The Hero of the Humber | Page 2

If he did all this he was a hero, even if he had not very
great powers; and if he had great powers, then he was a consummate
hero.'
Now, if we cannot claim for the late Mr. Ellerthorpe 'great powers' of
intellect, we are quite sure that all who read the following pages will
agree that the title bestowed upon him by his grateful and admiring
townsman,--'The Hero of the Humber,' was well and richly deserved.
He was a 'Hero,' though he lived in a humble cottage. He was a man of
heroic sacrifices; his services were of the noblest kind; he sought the
highest welfare of his fellow-creatures with an energy never surpassed;
his generous and impulsive nature found its highest happiness in
promoting the welfare of others. He is held as a benefactor in the fond
recollection of thousands of his fellow countrymen, and he received
rewards far more valuable and satisfying than those which his Queen

and Government bestowed upon him: more lasting than the gorgeous
pageantries and emblazoned escutcheon that reward the hero of a
hundred battles.
The warrior's deeds may win An earthly fame, but deeds by mercy
wrought, Are heaven's own register within: Not one shall be forgot.
The scene of most of his gallant exploits in rescuing human lives was
'The river Humber;' hence the title given him by a large gathering of his
fellow townsmen.
The noble river Humber, upon which the town of Kingston-upon-Hull
is seated, may be considered the Thames of the Midland and Northern
Counties of England. It divides the East Riding of Yorkshire from
Lincolnshire, during the whole of its course, and is formed by the
junction of the Ouse and the Trent. At Bromfleet, it receives the little
river Foulness, and rolling its vast collection of waters eastward, in a
stream enlarged to between two and three miles in breadth, washes the
town of Hull, where it receives the river of the same name. Opposite to
Hedon and Paul, which are a few miles below Hull, the Humber widens
into a vast estuary, six or seven miles in breadth, and then directs it's
course past Great Grimsby to the German Ocean, which it enters at
Spurn Head. No other river system collects waters from so many
important towns as this famous stream. 'The Humber,' says a recent
writer, 'resembling the trunk of a vast tree spreading its branches in
every direction, commands, by the numerous rivers which it receives,
the navigation and trade of a very extensive and commercial part of
England.'
The Humber, between its banks, occupies an area of about one hundred
and twenty-five square miles. The rivers Ouse and Trent which, united,
form the Humber, receive the waters of the Aire, Calder, Don, Old Don,
Derwent, Idle, Sheaf, Soar, Nidd, Yore, Wharfe, &c., &c.
From the waters of this far-famed river--the Humber--Mr. Ellerthorpe
rescued thirty-one human beings from drowning.
For the rapid sale of 3,500 copies of the 'Life of the Hero,' the Author

thanks a generous public. A series of articles extracted from the first
edition appeared in 'Home Words.' An illustrated article also appears in
Cassell's 'Heroes of Britain in Peace and War,' in which the writer
speaks of the present biography as 'That very interesting book in which
the history of Ellerthorpe's life is told. (P. 1. 2.
PART XI.) The
Author trusts that the present edition, containing an account of 'The
Hero's' last affliction, death, funeral, etc., will render the work
additionally interesting.
THE WRITER.
53, Leonard Street, Hull, Aug. 4th, 1880.

CONTENTS.
CHAP. PAGE
I. His wicked and reckless career 1
II. His conversion and inner experience 6
III. His Christian labours 14
IV. His staunch teetotalism 22
V. His bold adventures on the water 31
VI. His method of rescuing the drowning 44
VII. His gallant and humane conduct in rescuing the drowning 51
VIII. The honoured hero 95
IX. His general character, death, etc. 116

X. The hero's funeral 122

The Hero of the Humber.
CHAPTER I.
HIS WICKED AND RECKLESS CAREER AS A SAILOR.
The fine old town of Hull has many institutions of which it is
deservedly proud. There is the Charter house, a monument of practical
piety of the days of old. There is the Literary and Philosophical
Institute, with its large and valuable library, and its fine museum, each
of which is most handsomely housed. There is the new Town Hall, the
work of one of the town's most gifted sons. There is the tall column
erected in honour of Wilberforce, in the days when the representatives
of the law were expected to obey the laws, and when the cultivation of
a philanthropic feeling towards the negro had not gone out of fashion.
There is the Trinity House, with its magnificent endowments, which