Henry Ramey Upcher was the second private lifeboat to be stationed in the English town of Sheringham in the county of Norfolk.

[3] She was launched on 4 September 1894[4] and stayed on station for 41 years until she was slowly retired from duty and by 1935[5] had ceased rescue work completely.

On the downside, her extra width tended to make her more liable to ship water in severe conditions and so was less suitable than the RNLI boats in heavy seas.

After the ceremony, in squally weather, the lifeboat was launched for a short demonstration where she was tried under sail and oar, with Coxswain Barnes Cooper at the helm and a crew of thirty.

[5] The Henry Ramey Upcher launched to over 50 services and she worked closely with the lifeboats, William Bennett and J.C. Madge of the RNLI.

[5] The Henry Ramey Upcher built itself an excellent reputation with the local fishermen up and down the North Norfolk coast.

Unfortunately, the wind and driving rain had blown her close to the shore and the watching local fisherman realised that she would soon be on the beach and raised the alarm.

The Sheringham RNLI lifeboat William Bennett could not be launched from her station as her gangway and a section of the sea wall had been washed away in the same northwesterly gale the previous day.

[7] In rapidly worsening situation the Henry Ramey Upcher had moved alongside the stricken vessel, but the crew who had been completely unprepared, had no ropes ready to tether the boats together.

The coal cargo ship (collier) SS Empress,[8] en route from London to Sunderland had struck an old wreck on Sheringham Shoal and was beginning to sink.

The following day the lifeboat returned to the wreck with the captain who by now had drifted off the Shoal but nothing could be salvaged and the Empress sank in an area of the sea called the Fairway, where for many years she became a hazard to shipping at low tides.

[10] and a height of 2.5 m (8.2 ft)[9] In the years following the First World War Henry Ramey Upcher was put into service very few times.

In the era before the start of the Second World War the Henry Ramey Upcher was launched mainly on fund raising events in the town.

Her last launch took place 16 August 1945 and ironically resulted in the Henry Ramey Upcher requiring the assistance of the RNLI Lifeboat.

Henry Ramey Upcher had gone to sea with sixty passengers to take part in the town’s regatta to celebrate Victory over Japan Day.

In the years following World War II Henry Ramey Upcher stayed in her boatshed virtually forgotten except by a few of the local fisherman who looked after her.