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The village of Flamborough held a commemoration event marking a local fishing disaster that took the lives of six fishermen on 5th February 1909.

Two fishing cobles the ‘Gleaner’ and ‘Two Brothers’ went out to sea and failed to return when the weather took a turn for the worst.

John Cross and his two sons, Richard and Robert, were manning the ‘Gleaner’ and Melchoir Chadwick, George Gibbon and Tom Leng Major were onboard the ‘Two Brothers’ when their cobles were caught in a gale and had capsized off the coast of North Landing.

John Cross & son onboard the 'Gleaner'.

Stuart Cross, a lifeboat volunteer in Flamborough and great grandson of John, said the tragedy was part of his family history that will always be remembered:

“It shows that Flamborough still has a community and that we’ll remember such events for many years to come; that our fore-fathers struggled to survive and keep us all going. So we’re remembering the struggles and toils they had with their lives.”

Repercussion

The impact of the tragedy was such that fishing became forbidden in the Cross family.

“My father really wanted to be a fisherman but wasn’t allowed to go to sea it was still taboo in the early 60’s. His mother said ‘no, you can’t go to sea’ even though he wanted to.“ said Stuart.

“But later my dad got back into boats, probably in his early 50’s, and my younger brother has a pleasure fishing boat which he uses in the summer time.

“We’ve been brought up to enjoy the sea, but at the same time common sense is that you’d always give respect to the sea.”

Lifeboat rescue

Much of their sea related activity nowadays involves working at the lifeboat station where the family are volunteers for the Flamborough RNLI. An inspiration taken from John Cross’ brother, Robert, a well-known coxswain in the area who was involved in the rescue efforts of the 1909 fishing disaster.

Brothers Stuart (right) and John Cross

Before he retired from the lifeboat rescue service, Robert Cross was awarded a number of awards including the George Medal, the RNLI's gold medal for outstanding bravery.

Stuart says that lifeboat volunteering is part of his family heritage but also attributes the fishing tragedy of 1909 as a possible underlying factor.

“Subconsciously… you’re putting a little bit back into the community by being a volunteer and … making sure that this never happens again.

“Accidents today happen only through really bad seamanship, whereas accidents back then happened through fate and just bad luck really.”

Coincidence

Residents including the Cross family commemorated the disaster with a service at the Fisherman’s Memorial monument in the centre of Flamborough.

Father & son: Peter Southcott (right) & Andrew

And the commemoration came as a big surprise for one visitor.

Peter Southcott, from Harrogate, was on holiday in Flamborough with his son when the service took place. His grandmother, Mrs C G Southcott, was the then Mayoress of Bridlington who had unveiled the monument in August 1909.

“The event means quite a lot. I’ve brought my son Andrew, who had no idea about the family connection here. We both found it fascinating that we should come here just on the off-chance on the hundredth anniversary.” said Mr Southcott.

Photo of John Cross & son courtesy of George H. Traves.