Grace Darling


Medal

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Here is the medal awarded to Grace Darling after her deed. The Royal Humane Society usually rewarded men, however due to Grace's outstanding heroism, she was given this medal as well as her father. This was an outstanding achievement that the public celebrated.

On the 26th November 1999, an anonymous bidder paid £38,900 for the medal after it had been within the Darling family for 160 years. Which reveals the prominence she still holds in society today.

This recognition demonstrates that women were slowly recieving recognition for their heroism and due to the women's movement that was developing, there may be a link between the two. The heroism of women is shown in this table below, which outlines the various different medals awarded and the total of women who received them:





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It reveals that there was a proportion of women being rewarded for their heroic actions, however not to the same extent as men. Therefore, when Grace Darling's deed was publicised it was unusual for a woman to receive attention to such an extent. 


In addition to this, she also was sent money and gifts from civilians and Dukes. She was even rewarded by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1838.