The Redcar “Guy” Gansey: Memory, Loss, and the Sea

From the Staithes Museum Newsletter, April 2026.

This month, we are delighted to share a remarkable story sent to us by researcher John Stafford—one that connects Redcar, Staithes, and a long tradition of remembrance shaped by the sea.

At its heart is William Guy, a Redcar lifeboatman who lost his life on Christmas Day in 1836.

That day, a violent storm drove the Danish brig Caroline onto the treacherous Salt Scar rocks, just off Redcar. In response, the Zetland lifeboat—built in 1802 by Henry Greathead, the pioneering designer of lifeboats—was launched into what must have been terrifying conditions. The Zetland, now recognised as the oldest surviving lifeboat in the world, was already renowned in its own time for its design and durability.

William Guy was part of the rescue crew.

As bowman, his role was one of the most dangerous: to stand at the front of the lifeboat and throw a line to the stricken vessel. But as the Zetland battled the storm, it was overwhelmed by the sea. William was washed overboard and drowned. Seventeen days later, his body was found at Sandy Wyke, just north of Staithes—a place long known as a “washing in” point, where the sea returns what it has taken.

His story is one of courage, but also one that would have been deeply familiar along this coast.

“White Water”: When the Sea Takes Its Own

The dangers faced by fishermen and lifeboat crews were not abstract—they shaped everyday life in Staithes and along the North Yorkshire coast. The artist Laura Knight, who lived and worked in Staithes in the early 20th century, captured this reality vividly.

Describing the aftermath of a wreck, she wrote:

“In the midst of a flother of foam… we see a black lump, never there before… Every yard of the way contains a relic… half an oar, a piece of torn net, a battered bucket.”

And later, at Sandy Wyke—the very place where William Guy was found:

“On a stretch of washed sand, we see… a coble… entirely stripped of all her gear and completely empty… a skeleton from which all breath of life had been torn.”

Knight’s account goes on to describe the recovery of a body:

“About a hundred men… in the middle is a long ladder… a body lies lashed… the remains of the father who had ‘washed in’ higher up the coast.”

These scenes, though written decades later, echo the same landscape and the same rhythms of loss that shaped William Guy’s story.

Knitting Memory: The Meaning of the Gansey

Along this coastline, the sea did not always return the dead quickly—or recognisably. As a result, clothing became an important means of identification.

Fishermen wore distinctive woollen jumpers known as ganseys (or “smock jackets” in Staithes). While patterns were not always strictly tied to individual villages, families often stitched initials into garments in red wool. In several recorded cases, a drowned man was identified months later solely by the initials sewn into his clothing.

It is within this tradition that John Stafford’s “Redcar ‘Guy’ Gansey” takes on its full meaning.

Working with gansey expert Deb Gillanders, John helped design a new pattern as a memorial to William Guy. The finished gansey incorporates symbolic motifs: anchors and crosses for faith and steadfastness, hearts for family and love of the sea, rope cables for maritime life, and repeating “Z” patterns referencing the Zetland lifeboat and the support fund established for Guy’s family.

Completed in 2026—190 years after William Guy’s death—the gansey is both a tribute and a continuation of tradition.

Remembering William Guy

William Guy’s story begins with a lifeboat launch in a storm—but it does not end there.

It continues:

• in the preserved timbers of the Zetland

• in the landscapes of Salt Scar and Sandy Wyke

• in the memories of communities shaped by the sea

• and now, in the stitches of a gansey

We are very grateful to John Stafford for sharing this research with us, and for helping to bring this story back into the light.