The interesting May 1892 Irish District Inspector of Lifeboats Royal National Lifeboat Institution Medal in Silver awarded to Lieutenant H.T. Gartside-Tipping, Royal Navy, who was born in Dublin, though his family came from Bolton, Lancashire, and he would later become Lord of the Manor of Little Bolton. As a naval officer he had seen action off Japan at the battle of Kigishima on 11 August 1863, but after promotion to Lieutenant-Commander, heart disease and other conditions resulted in his retirement from regular naval service in July 1884. From 9 July 1879 to 1892, he held the post of Inspector of Lifeboats (Irish District) and during that period often went out on rescue missions receiving the Royal National Lifeboat Institution Medal in Silver and later an address and silver claret jug on his retirement from the role, the medal being voted to him on 12 May 1892. When the Great War broke out in 1914, Gartside-Tipping - like many other retired officers - offered his services and was readily accepted despite his age, and assigned to the Dover Patrol and given command of the armed yacht Aries and later the steam yacht Sanda which had been hired by the Admiralty as an auxiliary patrol vessel. In addition to this command, he was given charge of all Auxiliary Patrol vessels in Area XIX for the next four months. He was presented to the King in September 1915 as the oldest naval officer serving afloat. Several days afterwards, on the evening of 24 September 1915, a large flotilla sailed from Dover to bombard Zeebrugge and Ostend in response to a request from the army to create a diversion while they carried out a key offensive on the Western Front. Sanda was part of the Ostend force and arriving there next morning, the bombardment commenced at 7am. At 9am enemy heavy batteries opened up and at 9.15am Sanda received a direct hit below the bridge. All her executive officers, including her commander were killed instantly and only 16 from her complement of 26 survived the subsequent sinking. Gartside-Tipping can therefore be assumed to have been the oldest naval officer to have been killed on active service during the war, when aged 68. In an odd twist, his wife, Mary, following his death went to serve with the Women’s Emergency Corps in France. She was shot dead by a French soldier who was psychologically disturbed on 4 March 1917, and was posthumously awarded her the Croix de Guerre by the French Government.
Royal National Lifeboat Institution Medal in Silver, Victoria bust with Dolphin suspension; (LIEUT. H.T. GARTSIDE TIPPING, R.N. VOTED 12TH MAY 1892.)
Condition: Nearly Extremely Fine.
Henry Thomas Gartside-Tipping was born in Dublin on 11 June 1848, the eldest son of Gartside Gartside-Tipping, JP, (1810-1890), of Bolton, Lancashire, and Rossferry House, County Fermanagh, and his wife Jane Margaret Fowler (-c.1856), of Rahinston, County Meath. He joined the Royal Navy as a Cadet aboard HMS Britannia on 11 September 1860 and was made a Midshipman aboard HMS Euryalus on 7 March 1862 and thus saw action at the battle of Kigishima on 11 August 1863.
Promoted to Sub Lieutenant aboard HMS Doris on 11 June 1867, Gartside-Tipping was then promoted to Lieutenant on 18 August 1870 after a tour in the Royal Yacht Victoria and Albert. Although he went on to serve aboard HMS Ganges from 25 September 1873 to 14 October 1876 (having the future King George V and the Duke of Clarence under him as Cadets while aboard the tender Dapper) and HMS Britannia from 10 May 1878 to 15 July 1879, being promoted to Lieutenant-Commander on 18 August 1878, ill health, particularly heart disease, hampered his later career. Eventually Gartside-Tipping left the service on 16 July 1884.
From 9 July 1879 to 1892, he held the post of Inspector of Lifeboats (Irish District) and during that period often went out on rescue missions, receiving the Royal National Lifeboat Institution Medal in Silver and later an address and silver claret jug on his retirement from the role. In high appreciation of his zealous and efficient services and in acknowledgement of the risk of life he frequently incurred in the Lifeboat service. The medal was voted to Gartside-Tipping on 12 May 1892 and marked his stepping down as Inspector of the Irish District after 13 years.
He married Mary Stuart Flynn, daughter of Captain Walter Flynn, RA, of Southport, in December 1890 and with her had three children, Vernon Davers (1893-1911), Mildreda Phyllis (1892-1955) and Esther Pamela (1895-1924). He settled at ‘Quarr Wood’, Binstead, Isle of Wight, which he inherited from his uncle, the Rev Vernon Tipping. Gartside-Tipping also retained the title of Lord of the Manor of Little Bolton, Lancashire.
When the Great War broke out in 1914, Gartside-Tipping - like many other retired officers - offered his services and was readily accepted despite his age; appointed a Lieutenant- Commander on the active list on 16 September 1914 (he held this rank on the retired list from 18 August 1898), he was assigned to the Dover Patrol and given command of the armed yacht Aries. Then, on 18 January 1915, he was then placed in command of steam yacht Sanda which had been hired by the Admiralty as an auxiliary patrol vessel and armed with two 6 pounder guns. In addition to this command, he was given charge of all Auxiliary Patrol vessels in Area XIX for the next four months. He was presented to the King in September 1915 as the oldest naval officer serving afloat.
Several days afterwards, on the evening of 24 September 1915, a large flotilla sailed from Dover to bombard Zeebrugge and Ostend in response to a request from the army to create a diversion while they carried out a key offensive on the Western Front. Sanda was part of the Ostend force and arriving there next morning, the bombardment commenced at 7am. At 9am enemy heavy batteries opened up and at 9.15am Sanda received a direct hit below the bridge. All her executive officers, including her commander, Henry Gartside-Tipping, were killed instantly and only 16 from her complement of 26 survived the subsequent sinking. Henry Gartside-Tipping is commemorated on the Nieuport Memorial, in Belgium, the Binstead War Memorial on the Isle of Wight and the Southport War Memorial, Lancashire.
A photograph of Lieutenant-Commander Gartside-Tipping is included in The Illustrated London News of 22 January 1916, page 121, to mark his being mentioned in despatches by Vice-Admiral Bacon, and another photograph of him appears in Cox (1998). Probate was granted on his will in London on 21 January 1916 to his widow and Colonel Robert F Gartside Tipping, his effects amounting to £49,031. Following Gartside-Tipping’s death, his wife, Mary, served with the Women’s Emergency Corps in France during World War One. She was shot dead by a French soldier who was psychologically disturbed on 4 March 1917 and is buried in Vauxbuin French National Cemetery. The French government posthumously awarded her the Croix de Guerre.
