We pause at this point in our story, good reader, to treat you to a
little of what mankind is prone to consider "dry," namely, a chapter of
information and statistics. We dislike sailing under false colours,
therefore we warn you at the outset of the nature of what is to follow.
And yet our subject ought not to be considered dry, for it is
indissolubly connected with salt water, and if human hearts were
suitably affected by the simple statement of facts, drops of salt water
would frequently moisten these pages!
Please, do not skip. _Multum in parvo_ shall be our motto.
Lionel Lukin, a coach-builder in London, was the inventor of the
lifeboat. He took out a patent for it on the 2nd November, 1785, and
wrote a pamphlet on lifeboats, entitled "The Invention, Principles, and
Construction of Insubmergible Boats." His boat was rendered buoyant by
means of a projecting gunwale of cork, and hollow air-cases within it;
one of these being at the head, the other at the stern. It was
ballasted by means of a false iron keel. In these respects this boat
possessed, in rudimentary form, the essentials of the lifeboat of the
present day. A coble was converted into a lifeboat on these principles
by Lukin, and launched at Bamborough, where, in the course of the first
year, it was the means of saving many lives. This was the first
lifeboat ever brought into action.
Lukin, though a man of energy and perseverance, was doomed to
disappointment. The Prince of Wales (George the Fourth), to his credit
be it said, was his warm and liberal patron, but even the Prince's
influence failed to awaken the sympathy of the public, or of the men in
high places who alone could bring this great invention into general use.
People in those days appeared to think that the annual drowning of
thousands of their countrymen was an unavoidable necessity,--the price
we had to pay, as it were, for our maritime prosperity. Lukin appealed
in vain to the First Lord of the Admiralty, and to many other
influential men, but a deaf ear was invariably turned to him. With the
exception of the Bamborough coble, not a single lifeboat was placed at
any of the dangerous localities on the east coast of England for several
years. Wrecked men and women and children were (as far as the Naval
Boards were concerned) graciously permitted to swim ashore if they
could, or to go to the bottom if they couldn't! Ultimately, the
inventor of the lifeboat went to his grave unrewarded and
unacknowledged--at least by the nation; though the lives saved through
his invention were undoubtedly a reward beyond all price. The high
honour of having constructed and set in motion a species of boat which
has saved hundreds and thousands of human lives, and perchance prevented
the breaking of many human hearts, is certainly due to Lionel Lukin.
In 1789, the public were roused from their state of apathy in regard to
shipwrecked seamen by the wreck of the "Adventure" of Newcastle, the
crew of which perished in the presence of thousands who could do nothing
to save them. Under the excitement of this disaster the inhabitants of
South Shields met to deplore and to consult. A committee was appointed,
and premiums were offered for the best models of lifeboats. Men came
forward, and two stood pre-eminent--Mr William Wouldhave, a painter,
and Mr Henry Greathead, a boat-builder, of South Shields. The former
seems to have been the first who had a glimmering idea of the
self-righting principle, but he never brought it to anything. Cork was
the buoyant principle in his boat. Greathead suggested a curved keel.
The chairman of the committee modelled a boat in clay which combined
several of the good qualities of each, and this was given to Greathead
as the type of the boat he was to build.
From this time forward lifeboats gradually multiplied. Greathead became
a noted improver and builder of them. He was handsomely rewarded for
his useful labours by Government and others, and his name became so
intimately and deservedly associated with the lifeboat, that people
erroneously gave him the credit of being its inventor.
The Duke of Northumberland took a deep interest in the subject of
lifeboats, and expended money liberally in constructing and supporting
them. Before the close of 1863, Greathead had built 31 boats, 18 for
England, 5 for Scotland, and 8 for foreign countries. This was so far
well; but it was a wretchedly inadequate provision for the necessities
of the case. Interest had indeed been awakened in the public, but the
public cannot act as a united body; and the Trinity House seemed to fall
back into the sleep from which it had been partially aroused.
It was not till 1822 that the great (because successful) champion of the
lifeboat stood forth,--in the person of Sir William Hillary, Baronet.
Sir William, besides being a philanthropist, was a hero! He not only
devised liberal things, and carried them into execution, but he
personally shared in the danger of rescuing life from the raging sea.
Our space forbids a memoir, but this much may be said briefly. He dwelt
on the coast of the Isle of Man, and established a Sailors' Home at
Douglas. He constantly witnessed the horrors of shipwreck, and seemed
to make it his favourite occupation to act as one of the crew of boats
that put off to wrecks. He was of course frequently in imminent danger;
once had his ribs broken, and was nearly drowned oftentimes. During his
career he personally assisted in saving 305 lives! He was the means of
stirring up public men, and the nation generally, to a higher sense of
their duty to those who risk their lives upon the sea; and eventually--
in conjunction with two members of Parliament, Mr Thomas Wilson and Mr
George Hibbert--was the founder of "THE ROYAL NATIONAL INSTITUTION FOR
THE PRESERVATION OF LIFE FROM SHIPWRECK."
This noble Institution--now named THE ROYAL NATIONAL LIFEBOAT
INSTITUTION--was founded on the 4th of March, 1824. From that date to
the present time it has unremittingly carried out the great ends for
which it was instituted.
Let us glance at these in detail, as given in their publication, _The
Lifeboat Journal_.