THE ACE SISTERS' Blue Plaque Unveiling
THE ACE SISTERS' Blue Plaque Unveiling
On 25 February 2016, the Swansea City Council recognised the heroism of the Ace Sisters, Jessie Ace and Margaret Wright, back in 1883, with the erection of a Blue Plaque at Mumbles Pier. Their story is retold below:-
On 27 Jan 1883, a ferocious storm battered the Bristol Channel, causing the grounding onto the rocks of the lighthouse island of the Admiral Prinz Adalbert, a German barque. Abraham Ace, the lightouse keeper could see what was about to occur and got equipment ready to facilitate a rescue. The Mumbles Lifeboat made heroic attempts to rescue those on board, taking off two crew members by breeches buoy, but in doing so, lost four members of its crew. Mr Ace's daughters, Margaret and Jessie instinctively jumped into the water and, together with Gunner Edward Hutchings, a soldier from the adjacent fort, helped rescue two of the lifeboat crew, John Thomas and William Rosser. The crew of the Barque were able to clamber ashore later, when the storm had abated.
In his evidence to the inquiry into the disaster, their father, Abraham Ace affirmed on oath that ‘of those in the water . . . his two daughters and an artilleryman, saved two by heaving a rope to them.’ The RNLI awarded the coxswain, Jenkin Jenkins a silver medal, immediate grants were made to the widows and Gunner Hutchings received his Citation on Vellum, but did not recognise Margaret and Jessie's actions. However, the Empress of Germany presented the girls with gold brooches in appreciation of their actions. I believe Jessie's brooch now resides in Australia with one of her descendants.
Margaret by then married to Charles Wright, one of the military personnel from the fort and Jessie Ace were the two young women, immortalised in the poem, ‘The Women of the Mumbles head’ by Clement Scott.