ese 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