Kerslake of Burnham Deepdale, and local merchant and ship owner Mr Dewing, wrote to the RNLI in 1872, requesting a lifeboat be placed at Brancaster, to cover the gap of 15 miles (24 km) between to the two flanking lifeboat stations of Hunstanton and Wells-next-the-Sea, being situated mid-way between the two.

[1][3] Brancaster was visited by the RNLI Inspector in 1873, and having learned that sufficient crew would be available, and that a local committee had been formed to raise funds for the upkeep, a station was agreed.

Local landowner and committee chairman Simms Reeve offer a plot of land, and a 45-foot long boathouse was constructed by Becton Brothers, for £268-10s-0d.

[1] The lifeboat and carriage were transported to Hunstanton free of charge by the Great Eastern Railway Company, arriving in Brancaster by road on 30 Jun 1874.

As it wasn't a new boat, Mr Bird was assured that the name would be carried forward to a future replacement.

Instead of returning home, the lifeboat set anchor, and waited until daylight, which revealed the wreck of the trawler Silver King on Middle Sand Bank.

[5] Disaster struck on 21 November 1909, when the carriage axle broke during a launch to the Brilliant of Goole, pitching the lifeboat sideways onto the sand.

It was rediscovered by historian/author Michael Softley, and now hangs on display in the church of St Mary the Virgin in Brancaster.