SARAH ANNE USHER wrote the poem to raise funding for the widows and children left behind from the lifeboat crew who gave their lives to save strangers during the great gale in Bridlington bay 10th February 1871 at a penny a sheet, she was aged 17 at the time but the poem states 15 has her age because it was thought they would sell more if they said she was younger , a lot of the Usher family were later involved in fishing and served on the lifeboats later .
