The Hero of the Humber; Or, The History of the Late Mr. John EllerthorpeWoodcock, Henry
Religion
The Hero of the Humber; Or, The History of the Late Mr. John Ellerthorpe
Woodcock, Henry
Ellerthorpe, John, 1806-1868; Heroes -- England -- Biography; Sailors -- England -- Biography
_First._--JOHN ELLERTHORPE.[1] (1820.)
He was my father, and I was not more than fourteen years of age when I
saved him. At the time he managed the ferry boat from Hessle to Barton.
It required two persons to conduct the boat across the Humber, and as it
cost my father a shilling each time he employed a man to assist him
across, he often took me with him instead of a man, and thus saved the
shilling. One morning, he took Mr. Thompson, corn miller, to Barton, and
engaged to fetch him back at night; and there was this agreement between
them, that my father was to receive the fare whether Mr. T---- returned
or not. He did not return that night, though we waited for him until
nine o'clock. The snow was then thick on the ground, the wind was
blowing strong, and the waves were beginning to rise high in the Humber,
and I was sitting, half-asleep, at the corner of a comfortable hearth,
before a bright fire, when my father called out, 'Come, my boy, we'll be
off.' We were soon in the boat, but had not got many yards, when my
father fell overboard. I remember crying out most piteously, 'Oh, my
father is overboard,' when I instantly plunged into the water and soon
had fast hold of him. He had sunk to the bottom, a depth of sixteen
feet, for when he came up he was covered with mud. We came up close to
the boat's side, and, making a tremendous spring, I got hold of the
boat's gunnel, and after a few moments my father also got hold of it
with both his hands. He was a heavy man, weighing about fifteen stones,
and could not swim. I said to him, 'Now, father, can you keep hold
while I fetch the Hull horse-boatmen?' whom we had left at the
water-side house, when he replied, 'Yes, but be very sharp, my lad.' I
then swam to the house, and called out, 'My father is overboard;' and
when I returned with the men, I was glad to hear him shout, 'I'm here.'
John Thrush, captain of the horse-boat, and Luke Dixon, soon got him
into the boat, while Mr. Wood, the landlord, brought him a glass of
brandy, which he drank. We could not persuade him to leave the boat, so
we again started for home, and as a brisk wind was blowing at the time,
in about fifteen minutes, we were safe in Hessle harbour. My mother met
us there, and I said, 'Mother, my father has been overboard, fetch
somebody to help him out of the boat.' He was stiff and cold, but with
the aid of Mr. Wright we got him ashore. Mr. W. brought him some mulled
ale and a glass of rum, which I then thought very good. We then wrapped
him in several thicknesses of warm clothing. I was much perished at the
time, but soon felt all right. Not long before this, my mother had given
me a severe flogging for bathing so often; so I looked into her face and
said, 'Mother, I think you won't flog me for bathing again, will you?'
to which she replied, 'Oh, my lad, it was a good job that thou was
there;'[2] when my father faintly added, 'Yes, if he had not been there
I should never have come to the top of the water.' And if he had he
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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