It was kept at several different places around the town until a boathouse was built in 1856 for £88 at the site that is now the entrance to the Penzance railway station.

It later was decided to move back to Penzance harbour so in 1884 a new boathouse was built at the foot of Jennings Street, at a cost of £575 6s 6d.

It is a single-storey building of coursed Lamorna granite with ashlar dressings and a slate roof.

The crew then rowed back to where the Willie Ridley of Plymouth was being blown towards rocks and took the men off the ship.

Thomas Carbis, the Penzance coxswain, was awarded a silver medal for his part in the rescue.

Crew member Samuel Higgs was given a silver medal for his work which helped save 17 people.

The lifeboat Richard Lewis was taken to the beach and launched but some of the barque's crew had already taken to the ship's boats.

It capsized but it righted itself and most of the crew got back aboard although one was only saved by his lifejacket and a man riding out into the surf on his horse to pull him ashore.

The coxswain got stuck under some wreckage but managed to free himself and was helped back into the lifeboat which had righted itself as it as designed to.