I am delighted to have been asked to perform at a special 175th Anniversary Service, to honour the men involved in the Worthing Lalla Rookh disaster of 1850, which will be taking place at St Mary's Church, Broadwater, Worthing, West Sussex, at 1.30pm on Sunday 23rd November.
I will be debuting a brand new song, 48 Dependants, which has been specially written for the event.
Eleven Worthing fisherman went out in a small open boat, to assist the stricken barque Lalla Rookh, which was floundering offshore, in a fierce storm. Tragically all eleven lost their lives. Twenty more fisherman then went out, boarded the vessel, and managed to re-sail the ship, taking it to safety.
As a result of this catastrophic loss of life, Worthing became a lifeboat town in 1853, with the RNLI taking command in 1865. This remained the case until 1930.
It will be an honour to be part of this important historical event.
