Arms on the Watch House, South Shields
In December 1865 a group of men met in the Mechanics’ Institute at South Shields to discuss the establishment of a Volunteer Life Brigade similar to that formed at Tynemouth some 12 months earlier.
A preliminary meeting on Saturday 16th December 1866 agreed that a Brigade should be formed and the Town Clerk Mr T. Salmon led a deputation to meet the Tyne pilots who enthusiastically agreed to apply to the Board of Trade. The Mayor of South Shields Alderman Thomas Moffett called a public meeting in the Old Town Hall in the Market Place on Monday 15th January 1866 and 140 men were enrolled. A copy of the Meeting Notice still hangs in the Watch House. Archibald Stevenson and Samuel Malcolm were appointed Honorary Secretaries. The Board of Trade accepted the services of South Shields Volunteer Life Brigade on Tuesday 30th January 1866. The rest is history.
