Grace Darling earned worldwide acclaim for her heroic efforts to help rescue survivors of a shipwreck off the coast of northeastern England’s ceremonial county of Northumberland in 1838. The seventh of nine children, Darling was born in Northumberland on November 24, 1815. Her father William was a lighthouse keeper.
In 1826, William Darling became keeper of a newly built lighthouse on Longstone Rock (part of the Farne Islands) and his family joined him in living there. Originally known as Outer Farne Lighthouse, this structure is now known as Longstone Lighthouse. Grace and the rest of the family spent the majority of their time on the lighthouse’s ground floor, which served as the living room, dining room, and kitchen.
In the early morning of September 7, 1838, Grace — 22 years old by this time — was gazing out an upstairs window in the lighthouse when she saw the paddle steamer Forfarshire wrecked on the island of Big Harcar about 600 yards (550 meters) away. That vessel had been carrying at least 60 people and, as a result of the rough and stormy weather there in the North Sea, ran aground on Big Harcar with considerable force and broke apart.
Due to the still-turbulent waters and the potential danger that posed, William Darling was initially unwilling to risk going to the area for a rescue. Grace, however, ultimately prevailed on him to undertake that search for survivors. Both of them consequently set off in a 21-foot (6.4-meter) rowing boat
Upon reaching the site of shipwreck, William and Grace Darling found only nine survivors. Grace held the rowing boat steady while William helped four of those survivors get on board it. Three of the individuals were members of the Forfarshire’s crew and the fourth person was a passenger named Sarah Dawson, whose young children James and Matilda had perished. While Thomas maneuvered the rowing boat back to the lighthouse, Grace did her best to comfort the devastated Mrs. Dawson.
After landing at Longstone Rock, William and the two strongest of the crew members rowed back to the site of the shipwreck to retrieve the remaining survivors still there. As it turned out, nine other people likewise survived that maritime disaster; they had managed to float away in an intact lifeboat of the Forfarshire and were eventually rescued by a sloop sailing through the region.
Grace Darling soon gained a great deal of renown for her lifesaving accomplishment out at sea that day. The Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (the present-day Royal National Lifeboat Institution) awarded both her and her father the Silver Medal for Bravery. They were also awarded gold medallions by the Royal Humane Society. In addition, Grace was presented with silver medals from both the Glasgow Humane Society and the Edinburgh & Leith Humane Society.
Grace also became the recipient of numerous letters, gifts, and marriage proposals. As yet another example of Grace’s newfound fame, several artists made their way to the lighthouse to create portraits of her. (The above painting of Grace was created in 1839 by Thomas Musgrave Joy.)
Sadly, however, Grace did not live that many years after she helped to rescue survivors of the Forfarshire. She died of tuberculosis on October 20, 1842. She was only 26. Grace was buried at St. Aidan’s churchyard in the English village and civil parish of Bamburgh. A monument to Grace can be found today on the western edge of this churchyard and just north of her grave. This monument features a sculpture of her sleeping and holding an oar.
Image Credit: Public Domain
For more information on Grace Darling, please check out https://www.bbc.co.uk/legacies/myths_legends/england/tyne/article_1.shtml and http://www.gracedarling.co.uk/
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