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Grace Darling: Victorian heroine |
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Publicity machine
The story of Grace Darling found favour in all walks of life. 
Unattributed portrait of Grace Darling
© Courtesy of RNLI |
In November 1838, Queen Victoria herself wrote to Grace praising her conduct and awarded her £50 for her courageous actions. However, it was among the British general public that Grace-fever really took hold. As testified by the display cabinets in the Grace Darling Museum, Grace received countless letters requesting locks of her hair and scraps of the dress she wore during the rescue. Those close to Grace began to fear she would soon need a wig because of the number of locks she sent out to eager fans. Pressure also came from portrait artists – the paparazzi of the day. In a letter to the press just five weeks after the rescue, William Darling requested that any other painters who had requested sittings with him and his daughter, instead take their likeness from one of the seven paintings that had already been painted.
In the mid-18th Century, technological developments enabled the automated transfer of images onto pottery and packaging. Depictions of Grace mid-rescue began to adorn trinkets, tea-caddies, plates, postcards, chocolate boxes and girls’ annuals. These mass-produced mementoes enabled her story to pervade households across the country.
The Grace Darling legend intensified after her death in 1842, the nature of which was responsible for fuelling her iconistical development. Grace died from consumption in her father’s arms just four years after the rescue. A longer life may have seen Grace marry and grow old, all encroachments upon the Grace Darling legend. Instead she remains frozen in time, forever the devoted daughter and heroic maid.
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