Volume One - Into the Victorian Age - Some newspaper reports from the 1870's

The public will see, whatever may be said about the inefficiency of ship's boats and the parsimony of ship-owners, that in fourteen years 22,615 lives have been saved by ship's boats alone ; and that the Mercantile Marine Fund, a ship-owners fund, has contributed towards saving life at sea no less a sum than £133,099 11s. 9d." Nautical Magazine for 1872 - [240].

The rocket apparatus was developed over a ten year period by Henry Trengrouse of Helston, Cornwall, who witnessed the drowning of 120 lives when H.M.S. Anson sank only 100 metres off-shore, at the Loe Bar. His apparatus, the original breeches-buoy, is estimated to have saved about 10,000 souls from a watery grave between 1870 and 1911 and it was still in service in some parts until the 1980's. Trengrouse invested £3,000 for a £50 return on his invention, paid by H.M. Navy and as a result, died in poverty as another of Cornwall's greatly under-estimated engineering innovators. The maritime museum at Helston has an original apparatus as its prize exhibit.

• November 1873 - Railway Communications Between Cardiff and Penarth - "On Thursday evening a largely attended and influential meeting of the inhabitants of Penarth was held at the National School-room, Penarth for the purpose of taking steps to improve the present means of communication between Cardiff and Penarth. The Rev. C. Parsons, rector, presided, and the meeting comprised most of Cardiff merchants and brokers who reside at Penarth. In opening the meeting, the chairman referred to the growing importance of Penarth, and expressed an opinion that the inhabitants of Cardiff did not seem to understand that Penarth was really becoming an important place, and were too much inclined to look down upon Penarth as a place of insignificance, while in reality it was rapidly becoming a very important place, and would become more so if there was regular and rapid communication between that place and Cardiff. He urged on the meeting to adopt some course which would shew to those concerned that it would be to their interest to open a railway communication to Penarth at once.

Captain Guthrie, in moving the first resolution, spoke very strongly on the want of a more convenient and rapid mode of communication between Penarth and Cardiff. He expressed some surprise that the Penarth Dock authorities and the directors of the Taff Vale Railway Company should have stood so much in their own light in not having established a passenger railway communication between Penarth and Cardiff. Captains frequently declined to take their vessels into Penarth dock owing to the uncomfortable and inconvenient mode of communication that at present exists. They were thankful to the bus proprietors and to the proprietors of the steamboats for plying between these places, but this communication was irregular, uncertain, and therefore imperfect, but of necessity better than none.