Aberhirnant was the home of the High Sheriff for Merionethshire, Henry Richardson. Henry Richardson was an extraordinary man, along with his son he was the inventer of an 'unsinkable' tubular lifeboat. He made a model which was shown at the Great Exhibition in 1851, & by 1852 the boat was built and launched in Manchester on the River Irwell. The story does not end there though, it was sailed down the Irwell to Liverpool, then in April 1852 it was rowed along the North Wales coast, around Anglesey, and Land's End to Ramsgate in order to prove its reliability to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and win a prize. Sadly they were beaten by another boat, but their design undoubtedly saved many lives especially around Rhyl and other shallow estuaries where his lifeboat was used.