HERO'S GENERAL CHARACTER.
Mr. Ellerthorpe proved himself a good servant, discharging his duties faithfully and honourably. During fourteen years he occupied the responsible position of foreman of the Humber Dock Gates, Hull. And when it is borne in mind that Hull is the third port in the kingdom, and that it is annually visited by 30,000 seamen in connection with its foreign and coasting traffic, and that, in the same time, about 20,000 small vessels, connected with the inland navigation, enter and leave the port, it will be seen that the duties of our friend were numerous and important. But the force and transparency of his character, his undoubted honesty, his indefatigable industry, and his unwearied attention to the duties of his office, won for him the confidence and respect of his employers, the esteem of his fellow workers, and the good opinion of the merchants of the port. Dale Brown, Esq., says:—
Dock Office, Hull,
Sept. 11th, 1867.
Sir,—I have known Mr. John Ellerthorpe as an active, energetic, Christian man, for upwards of eighteen years, and during the past six years he has been under my immediate control.
His wonderful daring and success in saving the lives of drowning persons, have now become matters of history, and have been fully recognised by the late Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, the Royal Humane Society, and the local officials in Hull, by whom he is best known and valued.
I am, Sir, yours very obediently,
DALE BROWN, Supt. Dock Master.
Rev. Henry Woodcock.
The following appeared in the Hull newspapers, November the 9th, 1864.
PRESENTATION TO THE HERO.
'Presentation to the 'Hero of the Humber.'—On the 6th of November, 1861, a public presentation of a gold watch and a purse containing upwards of 100 guineas, was made to Mr. John Ellerthorpe, of Hull, known thenceforth as the 'Hero of the Humber,' on account of his having saved twenty-nine persons from drowning. To commemorate that interesting event, as well as to add another to Mr. Ellerthorpe's well earned honours, a few friends met last Evening at Mr. Rawlinson's, 'Sykes Head,' Wellington Street. After a well-served supper, Mr. Councillor Symons, who, in the absence of Mr. Alderman Fountain, presided, called upon Mr. John Corbitt (of the Air and Calder Company), who presented to Mr. Ellerthorpe a purse containing twenty-three and a half guineas, subscribed by the leading shipping firms of Hull.
'Mr. Corbitt said:—The subscription was proposed by Mr. W. Dyson, sen. (Bannister, Dyson, & Co.), and has been most warmly and heartily taken up by all the leading firms, who were most ready and forward to mark their sense of the obligations of the shipping interest to Mr. Ellerthorpe's assiduous attention to duty, obliging disposition, and untiring activity at his post night and day (Applause). All present knew how valuable those services were, and how much the dispatch of business depended upon them. It had been a pleasing duty to himself to receive the subscriptions, they were tendered in such a willing and hearty spirit (Cheers). Mr. Corbitt then presented to Mr. Ellerthorpe the purse, which contained the following inscription:—