Newcastle University

Grace Horsley Darling 1815-1842

Grace Horsley Darling was born on the 24th November, 1815, at Bamburgh, in the home of her grandfather, Job Horsley. Grace was the fourth daughter and seventh born of nine children of William Darling and his wife Thomasin.

William Darling succeeded his father in 1815 as keeper of a lighthouse on the Farne Islands. Grace was taken for the first time to Brownsman Island in December 1815. It was to be her home until 1826 when the Brownsman light discontinued and her father was appointed to the new Longstone light on the outermost of the Farnes.

On Longstone, Grace Darling lived a quiet and secluded life assisting her father and mother in their work. On September 7th 1838 the Forfarshire Steamboat was wrecked upon Harker's rock . Grace and her father rescued nine survivors, this brave act produced a mass of public and media interest. Grace at twenty two years of age was a heroine.

Material used:

Clarke Collection:
Grace Darling Maid and Myth by Richard Armstrong
Grace Darling the Heroine of the Farn Islands: Her life and its lessons by Eva Hope
The Journal of William Darling, Grace Darling's Father : from 1795-1860 edited by the author of "Grace Darling : Her True Story"

Cowan Tracts:
Grace Darling by our special correspondant

Burman Alnwick Collection:
The loss of the Steamship Forfarshire, Captain Humble : which struck on the Fern Islands on her voyage to Dundee on the night of the 7th September, 1838, and the heroic conduct of Grace Darling in venturing her life, and rescuing the survivors from destruction.