The 1th September, 1963, was the 25th anniversary of the famous rescue by Grace Darling and her father of survivors from the Forfarshire. The following article, which has been specially written for the Life-boat by Commander W. M.

Phipps Hornby, R.N., who is the honoary curator of the Grace Darling Museum, incorporates the results of much detailed research into the loss of the Forfarshire and the accompanying circumstances.

ON 7th September, 1838, there took place one of the most celebrated sea rescues of all time. The vessel concerned was the paddle steamship Forfarshire, of 400 tons, owned by the Dundee & Hull Steam Packet Co., and the scene of the disaster was the Fame Islands, which lie off the northern coast of North- umberland, and constitute a navigational hazard to coastwise traffic.

Built in a Dundee shipyard, the Forfarshire was regarded by her proud - perhaps over-proud - owners as the very last word in vessels of her kind, and the accommodation provided for her saloon passengers was lavish by the standards of the day. She traded regularly between her home port and Hull, and carried freight as well as passengers.

Boiler Trouble Developed Commanded by Captain Humble, she arrived at Hull on what was to prove her last southward run at the beginning of September, 1838. During her passage boiler trouble had developed; and so on arrival at Hull a local firm of marine engineers was called in to put matters right. When their boilermakers left the ship on completion of their work they stated, so it was afterwards reported, that everything was in order as far as they could see.

It was not. The ship sailed on her return voyage to Dundee in the late afternoon of September 5th; and before very long boiler trouble recurred. The master decided to continue with his passage, but matters in the boiler room grew progressively worse until steam, and boiling water as well, was escaping I in such quantities as to drive the fire- men from the furnaces. By the time the ship was about abreast St. Abb's Head, in Berwickshire, steam altogether failed, and the engine stopped.

Full Gale from the North Unhappily, during the evening the weather had rapidly worsened, so that by the time the engine failed for want of steam, a full gale was blowing out of the north, and it had come over very thick. To get his vessel under some sort of control again her master made sail and then ran to the southward, it is supposed with the idea of passing through the Inner Sound, between the Fames and the mainland, and finding shelter under the lee of the Inner Fames - the islands in the group nearest to the mainland. And it would seem that, probably through mistaking the Longstone light for that on the Inner Fame, the unfortunate captain imagined that he had accomplished his purpose; for he had just ordered the anchors to be prepared for letting go, when the Big Harcar rock in the Outer Fames was descried right on top of them.

It was too late to claw off; and all Captain Humble had time to do was to shout a warning down the companion way to the sleeping saloon passengers.

Shortly afterwards, clasping in his arms his wife who was making the voyage with him, he was washed overside, and both were drowned.

Stern Portion Sank Not long after the ship struck she broke in two in the wake of the paddle boxes; and the stern portion immediately sank, carrying to their deaths all save one of the saloon passengers. But short as the interval was, eight members of the crew contrived to lower and man one of the quarter boats, in which they were joined by the one saloon passenger to escape alive. Regrettable to record, the members of the crew who so made their escape, leaving the passengers to their fate, included both mates and the chief engineer.

One of the mates later declared that he had only entered the boat when she was already in the water, with the idea of holding her under the lee of the wreck and picking up survivors who might find themselves in the water. If that were his intention it was frustrated because there were only two oars in the boat, so that she could not be con- trolled. By luck rather than management she was carried clear of the surrounding hazards; being eventually picked up by a Montrose sailing vessel which landed her occupants at Shields.

Thirteen Survivors Remained The remaining survivors - thirteen in all - remained on the forepart of the wreck. As the tide fell they were able to clamber down on to the Harcar Rock, taking with them the body of the Reverend John Robb, Minister of Dunkeld, who had actually died from exposure on the deck of the wreck, but who they were not then sure was dead.

Among the steerage passengers was a Mrs. Dawson, returning to Dundee with her two children, a girl and a boy.

The children, too, succumbed to the wet and cold before rescue came. A fourth passenger, too frightened to leave the imagined security of the steerage, remained below and there perished.

About half a mile as the crow flies from the Big Harcar rock is the Long- stone lighthouse, brought into service in 1826, and serving to mark the outer group of the Fame Islands. Normally at that period four persons lived in the lighthouse: William Darling, the keeper; Thomasin, his wife; Grace Horsley, their youngest daughter; and William Brooks, their youngest son. But shortly before the Forfarshire was wrecked William Brooks had crossed to Sea Houses on the mainland to lend a hand with the herring fisheries.

Abnormally High Tide The experienced William Darling, rightly interpreting the portents, had worked late into the night making all secure against the tempest and abnormally high tide that threatened, Grace helping him. His coble was hauled up and lashed, the rabbits in their hutch moved into the kitchen, and all made as snug as possible. At first light next morning Grace, whose bedroom was immediately below the lantern, dimly descried through her window the wreck on the Harcar Rock. She at once told her mother, who was keeping the morning watch in the lantern; and Mrs.

Darling bade her daughter rouse her sleeping father.

It was not until full daylight that the watchers on the lighthouse were able to discern the forlorn survivors on the Harcar Rock; and it then fell to William Darling to decide whether or not to essay a rescue. Later a tale gained credence that he had hung back, finally to accede to the urgings of his daughter, who even declared her readiness to attempt a rescue single-handed. William Darling certainly gave his daughter full credit for taking the initiative; she, on the other hand, denied that he needed any urging from her.

First Duty to the Light Whatever may be the real facts, two things need to be borne in mind. First, William Darling, with his long experience of conditions round the Fames, was far better equipped than his daughter to weigh chances against risks.

Secondly, his first duty was to the light; and one of the most testing decisions he was called upon to make that eventful morning may well have been that to leave it. Were he and Grace for any reason unable to return, then Mrs. Darling, an elderly woman, would be left alone, perhaps for days on end, unaided to ensure that the vitally important light was kept burning. Were it to fail, all too probably other ships might come to grief.

In the event the crucial decision was taken, and father and daughter set out in his coble, just twenty-one feet long.

To take fullest advantage of available shelter, they followed a somewhat circuitous route. William Darling knew that the two of them could not accomplish the return journey unaided; and he banked on the hope that some of the survivors would be in good enough shape to pull an oar. And so, fortunately, it proved. When they reached the Harcar Rock, William, uncertain as to how the survivors might behave, landed by himself, leaving Grace to manage the coble alone. And he is supposed in after years to have said that for him that was the worst moment of the whole venture.

Two Trips Needed Notwithstanding that survivors were [ able to take their places at the oars, two trips were needed to complete the rescue. First Grace was taken back to the lighthouse, together with Mrs.

Dawson, herself far gone, and a man who was seriously hurt. On the second the remaining survivors were brought to safety. There, for another two days, until the weather moderated sufficiently to allow of the survivors being transferred to the mainland, husband, wife, and daughter tended and cared for the nine unfortunates thus committed to their charge. And that over and above the responsible duty of keeping the light burning.

But William and Grace Darling were not the only persons to hazard their lives that day.

Launched a Coble It is perhaps little realized that in 1838 there existed, centering on Bamburgh Castle which then belonged to the Crewe Trustees, an elaborate organization for succouring shipwrecked persons. When, at daylight, the bad weather look-out on the castle described the wreck of the Forfarshire, he roused Mr.

Smeddle, the trustees' resident agent, Mr. Smeddle took horse and rode down to Sea Houses, some three miles along the coast. There he got hold of William Robson, coxswain of the North Sunder- land life-boat, which at that date also was maintained by the Crewe Trustees.

Possibly because her size would have made her difficult to launch under the conditions then obtaining, Robson decided against taking the life-boat.

Instead, with a crew of six volunteers, he set out for the Harcar Rock in an ordinary coble.

It is right that the names of those courageous men should be made known, since despite efforts on their behalf of even so august a personage as Hugh, third Duke of Northumberland, Lord Lieutenant of the County and Vice- Admiral of the Northumberland Coast, their action was accorded all too little public recognition at the time. They were: William Robson, James Robson, Michael Robson, Thomas Cuthbertson, William Swan, Robert Knox and William Brooks Darling.

Reached the Wreck By dint of courage, perseverance, fine seamanship, and sheer hard pulling they reached the wreck on the Harcar Rock; but by that time Grace and her father had forestalled them in rescuing the survivors. Return to the mainland being out of the question, after moving the corpses of Mr. Robb and the two children as far from the reach of the seas as they were able, they went on to the Longstone.

Unfortunately, with twelve people already there instead of the normal four, there was no accommodation for seven more persons in the lighthouse.

Save when, at high water periods, circumstances compelled them to seek refuge in the lighthouse, the seven boat- men had perforce to find what shelter they could in a derelict building that had served as a barracks for workmen employed on the building of the light- house. And there, with all too little food and warmth, they had to remain for two days and two nights before the weather moderated sufficiently to enable them to attempt the return journey.

News Travelled Slowly News travelled slowly in 1838; but as the story of the rescue of the Forfarshire survivors became known, it gripped the public imagination: indeed created a sensation.

At that era there existed no public awards for civil gallantry such as, for example, the George Medal at the present day. But the gallantry displayed by the Darlings, father and daughter, was recognized by four humanitarian societies. To each of them the Royal Humane Society awarded a gold medal- lion; and each of them was voted the silver medal of the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (now the Royal National Life-boat Institution). Grace also received silver medals from both the Glasgow Humane Society and the Edinburgh and Leith Humane Society.

Gifts from Queen Victoria and from many private persons flowed in: many in the form of money, others in kind.

Some journeymen hatters of Berwick- upon-Tweed made specially for Grace a beaver bonnet which is supposed to have supplanted the Duchess of Sutherland bonnet, until then the modish head- wear for ladies. Some of the presents came from grateful survivors from the Forfarshire. They were not always judiciously chosen. For example, there was a tropical helmet! Visitors Flocked to Island At least a dozen artists, of varying degrees of skill, are known to have visited the Longstone to paint the portraits of Grace and her parents, and depict - usually with less accuracy than more! - the thrilling drama of the rescue. Poets: two - Wordsworth and Swinburne - of national repute, some known, others unknown, sang Grace's praises.

Visitors flocked to the Fames, intent not only on viewing the scene of the drama, but also on seeing Grace and her father; and such can be the in- sensitivity of the curious to the feelings of others, that such excursions continued even after Grace had died, to the lasting sorrow of her father.

Two Novels Published And there were not lacking those who saw in the avid public interest evoked by the Forfarshire rescue an opportunity to enrich themselves. With- in quite a short period two novels were published, in which Grace and her father both featured - but palpably as 'bait' to stimulate sales. The astute proprietor of a circus appearing in Edinburgh sought to inveigle Grace into showing herself in his arena; and but for over precipitancy might have succeeded. And one poetaster, who sent Grace a printed copy of what he was pleased to dignify as an elegy he had composed in her honour, added on the back a plea that she would let him have a pound or two, as he was financially embarrassed! Locks of hair, and portions of dress material, were offered for sale by unscrupulous vendors, for all that they had never adorned Grace Darling's person.

Grace did not live very long to enjoy her fame. Tuberculosis claimed her.

During the spring of 1842 she suffered | some weeks of poor health; so that it | was decided that she should go and stay ; with friends living near Wooler, in Northumberland, in the hope that her health would be benefited thereby. It was not; and she removed to Alnwick, where the Duke of Northumberland, who had come to take a great interest in both her and her father, found suit- able lodgings for her, and had her attended by his own doctor. But by then she was failing visibly, and she was taken back to her native Bamburgh where, on 20th October, 1842, she died, her parents at hand, in the little house that is now Bamburgh Post Office. She was not yet twenty-seven years old.

Continued as Keeper Mrs. Darling, twelve years her husband's senior, died in 1848. William Darling continued as keeper of the Longstone lighthouse until 1860, when he was succeeded by his eldest son, also named William. He passed the remain- ing years of his life at Wynding House, Bamburgh, now occupied by one of his great-great-grandsons. He died in 1865, in his eightieth year. He and his wife, Grace, and their second son Job Horsley, are buried in a family grave plot in Bamburgh churchyard. At the seaward side of the churchyard, placed on a slight eminence so that it can be descried from the decks of ships passing up and down the coast, is a cenotaph erected to commemorate Grace Darling. Under its canopy is a recumbent figure of the heroine, with an oar beside her.

In 1938, the centenary year of the wreck of the Forfarshire, the Grace Darling National Memorial Museum was opened in Bamburgh to commemorate the heroine. It was established by the joint efforts of the Bamburgh Grace Darling Memorial Committee and the Royal National Life-boat Institution; and the museum building is erected on a site given for the purpose by the first Lord Armstrong of Bamburgh and Cragside, a short distance only from the cottage in which Grace first saw the light.

Curious History of Coble The principal exhibit is William Darling's coble, in which he and his daughter rescued the Forfarshire survivors. She had a curious history.

When William Darling left the Long- stone he gave the boat to his younger son George Alexander, who followed his trade of shipwright and boatbuilder at Sea Houses. In 1873 George Alexander sold her to Colonel John Joicey, M.P., of Newton Hall, Stocksfield-on- Tyne, whose daughter, Lady John Joicey-Cecil in due time presented her to the Royal National Life-boat Institution with a proviso that she must not be taken out of Northumberland. For some time she was on view at the Dove Marine Laboratory, Cullercoats, Northumberland, whence she was transferred to Bamburgh Castle. And from the Castle she made her latest journey to the museum.

Gathered round the coble is a collection of pictures, photographs, documents, medals, garments, and other mementoes of Grace and her relations, together with relics of the ill-fated Forfarshire: a collection that has been augmented year after year since the museum was established.

W.M.P.H.