Whitby lifeboat crewman features in RNLI podcast about family history

Jamie Robson White is a long-serving volunteer at Whitby RNLI and is also second coxswain at Humber RNLI.

With a heritage like Jamie’s, it’s no wonder he’s passionate about saving lives at sea – lifesaving is tightly woven into his family history.

In this episode, Jamie shares memories of his grandmother first showing him the family tree.

Jamie is a distant relative of Grace Darling and a descendant of Michael Robson – both present at the Forfarshire shipwreck rescue in 1838.

Grace Darling courageously saved nine people from the shipwreck.

The RNLI’s 200 Voices podcast launched in August 2023 and, in the run-up to the charity’s bicentenary on 4 March 2024, an episode will be released every day for 200 days, exploring captivating stories from the charity’s history, through to the current day.

Available across all podcast platforms and the RNLI’s website, listeners can hear from survivors, supporters, volunteers, lifeguards, celebrity ambassadors, historians and many more from across the UK and Ireland – and beyond.

The 200 Voices series also includes celebrity ambassadors such as The Sixth Commandment actor Timothy Spall, Gavin and Stacey actress Ruth Jones, Irish musician Phil Coulter, gold medal Olympian Sir Ben Ainslie and BAFTA-winning actress Joanna Scanlan.

RNLI Strategic Content Manager, Rory Stamp said: ‘We knew we had to do something really special to mark the RNLI’s 200th anniversary, which is such a monumental milestone.

"200 Voices is an incredible collection of stories that are emotive, powerful, inspiring and heart-warming.

"The series gives us a chance to hear from a whole variety of amazing people who have played a part in or been touched by our life-saving charity.

“200 Voices is the first in a programme of activity planned to mark the RNLI’s bicentenary as we celebrate the world-class lifesaving service we provide today, remember our remarkable history and aim to inspire the future generations of lifesavers and supporters as we move through into the next 200 years.”

Listen to the RNLI’s 200 Voices daily wherever you get your podcasts or at RNLI.org/200Voices.