Grace Darling: Victorian Heroine - Hardcover

by Hugh Cunningham (Author)

In the early morning of 7 September 1838, Grace Darling, the daughter of the keeper of the Longstone Light on the Farne Isles, rowed with her father to rescue survivors from the wrecked steamer Forfarshire. Her heroism caused a sensation. She was asked to appear at a London theatre and an Edinburgh circus. Queen Victoria headed the subscription list for a fund to support her, and Wordsworth was one of many poets who sang her praises. Immediately a national heroine, Britain's Joan of Arc, her fame spread throughout the world. Grace Darling: Victorian Heroine tells the extraordinary story of how Grace became a celebrity, her name and image used to sell books, soap and chocolates; and of how, since her tragic early death in 1842, her deed and her fame have been kept alive into the twenty-first century.

Author Biography

Hugh Cunningham is Emeritus Professor of Social History at the University of Kent. His books include "Leisure in the Industrial Revolution," "The Challenge of Democracy: Britain 1832-1918," "Children and Childhood in Western Society since 1500" and "The Invention of Childhood."