the girl with windswept hair
Grace Darling, the wreck of the Forfarshire and more
Grace grew up on the Farne Islands, a rocky archipelago in Northern England known for its medieval ruins and puffin colonies.
Her father William worked as a lighthouse keeper, just like his father before him. In 1826, when Grace was just 11 years old, William moved his family to the newly-built Longstone Lighthouse, a red-and-white striped tower perched atop weather-beaten Longstone Rock.
As a lighthouse keeper’s daughter, Grace learned how to read the sky for storms, light the rotating oil lamps making up “the light” and assist her father as he kept watch for shipwrecks. She lived in her own circular room on the lighthouse’s second floor.
The morning of September 7, 1838, Grace noticed a dark shape near Big Harcar, one of the tiny islands surrounding Longstone Lighthouse. On closer inspection by telescope, she realized a 40-meter steamer ship — later identified as the Forfarshire —had crashed in the night, shattering its body against the rocks. The giant boat then split in half, with part of the wreck sinking to the bottom of the sea. Somehow, a small group of shocked survivors had taken shelter on Big Harcar — but looking to the horizon, Grace could see the sky darkening, a sure sign of more storms to come.
She alerted her father and the pair raced to rescue the remaining passengers of the Forfarshire. They had only a tiny fishing boat to beat back the roaring waves; as Grace rowed on, the sky erupted in thunder and lightning. Once they drew closer to the wreck, the Darlings saw only a handful of people had managed to survive the night on Big Harcar.
Grace took the oars to hold their little fishing boat steady as her father disembarked to help four men and a woman, Sarah Dawson, make their way safety. The Darlings then rode these survivors back to Longstone. From there, William and one of the passengers took a second trip back to rescue those who had volunteered to wait on Big Harcar. Meanwhile, Grace stayed at the lighthouse to care for Sarah; the poor woman had lost her two young children in the disaster. Of the Forfarshire’s 62 original passengers, only nine made it to shore.
Within days, word of the Darlings’ heroism had enchanted the nation. People especially wanted to know more about Grace, “the girl with the windswept hair” who had so bravely risked life and limb in service of others.
Victorians couldn’t believe a 22-year-old girl could undertake such a dangerous mission; in response, numerous narratives spun storybook-like tales of her piety, beauty and youth. The newspapers also played up stories of her Victorian purity, so as to minimize the “manliness” of her adventure. As The Mercantile Gazette reported:
She is not the Amazon that many would suppose her to be, but as modest and unassuming a young woman as you can imagine.
Just four years after her daring rescue, Grace passed away from tuberculosis. Her brother and sister resented the fame Grace enjoyed even in death, worrying that so much focus on the young heroine detracted from their father’s celebrity — or, at worst, emasculated him. Both insisted future writings emphasize William be portrayed as “master of his household.”
But Grace’s early death only added to her allure, eventually cementing her status as a Farne Islands folk hero. Today, a Grace Darling museum proudly displays the Darlings’ fishing boat for visitors to admire.
More on 🌊:
Wreck of the Forfarshire, Royal Museums Greenwich
Artist’s tribute casts new light on rescue heroine, The Guardian
Grace Darling, National Library of Scotland
More from me:
Earlier this year, I reread A Light in the Storm, the Dear America book told from the perspective of a lighthouse keeper’s daughter. Now I’m wondering if there was some Grace Darling inspo happening for the author??
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Another fascinating example of a wonderful, powerful woman! Thank you!
…for those in Peril on the Sea