Profile of Grace Darling on Famous Like Me

Grace Darling (November 14, 1815–October 20, 1842) is one of England's best-loved heroines, on the strength of an isolated incident which occurred in 1838. Grace was born in 1815 at Bamburgh in Northumberland, and spent her youth in various lighthouses of which her father was keeper.

In the early hours of September 7, 1838, Grace, looking from an upstairs window of her family's current lighthouse on the Farne Islands, spotted the ship, Forfarshire, which had run aground on the Harcar Rocks only a few hundred yards away. Knowing that the weather was too rough for the lifeboat to put out from the shore, Grace and her father took a rowing boat across to the other island and rescued nine survivors, bringing them safely back to the lighthouse.

Even in her lifetime, Grace's achievement was celebrated, and she received a financial reward in addition to the plaudits of the nation. She died of tuberculosis, unmarried, in 1842, and her memorial may be seen in the parish church at Bamburgh, close to a museum dedicated to her achievements and the seafaring life of the region. Her deed was committed to verse by Tennyson and a lifeboat with her name was presented to Holy Island.

Currently, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution Mersey class lifeboat at Seahouses bears the name Grace Darling.

External link

• Grace Darling Museum from the RNLI

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