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Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea Medal: Grace Darling and the Forfarsh…
Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea Medal: Grace Darling and the Forfarshire
Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea Medal: Grace Darling and the Forfarsh…
Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea Medal: Grace Darling and the Forfarshire

Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea Medal: Grace Darling and the Forfarshire

Associated (Frogmore House, Windsor, England, 1900 - 1979)
DateMay 2004
Object NameMedal
MediumSterling Silver
ClassificationsMedals
AcquisitionPresented in 2004 by Dr Joan M Burrell.
LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub
Object numberABDMS072500.51
About MeGrace Darling's father served Trinity House as keeper of the Longstone / Lighthouse on the Fame Islands. During the stormy night of 6th-7th September, 1838 the steamer Forfarshire, plying between Dundee and Hull, was wrecked on Big Harcar rock, within sight of the lighthouse. Father and daughter realised that there might well be survivors. William Darling, with the help of his daughter, launched their coble, the type of open boat then used in Northumberland. The pair then negotiated a mile of tortuous rock and channel through heavy seas until they found and took off five people from the rock. Among them was a woman who had lost two children from exposure, and an injured seaman.

Helped by one of the survivors, William Darling made two journeys, by means of which nine were saved. On the second occasion Grace tended the original boat-load in the lighthouse. Shortly afterwards one of her brothers took part in a rescue attempt from North Sunderland, but by that time everyone still living from the Forfarshire was safe.

Grace Darling was awarded the gold medal of the Royal Humane Society, and the silver medal of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in recognition of her courage. She became a popular heroine for the rest of her brief life. She died where she was born, at Bamburgh on the coast of Northumberland, where the coble in which the journeys were made is still preserved, in the care of the Lifeboat Service.

The Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea, John Pinches Medallists Ltd.