The SS Forfarshire was a paddle steamer built in Dundee. On 5 September, 1838, she left Hull for her home port of Dundee carrying 60 or more passengers and crew. Somewhere off Berwick, her boilers lost pressure, and the captain decided to turn round, and continue under sail to seek shelter near the Farnes. Then, the "Forfarshire" ran on to Harkers Rock and quickly broke in two. Several passengers were left overnight on the rock, but Sarah Dawson’s two children and the Revd. Mr Robb, a minister from Dunkeld, perished from the wet and cold. When William and Grace arrived the survivors were brought to safety. When the news of the wreck of the "Forfarshire", and of the part played by Grace Darling, a young woman, was made public she immediately became a national heroine