biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1751–1821)
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| biography:
| Lifeboat inventor, born in North Shields, Tyne and Wear, NE England, UK. After being an apprentice to a house painter, he became known as a somewhat eccentric inventor. The wreck of the Adventure in the R Tyne in 1789, causing many deaths less than 300 yards from the shore, led to a local competition to design a lifeboat. Both he and a local boatbuilder, Henry Greathead (1757–1816), submitted designs, but neither was approved. Greathead then went on to present a new model which incorporated many of Wouldhave's features, and was commissioned to build it. He launched The Original in 1790, and Greathead boats came to be used for 40 years around the coasts of Britain. Greathead subsequently claimed the title of lifeboat inventor, and Wouldhave died with his contribution unacknowledged. |
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