On the night of September 7, 1838, Grace, looking from an upstairs window of her family's current lighthouse on the Farne Islands, spotted the ship, Forfarshire, which had run aground on a smaller island only a few hundred yards away. Knowing that the weather was too rough for the lifeboat to put out from the shore, Grace and her father took a rowing boat across to the other island and rescued the survivors, bringing them safely back to the lighthouse.
Even in her lifetime, Grace's achievement was celebrated, and she received a financial reward in addition to the plaudits of the nation. She died, unmarried, in 1842, and her memorial may be seen in the parish church at Bamburgh, close to a museum dedicated to her achievements and the seafaring life of the region.
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