Grace Darling And The Forfarshire Wreck.

 

Grace Horsley Darling

Grace.

Grace Horsley Darling was born on the 24th November 1815 to her parents William and Thomasin Darling, she was the seventh child out of nine. She was born in her grandfather's cottage at 3, Radcliffe Road, Bamburgh.

Horsley Cottage, 3 Radcliffe Road, Bamburgh

Lighthouse keeping was, as is now, a very important calling. The Darlings were first put in charge of Brownsman Island lighthouse, then Trinity House, before finally Longstone Lighthouse on Outer Farne, which was a much better proposition for a family with its superior accommodation.

It was from this lighthouse that Grace would find her place in history, the year was 1838.....

The Forfarshire.

The Forfarshire was a 400 ton steamship that was on course from Hull to Dundee, she set off at 6.20pm on the 5th September 1838. At about 4am the boiler became "leaky", after a partial repair the ship carried on, at St. Abbs Head (between Berwick and the Firth Of Forth) the boilers became useless. The order was given to set the sails fore and aft to keep the vessel from the mainland, the ship was at the mercy of the elements, a heavy gale coming in from the north made the vessel unmanageable.

One can only imagine the fear of those on board as the ship was now obviously out of control, with a very heavy sea throwing the pitching vessel ever southward, those in the know would have been well aware of the only obstacle, apart from the mainland, was the Farne Islands off the coast of Northumberland.

SS Forfarshire

Alas, the night was black as pitch, and with rain and a thick fog even Captain John Humble was quite unsure of how close they were to the dangerous rocks, it wasn't until the stewards saw the breakers hit the rocks with their own eyes that an alert was shouted to the passengers, but it was too late. 

Some of the crew, taking the larboard quarter boat, abandoned ship immediately with one passenger leaping in at the last moment, this left the Captain to stand by his ship and manage the situation to the best of his ability. The crew drifted south in their boat, and were later picked up by the Montrose sloop and taken to South Shields.

Tragedy At Sea.

The ship was drifting and not answering to her helm. At 3 am she struck Outer Farne Island. As the Captain struggled to control the doomed vessel a huge wave carried him and most of the passengers into the sea. 

The Times; "Perhaps the most heart rending circumstance connected with the subject is, after the fatal occurrence, a female was seen clinging with two children to the fore part of the vessel until stern necessity compelled her to let go the children in order to save her own life." She was later found to be alive but very weak, she was brought ashore and was the only female to survive.

After the Forfarshire had hit the rocks she split in two, that second wave drowned 38 of those left on board, part of the vessel was washed up at Beadnell Quay, a little way to the south. 

As The Times stated; "We regret to to state that the true particulars have realised our worst fears, about 38 individuals having met a watery grave; many of them were in bed at the time the vessel struck, and only rose to meet the cold embrace of death, as they sank beneath the angry and foaming waves."

The Times ran an account of the crew taking the ship's boat, this was from the passenger, a "young man from Dundee" who was travelling back north and relaying his story to the driver;

"He stated that he was in bed, with merely his trousers on, in which was his money, when the alarm was given, and on rushing to the deck he saw the crew, eight in number, in the boat, four or five yards off, leaving the vessel. With a desperate effort, which only the peculiar situation in which he was placed could have made effective, he made a bound which placed him in the middle of the crew.. One instant to have awakened an uncle who lay asleep could not be spared of his own doom would have been sealed."

The Rescue.

The Times - Wednesday, 19th September, 1838;

John Wilson Carmichael (1799–1868)

"Connected with this, the most calamitous case of shipwreck....is an instance of heroism and intrepidity on the part of a female unequalled perhaps, certainly not surpassed, by any on record.

I allude to the heroic conduct of Miss Grace Horsley Darling, who, together with her father, Mr William Darling, are the sole occupants of the Outer Farne Lighthouse, which is situated in the immediate vicinity of the scene of the accident, and completely surrounded by the sea.

The cries of the sufferers on the remaining part of the wreck were heard during the night by this female, who immediately awakened her father. At that time, however, the darkness of the night was such as to preclude all possibility of their rendering any assistance to the individuals in distress."

As day broke movement could be seen on the wreck, the Darlings launched their small boat despite the awful weather, and made their way across to the survivors. They expertly navigated their craft over the stormy sea to where some people were clinging to the rocks, the most dangerous time was now at hand, how to get to the rock and not be dashed to pieces.

With a combination of skill and sheer luck the boat was safely brought alongside the rock where five crewmen and four passengers were trapped, loading them on board the Darlings then made for the lighthouse. It was a perilous journey, the bravery of Grace and her father was extraordinary.

When they got safely back to the lighthouse it took three days for the survivors to gain the mainland, all that time they were looked after by Grace and her father, who administered to their every needs.

The Times - Wednesday, 19th September, 1838;

"In order to arrive at anything like a correct idea of the danger of the undertaking, and of the fortitude and disinterestedness of the individuals who encountered and overcame it, at the imminent risk of their own lives, let the reader reflect for a little time on the attendant circumstances.

On every hand danger presented itself in a thousand forms. The ocean, lashed by the tempest into the most tumultuous commotion, presented a barrier which would have seemed to all but those two intrepid persons wholly insurmountable by human energy.

Again, on the other hand, there was no hope or reward - no encouraging plaudit, to stimulate to brave exertions, or to awaken emulation. Nothing but the pure and ardent wish to save the sufferers from impending destruction could have induced those two individuals to enter so perilous an expedition, fraught as it was with the imminent hazard of their own lives.

Surely, imagination in it's loftiest creations never invested the female character with such a degree of fortitude as has been evidenced by Miss Grace Horsley Darling on this occasion. Is there in the whole field of history, or in fiction, one instance of female heroism to compare for one moment with this."

Melodrama worthy of the stage, from the pen of M. S. of Morpeth!

A Victorian Heroine

Grace, the rather shy young woman of 22 years was now a celebrity, the Glasgow Humane Society presented her with a gold medal, which was inscribed "Presented by the directors of the Glasgow Humane Society to Miss Grace Horsley Darling, in admiration of her dauntless and heroic conduct in saving (along with her father) the lives of nine persons from the wreck of the Forfarshire steamer, Sept. 6, 1838."

Her reply to the Society was printed in The Times - 20th October 1838;

"Sir, I own the receipt of yours of the 29th ult., which has been delivered to me by R. Smeddle, Esq., of Bamburgh Castle, and in reply most respectfully beg leave to thank you as President, also the committee and the members individually, for the kind present which they have thought proper to confer upon me.

Be assured that I lament most sincerely the awful loss of human life caused by the wreck of the Forfarshire. It affords me great pleasure to think my humble endeavours, assisted by Divine Providence, have been instrumental in saving the lives of nine persons; but ah! how much my heart yearns within me to think how many valuable lives have been lost to their mourning friends, and to society at large, on this most melancholy occasion.

I sincerely thank you on behalf of my dear father, and beg leave most respectfully to say that the medal which your noble institution has been please to confer upon me shall be considered a valuable relic so long as it shall please Almighty God to spare me in this world.

I have the honour to remain , Sir, your very humble servant,

Grace Horsley Darling."

By November 1838 a "Grace Darling Fund" had also been set up to "reward that intrepid female.....who succeeded in rescuing nine lives from the wreck of the Forfarshire under circumstances of unparalleled difficulty.....the list of subscribers will be published in the Shipping and Mercantile Gazette."

The fund raised £700 (approx £80,000 today), £50 of that came from Queen Victoria. Money, portrait artists, marriage proposals, and tourists flocked in, so overwhelming was all the attention that the Duke of Northumberland took the role of a self appointed guardian. The Darling family were guests of Hugh Percy the 3rd Duke of Northumberland at his ancestral seat at Alnwick Castle, the people of Alnwick flocked to see them. The Duke's present to the family was a clock and a silver teapot.

Latching onto the whole melodramatic scene The Adelphi Theatre was quick off the mark,

The Times - 4th December 1838;

"Last night , the Wreck At Sea, a dramatic representation of the courageous conduct of Grace Darling, was brought out, with all the appliances and apparatus of scenic effect. Rarely have the walls of a playhouse resounded to more mimic thunder, hail, rain, wind, and elemental uproar, than did the walls and roof of the Adelphi on this occasion.

There was enough of each to satisfy the veriest cormorant that ever glutted on the scenic horrors of a modern melodrama. The last scene was excellently managed; the whole stage was made to represent the sea; the waves raged furiously; it seemed as if the pit would have been deluged in the briny conflict of wind and water.

A huge steamer was seen struggling in the storm, and in a crazy boat were beheld Grace and her father, buffeting the billows, and saving the crew of the sinking wreck. There was not much plot or tale in this drama; but there was some good acting on the parts of Mrs Yates and Mrs Keeley, and Messers Cullenford, Lyon ,and Wilkinson.

It was well put upon the stage, and it secured a very favourable reception from an overflowing audience. At half price there was a rush to get a peep at Nicholas Nickleby, but Grace Darling had so filled every berth, that there was nothing but standing room for the friends of 'Dotheboys Hall.'"

If the theatre was full you could always head off to the concert hall and listen to the new ballad by George Linley called "Grace Darling," or listen to The Grace Darling Quadrilles playing selections from Beethoven, John Davey and Johann Strauss!

Back in Northumberland the ever popular boat trip to the Farnes started, in 1838 it was a trip out to the lighthouse to see where it all happened, these days the puffins and seals steal the limelight.

Grace Horsley Darling died in 1842 tragically young, she was only 26, a victim of tuberculosis. She had been staying in Wooler, but was taken to the place of her birth in Bamburgh to die. She is buried in St. Aidan's Churchyard.

She was given a headstone (which has since been replaced due to weathering), an effigy of her lying with an ore (which has been taken inside the church due to weathering), and a stained glass window, a fitting tribute to a brave lady.