The youngest medallist

Frederick Carter (11) and Frank Perry (16) were each awarded a Silver Medal in 1890 for a rescue at Weymouth.

In a strong easterly breeze and heavy surf, a boat capsized in Weymouth Bay, Dorset and two men were thrown out.

Frederick Carter and Frank Perry were in another boat and they rowed into the broken water and saved them.

The last teenager to receive a Medal was Simon Peter Hall of Robin Hood’s Bay, when he was awarded a Bronze Medal for a rescue on 19 June 1979.

Simon rowed out in a small dinghy through breaking seas and saved a youth who had tried to swim ashore after a homemade raft had broken up.

At least 15 other boys between the ages of 12 and 19 have received Medals.