Her name was Grace Horsley Darling. Grace was born on 24th November 1815 at her
grandparents'
cottage in Bamburgh. After being baptised by the Rev. Andrew Bolt on 17th
December at nearby St. Aidan's Church, she was taken to her home on Brownsman,
one of the Farne Islands, where her father was lighthouse keeper. Grace was the
seventh child of William and Thomasin Darling. It is well known that William
doted on his children, playing with them whenever he had a spare moment. He set
up a school in the lighthouse and taught them to read and write, knowing they
would eventually have to make their own way in the world.Grace was the apple of her father's eye, even after her twin brothers came along in 1819. William was delighted that his daughter shared his own enthusiasm for nature. He taught her all about the wild birds that inhabited Brownsman. She also tended the sheep and goats they kept to graze the island's coarse grass.
When Grace was ten years old the family moved to the island of Longstone, where a new lighthouse had been built. Longstone was not only further off shore, but also consisted of sheer rock. There was no grass here for the animals, and few wild birds. Had it not been for the seals, which heaved themselves onto the rocks to bask in the sun, Grace would have been very disappointed by the lack of wild life.
One by one the children grew up and moved away from the island until only Grace and her younger brother, William Brooks Darling, remained. He was now assisting his father with the lighthouse. His Twin, George Alexander, had gone into an apprenticeship in Newcastle. By this time, Grace was 22 years old.
At daybreak on the 7th September 1838, Grace was awoken by the whistling wind. Looking out of the window, she saw the steamship Forfarshire aground on Big Harcar Rock, which was nearly a mile away. Through a telescope, she could see the survivors clinging desperately to the rocks.
She quickly roused her father, telling him that something must be done to help them. Her brother was away on a trip to the mainland, but Grace persuaded her father that she would be able to help him to pick up the survivors.
They launched the lighthouse coble - a flat-bottomed rowing boat - and began to make their way through the fierce storm. They could not row straight towards the survivors; the channel was too narrow and the boat could easily have been dashed against the rocks. Grace and her father were forced to row around the island and approach from the other side.
When they reached the rocks, William realised that he would have to leave Grace to manage the boat while he organised the survivors into two groups However this meant leaving Grace alone in the boat. He knew it would take every ounce of her strength to keep it off the rocks. One false move and she would be thrown overboard, but the only alternative was to leave the survivors to their fate.
William leapt across the rocks and found nine survivors. Two children and one man had already died of exposure. The children's mother, Mrs. Dawson, was still alive but in a state of shock and one of the men was injured.
William decided to take the woman, the injured man and three of the able-bodied men back first. He planned then to go back and rescue the other four.
During this time, Grace was desperately trying to keep the boat afloat. With the mountainous waves crashing all around, it would have been a daunting task for any man, let alone a young woman. Somehow she managed, but she was quite exhausted when the first of the survivors climbed aboard and took over the oars.
Grace helped Mrs. Dawson and the injured man while the exhausted group made their way back to Longstone. Once the people were ashore, William and two of the survivors went back to pick up the other four, while Grace stayed at the island of Longstone to help tend the injured.
Meanwhile, the lifeboat had set out from North Sunderland with young William Brooks on board. When they reached the rocks, all the lifeboat crew found were the dead bodies. As they were so exhausted, they decided to go to Longstone and wait until the storm abated before rowing back to the mainland.
When they arrived at the lighthouse, they were amazed to find nine survivors - and even more surprised to learn that Grace had heroically helped her father to rescue them.
They had to wait for three days before the storm subsided enough for them to leave the island. An inquest was set up to investigate the sinking of the Forfarshire so it was not until the 15th September that news of Grace Darling's heroism was reported in the local paper, the Berwick and Kelso Warder. A few days later the story was published in The Times.
Once the nation heard of Grace's heroism, everyone wanted to meet this young woman. Commemorative mugs, ornaments, soap wrappers, tea caddies and chocolate tins were all manufactured, portraying Grace and her father battling against the elements to save the survivors of the ill-fated steamship. People sent Grace gifts; some asked for a lock of her hair. The Duke of Northumberland even invited her and William to Alnwick Castle.
Grace had become something of a celebrity - she was the first media heroine - but she was ill-equipped to deal with the attention. Overwhelmed by all the sudden interest in her life, she left many of the details for her father to disclose.
Four years later Grace caught a chill from which she never recovered. She died in her father's arms in October 1842.
However, the timeless legend lives on. In Bamburgh, a few doors from the cottage where she was born, a small museum is dedicated to Grace.
Inside is the coble that was used in the rescue, as well as items from Grace's home in the Longstone lighthouse. Opposite the museum is St. Aidan's Church where she was baptised and where a memorial stands to this day
