Oxford is about as far as you can get from the sea in Britain.

But that hasn't stopped people living in the city from supporting maritime activities.

When the National Lifeboat Institution - before it got its Royal prefix - was casting around for money for new boats in the 1860s, it looked to Oxford for help.

And it wasn't disappointed.

Capt Ward arrived in the city in 1865 to talk about the institution's work and as a result, a committee was set up to raise funds.

Our sister paper, The Oxford Times, reported: "The appeal met a response at once so spontaneous and liberal that nearly £700 was subscribed - sufficient to purchase a lifeboat (first class) on the self-righting principle, together with a carriage and all the necessary equipment."

It measured 32ft long and 7ft 4in wide and was powered by 10 oars.

It was paraded through the city streets, then taken to a point near Randalls Bridge, where the Thames meets the Cherwell below Folly Bridge, for the launching ceremony.

Mrs Lightfoot, wife of the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, broke a bottle of wine against the stern of the vessel and christened it Isis before a University eight took charge of the oars.

The boat was then hauled out of the water to taken by road to Hayle in Cornwall, where it was to be based.

A model of the boat was later presented to the Rev GS Ward, of Oxford, in recognition of his "valuable and zealous co-operation" of collecting the cost of the Hayle lifeboat.

It remained hidden for many years, but was discovered in the 1970s in the basement of Oxford Museum, cleaned and put on display.