Bram Stoker

(1847-1912)

Bronze Medal

The Irish-born author of the horror story, Dracula, was himself a quiet hero: in 1882 he was awarded a Royal Humane Society Bronze Medal for attempting to save a man from the River Thames.

The incident happened on 14 September 1882 at about six o'clock in the evening near Chelsea. A man aged between 60 and 70 fell - or possibly jumped - into the river from a steamboat. Stoker appears to have been travelling on the same steamboat, presumably on his way to Charing Cross and the Lyceum Theatre where he was employed as acting manager.

According to the casebook entry, Stoker 'pulled off some of his clothes, jumped in and sustained the man until a boat came to them.' Despite frantic efforts to save the drowning man, he 'persistently kept his face under water'.

In his biography of Stoker (see below), Daniel Farson writes: 'They struggled for nearly five minutes, until they were hauled back on board the Twilight.

'As the man was insensible, Bram carried the body to 27 Cheyne Walk where his brother Dr George Stoker tried to revive him, but his efforts failed to bring the man to life.'

At the inquest no-one was able to identify the dead man who, because of a tattoo, was presumed to be a soldier.

Stoker wrote many novels both for children and for adults. But his most famous remains Dracula, which appeared in 1897.

Books on Bram Stoker:

Bram Stoker: The Man Who Wrote Dracula, Steven Otfinoski, 2005

From the Shadow of Dracula, Paul Murray, 2004

Bram Stoker and the Man Who Was Dracula, Barbara Belford, 2002

The Man Who Wrote Dracula, Daniel Farson, 1975