The first lifeboat in Scarborough was instituted by public donation costing just over £212 and saw its first launch in November 1801, when it went to the aid of a stricken vessel named Aurora in Scarborough Bay. The first boat was actually built in Scarborough to a design by Henry Greathead, who had designed and built a boat for and lifeboat stations. A replacement boat was built and supplied to the rescue crews in the town in 1823. The first lifeboat station was at the junction of Foreshore Road and Valley Road in the town. In 1821, the station was relocated near to its present site by the West Pier in the harbour, however it was on the landward side of Foreshore Road.
