Oil painting on canvas, Grace Darling (1815-1842) and her Father William Darling (d.1865) save the Survivors from the Wreck of the Steamer ‘Forfarshire’ on the Farne Rocks, 7th September 1838 by William Bell Scott (Edinburgh 1811 – Penkill Castle 1890), signed and dated, on side of boat, bottom right: W B Scott Jan to Oct 1860. In autumn 1838 after a terrible storm William Darling, the keeper of Longstone Lighthouse, saw the remains of the Forfarshire and a handful of survivors on rocks a mile away on the other side of a fast flowing channel. He was alone, except for his sick wife and Grace their young daughter, so did not believe a rescue was possible until Grace hastily got ready to help him and insisted that they try. Together they launched the coble and rowed out to the wreck and saved eight lives. The woman on the ship wreck is a portrait of Alice Boyd, a great friend of William Bell Scott. One of a series of eight oil paintings illustrating the history of the English border painted between 1856 and 1861.
Marks and inscriptions: W B Scott Jan to June 1857 (signed and dated)
Provenance: Commissioned in 1855 by Sir Walter Trevelyan to decorate the courtyard at Wallington; began in 1857 and the series was exhibited at regular intervals at the Literary Society in Newcastle and completed in 1861 – the scheme of decoration was finished in 1863/64 when the spandrels high up near the vault were decorated with a progression of eighteen scenes from the Ballad of Chevy Chase, and the lower pilasters painted with local flora by other artists including Ruskin, Arthur Hughes, Pauline, Lady Trevelyan (1816-1866), as well as the portrait medallions, in the lower spandrels and portrait heads; given with the property to The National Trust in 1941 by Sir Charles Philips Trevelyan, 3rd Bt (1870 – 1958)
Object description
Type: Easel painting
Location: Wallington Hall, Northumberland
Material: Oil on canvas
Artist: William Bell Scott (1811-1890)
Date: 1857
Image Details
Date: 11 September 2026
Camera body: iPhone Xs
Lens: Wide Camera 26mm ƒ/1.8
Focal Length: 26mm
Aperture: ƒ/1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/60s
ISO: 320
Licensing: Image of a National Trust asset. This image cannot be licensed.