On 13 December 1907, the Thomas W Lawson of Boston was in distress off Annet.
The St Agnes Lifeboat put William Thomas Hicks on board to act as pilot.
But the schooner foundered at Minmanueth and he was lost together with fifteen of the vessel’s crew.
His son, Frederick Charles Hicks, put off with seven other men in the gig ‘Slippen’ which rescued the schooner’s captain and engineer form Hellweather rock.

Frederick Charles Hicks was awarded the RNLI Silver Medal for bravery, when swimming from a gig to save the captain of the Thomas W Lawson.
The United States government gave him a gold watch, and gold medals to all the crewe of the gig ‘Slippen’.
On 13 December 1907, the Thomas W Lawson of Boston was in distress off Annet. The St Agnes Lifeboat put William Thomas Hicks on board to act as pilot. But the schooner foundered at Minmanueth and he was lost together with fifteen of the vessel’s crew. His son, Frederick Charles Hicks, put off with seven other men in the gig ‘Slippen’ which rescued the schooner’s captain and engineer form Hellweather rock.
Frederick Charles Hicks was awarded the RNLI Silver Medal for bravery, when swimming from a gig to save the captain of the Thomas W Lawson. The United States government gave him a gold watch, and gold medals to all the crewe of the gig ‘Slippen’.
St Agnes Lifeboat Station, Isles of Scilly