Henry Trengrouse
On a stormy December night in the year 1807 the naval ship HMS Anson floundered on the rocks of the Cornish coast near Porthleven. Over two hundred sailors drowned that day only yards from the safety of the beach. Henry Trengrouse looked on in horror, for these events would change his life forever. He vowed that this would never happen again and so he embarked on inventing his Lifesaving Rocket Apparatus which was used to send a line to stranded ships and then return a person on a breeches Buoy. This invention would save thousands of lives and make him one of Cornwall’s most important characters from History.
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The story of HMS Anson
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The Life and invention of Henry Trengrouse
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Working model of the Lifesaving Rocket Apparatus
“The children were amazed by the appearance of Henry Trengrouse and his life saving equipment in our classroom! The detail that Adrian went into was engaging and fitted perfectly with our local history topic. The session was brilliantly resourced, with use of ICT as well as a first hand look at the rocket apparatus. The miniature model of the rocket breeches buoy/bosun's chair was just fantastic and getting to see a rocket propelled across the school field was great too. Many thanks.”
Abigail Bassett Year 3 Teacher
Parc-Eglos School Helston Cornwall