Whitby statue planned of lifeboat disaster survivor Henry Freeman

The sole survivor of a 19th Century lifeboat disaster is to be immortalised with a statue in Whitby.

Henry Freeman was working his first shift when a storm hit the Yorkshire coast on 9 February 1861.

Thanks to an experimental cork life jacket he was wearing he survived when the lifeboat capsized, while the 12 other crew members drowned.

Plans to build a sculpture of him near the town's Lifeboat Museum have been lodged with North Yorkshire Council.

Born in Bridlington, Mr Freeman moved to Whitby in 1855 to become a fisherman and joined the local lifeboat crew.

During the storm, 200 ships were wrecked on the coastline, according to the RNLI.

The Whitby lifeboat launched five times to rescue stricken vessels before tragedy struck on the sixth callout when a wave capsized the boat.

Mr Freeman was saved thanks to the new design of lifejacket, according to the charity.

He was later awarded an RNLI Silver Medal for his bravery on that day and went on to save more than 300 lives at sea as a coxswain for the lifeboat.

The planned sculpture would be built on Khyber Pass, close to Full of Beans Coffee.

According to the planning application, which has not yet been approved, the statue would be created by artist Emma Stothard, who has created nine other artworks placed around the town as part of the Whitby Sculpture Trail.

It would "celebrate the town's long history of maritime lifesaving," according to a statement in the application.

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