A bid has been launched to trace the descendants of shipwrecked sailors who were rescued by an unsung heroine.
Jane Whyte’s great-great grandson wants to find relatives of the crew of the Dundee steamer William Hope, which was lost off Banffshire in 1844.
Brave mother-of-eight Jane, 40, waded into the North Sea to reach the stricken sailors.
They threw her a rope which she wrapped around her waist and, planting her feet into the gravel beach at Aberdour, created a safety line along which the 12 crewmen made it ashore.
Jane was awarded RNLI and Board of Trade medals for gallantry – and paid £10 for her efforts – but the story of her heroism remains relatively unknown.
Her great-great grandson Robbie Kelman, from Turriff, Aberdeenshire, got hold of a crew list from the William Hope on the day she foundered.
He said: “It’s the last known official crew list. Ten of the crew were from Scotland.
“It’s always been reported that there were 15 on board but the crew list only gives 12 names.
“Even if there were only 12, it doesn’t in any way diminish Jane’s valour.”
Robbie hopes relatives of the crew will gather in Fraserburgh this summer, when an exhibition about the rescue will open at the town’s Museum of Scottish Lighthouses.
He said: “The last owner of the William Hope was Alfred Gordon Primrose, of Dock Street, Dundee.
“The crew’s names will hopefully ring a few bells and lead us to their descendants, which would be mind-blowingly emotional.”
A poignant event to mark the centenary of Jane’s death in August 2018 took place at New Aberdour beach last August.
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