The New International Encyclopædia/Manby, George William

MAN'BY, George William (1765-1854). An English inventor of life-saving apparatus, born in Suffolk. He served seven years in the militia, and in 1803 was appointed barrack-master at Yarmouth. In 1807 he began working on his life-saving apparatus, by which in 1808 he saved the crew of the stranded brig Elizabeth. He twice received grants of money from Parliament, to which were added honorary distinctions from many foreign governments. It was estimated that by the time of his death nearly 1000 persons had been rescued from stranded ships by means of his apparatus. His publications include An Essay on the Preservation of Shipwrecked Persons, with a Descriptive Account of the Apparatus (1812).