Thomas Keble of Bisley vicarage, near Stroud, an amount provided by late members of his family, the lifeboat would be named in memory of his older brother John Keble, (25 April 1792 – 29 March 1866), an English Anglican priest, poet and author of The Christian Year, and was one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement.

Any vessels striking Sizewell bank would end up wrecked at Dunwich, before either of the lifeboats at the flanking stations could come to the rescue.

Afterwards, the procession continued to the boathouse, accompanied by the band, and witnessed by a large crowd, the boat was duly named John Keble, before being launched for a demonstration.

[6] When the schooner Day Star was driven ashore at Thorpeness during a N.N.E gale on 27 December 1886, the Southwold No.1 lifeboat arrived on scene first.

[9] The new lifeboat finally arrived in Brancaster in November 1892, but at a ceremony on 11 January 1893, the boat was named Alfred S. Genth (ON 332), after another donor's late husband.

The lifeboat on station at the time of closure, Lily Bird (ON 370), was transferred to the relief fleet, later serving at Aberystwyth and St Helier.