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Victorian shipwreck heroine's shawl given to RNLI

Pamela TickellNorth East and Cumbria
Grace Darling Museum A painting of Grace Darling who is determinedly rowing a small wooden boat through ferocious waves. She is pictured with long brown hair.Grace Darling Museum
Grace Darling rescued shipwreck survivors off the Northumberland coast

A shawl which belonged to Victorian heroine Grace Darling has been donated to her namesake museum, the RNLI has said.

In September 1838, the then-22-year-old rowed out in a storm with her father to help nine survivors of the SS Forfarshire, which sank off the coast of Northumberland, near the Farne Islands.

It is thought the embroidered wool and silk shawl was given to Miss Darling in the 19th Century for her bravery. In October, it was sold at auction for £820.

The bidder, Heath St John, from Bromley, in London, donated it to the RNLI's Grace Darling Museum in Bamburgh, where regulated temperature and light conditions would help preserve it, the charity said.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) said its team was "overjoyed" by the donation and that the piece had gone on display in the Northumberland museum.

Anderson and Garland A pink shawl with embroidery of sea shells on the collar and trim, it is on a mannequin in a dark room.Anderson and Garland
The shawl of wool and silk has embroidery of sea shells

Heritage development manager Andrew Lewis said: "Seeing this shawl come home to Bamburgh and go on display at Christmas is a gift to all the volunteers.

"They give so much time and care to bring the story of this unassuming heroine to life."

The shawl, which measures 345cm (136in) long and 117cm (46in) deep, was accompanied at auction by a letter of provenance stating it belonged to Grace Darling.

Following Miss Darling's death from tuberculosis just four years after the famous rescue, gifts and mementoes would have been shared around the family and sold off from time to time to settle debts, the RNLI said.

The typed letter, addressed to Ernest William Greenwood, publisher of Greenwood Bros Printers Ltd, South Shields, explained the shawl had passed through the estate of George Barclay and was being held by Greenwood as collateral against a book to be published.

Jon Stokes The Grace Darling Museum has a two-storey entrance building. The bottom is panelled with glass and the top is wooden with a window in the middle. The red cross design of the RNLI flag is waving on the left.Jon Stokes
The shawl is on display at the Grace Darling Museum in Bamburgh

The donor had initially hoped the shawl could go on display in Longstone Lighthouse on the Farne Islands, but ultimately decided it would be better preserved in the mainland museum.

Mr St John said: "It feels very gratifying to see the shawl go on display.

"I hope it will bring the story of Grace and William Darling's bravery to many new generations."

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