Genealogy Forum UK

I had investigated this fire a while ago as one of my cousins, Emma Dodd from Shropshire, worked in the tavern involved for a while.

I came across dozens of newspaper articles about the fire when researching the tavern.

None of them even mention Wednesbury. It was known as the Birmingham Fire.

This ia a summary of what occured. I pieced it together from the newspaper articles and coroner's report.
BIRMINGHAM FIRE

The fire broke out in the Hill Street Tavern between 3:15 AM and 4:30 AM on Christmas Day, 1863.

The address was 10 Little Hill Street and it abutted the Horse Fair.

It was a three story establishment and the following is the detailed description given at the inquest:

“The street entrance is in the centre with a bulk window on each side. A passage of about three feet in width runs right through from the front to the back yard. The first door on the right hand is that of the tap room which is about 14ft long by 10ft in depth. The next door on the right side is the sitting room which is about 8ft square. The first door on the left leads to the bar which is about 6ft broad by 13 or 14ft long. Beyond that, and almost opposite the sitting room, is the staircase. There are no other rooms on the ground floor. The first floor consists of a large club room, the whole length of the front, and a sleeping room that takes up the whole length of the back. The second floor is divided into four nearly equal sized rooms, two front and two back, all opening onto the same landing. Three of these doors are very close together.”

Present in the tavern on the night of the fire were:

Mr. George Gameson.
Landlord of the tavern and a retail brewer.

Mrs. Harriet Gameson (nee Goodwin).
Wife of landlord.

The children of George and Harriet:

Matilda “Tilly” Gameson. 14yo.
John Gameson. 13yo.
Emily Gameson. 9yo.
Betsy Gameson. 7yo.
George Gameson. 3yo.
William Gameson. 2yo.

Mrs. Sarah Bradley.
A 58 year old widow who had arrived that evening to stay in the tavern over the Christmas Holiday.

Ms. Amy Spratt.
12 year old orphaned nurse-girl who Mr. Gameson took in. Her father was William Spratt, a “cutter-out” at Butler’s in High Street.

Ms. Elizabeth Hancox.
General Servant.
 
Sequence of events:

Mr. Gameson closed the premises and locked up at 12 midnight. Usually the closing time was 11:00PM but an extra hour had been granted for the festivities of Christmas Eve. At 12:30AM, Mrs. Gameson said she was tired and retired to bed. Mr. Gameson told her he would just finish reading the “Daily Post” and would join her soon. Mrs. Gameson then proceeded to their bedroom which was the large one on the first floor.
Mr. Gameson then sat in the ground floor sitting room reading the newspaper till about 1.00AM. He then turned off the gas fire that was in the centre of the room. Apart from heating the room the fire had been used to cook some plum puddings which were in a large pot on top of it. There was also a chair with a cloth draped over it that was close to the fire for drying. Mr. Gameson moved the chair and cloth back at least six feet away from the fire and double checked the fire was out. He then closed and locked the door to the sitting room and went to bed. He fell quickly asleep.

Mr. David Lewis Dight, who lived in the back of No 10. Little Hill Street, arrived home at about 3:15AM in the morning. There was no sign of the fire at that time.

At about 4:30AM, Joseph Payne, residing at the back of No 11. Little Hill Street, was talking with his brother in law, Benjamin Landsdown. Benjamin stepped outside briefly and shouted out, “There is something that is not right in Gameson’s yard!”. Joseph went outside and Benjamin climbed upon his shoulders to could get a better view over the wall. Benjamin then exclaimed, “The back window shutters are on fire!” They immediately ran to the front of the tavern and kicked the front door whilst yelling, “Gameson, your house is on fire.”

Mr. Gameson was awakened by the noise at the door and immediately got out of bed, wearing only his night shirt, and went downstairs to investigate.
After hearing a response from Mr. Gameson, Benjamin ran to alert the fire brigade and police. Joseph stayed to see if he could offer assistance. A minute or so later, Police Constable No 86, John Lewis, arrived. He immediately sprung his police rattle and yelled “Fire!” so as to attract the attention of nearby policemen.

Elizabeth Hancox, a serving girl and general servant in the tavern, was also woke by the banging on the front door and the shouts of fire. She had gone to bed about 12:30AM, taking young Matilda with her. Mrs. Bradbury went to bed soon after. Her master and mistress were still downstairs when she climbed into bed. She was woke by the same banging and shouting as Mr. Gameson. She could not smell smoke or see flames and got up to look out of the window. She shared the room with Amy Spratt and it was at the front of the house on the 2nd floor. The window was covered in smoke and she could not open it. She then went to the hop room which was also on the second floor but at the back of the house. When she opened that window she saw the blaze coming out of the sitting room window. Elizabeth then ran down the stairs to the landing near the club room door.

Mr. Gameson could not see a fire but noticed light coming from under the sitting room door. Thinking the fire was probably not serious and at the worst a table cloth or cover of the sofa had caught fire he opened the sitting room door and was blown backwards by the fire which then rushed up the staircase opposite. Mr. Gameson could see the fire was being fuelled by leaking gas from a melted gas pipe. He was suffocating and crawled on his hand and knees to the front door. With some difficulty he managed to unlock and open the door and staggered out to the street where he fell. He noticed two persons and assumed it was they who had been knocking on the door and shouting the warning. As soon as he recovered he yelled the alarm “Fire!” several times and ran to the back of the tavern to try and enter via the back door. It was locked so he ran back and into the tavern via the front door. He could see it was impossible to get up the stairs due to the flames and smoke and ran around the back of the tavern again and was frantic for some help to arrive.

Ms. Hancox was enveloped by thick, choking smoke the moment her master had opened the sitting room door. Panicked, she ran upstairs to the bedroom occupied by Mrs. Bradbury. When Elizabeth looked through the window she could see Mr. Gameson but nobody else. The smoke in the room became unbearable and she climbed out of the window and yelled for help. Matilda then approached her and called out to her three times, “Oh! Lizzie, for God’s sake, save me.” Elizabeth told her, “ Jump for your life Tillie!”. Elizabeth jumped down to the club room window ledge and starting yelling for help. Matilda did not follow.

John Hubball, of No. 83, Lower Essex Street, was walking along Windmill Street when he heard the cries of alarm coming from Little Hill Street. He ran to the tavern and when he arrive he saw Elizabeth perched on the sill and crying for help. He ran and tried to scramble up to help her but fell down. He tried for a second time but was dragged back by Police Constable No 59, James Baker. Constable Baker instructed Mr. Hubball to be care full and not break any windows. This is sensible advice if you wish to prevent a sudden influx of oxygen fuelling the fire. John took another run up and managed to reach Elizabeth who was still sitting on the sill. At this moment some swearing and cursing was directed at Elizabeth by an unidentified onlooker. The unknown person was of the opinion the she should “Jump back in” to save the children. John assisted Elizabeth to the lower sill on the windows next to the front entrance. From there she was assisted to the ground by some onlookers. She escaped the inferno with a few scratches and smoke inhalation.

John Hubball then reached the 2nd story window closest to the Horse Fair. He looked in the windows and saw once person in bed who appeared to be deceased. The heat from the fire was intense so John made his way back to the ground.

When Mr. Gameson arrived at the back of the house he found Mrs. Gameson had since climbed out of their bedroom window and was sitting upon the sill. Mr. Henry Hodson, of No. 9 Little Hill Street, also ran around to the back of the tavern. He called out to Mrs. Gameson to stay and that he would fetch a ladder to get her down. He ran to the brewhouse, spraining his ankle as he jumped a fence, and returned with a short ladder. Mrs. Gameson refused to come down unless he promised to rescue her children. He agreed and once Mrs. Gameson was same on the ground he climbed through the window, into the bedroom and through that to the landing. He could not go up the stairs to rescue the children as the stairs were on fire. He had to withdraw due to the heat and flames and climbed back to the ground. When Mrs. Gameson was safe, Mr. Gameson ran to the front of the tavern to see if he could give any assistance. When he looked up he saw John, his eldest son, leaning out of a window.

Thirteen year old John Gameson was awoke by the crying of George, his younger brother. He heard people shouting “Fire!”. The bedroom door was open and the room was filling full of smoke. George knew they needed to open the window and let in some fresh air. John and George slept in a second floor bedroom facing the main street and when he looked out the window he could see his father standing there. He opened the window and yelled to his father, “Should I throw George?”. Mr. Gameson replied, “Yes, throw him through, for God’s sake!”. John picked up George and threw him out the window and watched as he landed on the road near his father. He then heard his mother calling for Matilda and through the open door he saw her run towards the stairs. Just as he was about to jump out of the window his sister Emily ran up to him. He said to her, “Let me throw you through the window!”. As he tried to grab her she ran from him towards the stairs. Just then the stairs burst into flames and the bedroom set alight. John then jumped and landed heavily near his father. He was winded for several minutes but was otherwise unhurt. His young brother George was also relatively unscathed and they were both taken to a neighbour’s house where they stayed throughout the rest of the drama.

At 4:40AM, Police Constable No 86, Christopher Hurdle of the New Street station, was informed of the tavern fire. Constable Hurdle and four other constables proceeded to push a fire escape at a brisk run towards the tavern.

Note on “fire escapes”. With many fires, people were dying before the fire brigade could arrive. Most buildings did not have a fire escape so a portable version was invented. A fire escape was a long, segmented ladder in a wheeled carriage that was small enough to be pushed around by 4 or 5 fit men. They were scattered around English towns and manned by volunteers. The theory was they could arrive faster than the fire brigade and rescue people before the fire took hold. If the rescue ladder did arrive before the fire brigade, the volunteers were awarded a gratuity of tens shillings.

When the rescue ladder arrived at about 4:55AM, Constable Hurdle was informed of the people trapped on the second floor. Flames were pouring out of the window closest to Irving Street and Constable Hurdle made the remark that if anybody was in that room they would be deceased. They raised the escape to the window nearest Bristol Street and Constable Hurdle climbed it to see if he could gain entry or rescue and persons close to it. He could see the room was full of fire and dense smoke. The heat was so intense it singed his hair. He did not think anybody could survive in such an environment and asked Police Constable Lambert Crabtree to offer his opinion. Constable Crabtree climbed the ladder, looked in the window and agreed that survival in such an environment was impossible. Just as they made this decision the first fire engine from the Birmingham Fire Brigade arrived.

Constable Hurdle climbed down the ladder and approached Mr. Kerr, the senior fireman. He informed him that people were trapped on the second floor but it was his opinion that nobody could be alive and that it was utterly impossible to get them out. Mr. Kerr agreed and the engine started to play water on the fire but no further rescue attempts were made.

Mr. Ker saw Mr. Henry Hodson and knew that he worked for the gas company. He asked Mr. Hodson to find the gas valve and turn it off. Henry soon found the valve and the gas supply to the fire was cut off.

The water pressure was insufficient to reach the second floor effectively so the police placed the fire escape back at the window near Bristol Street. The firemen then climbed the fire escape and played water directly into the blaze in that room. The fire was quickly extinguished and this process was repeated at several other windows.

After the fire seemed to be under control on the upper levels, Constable Hurdle and a couple of his colleagues entered the ground floor. The building was still on fire but two engines were now playing water onto the flames. The police could find no person, dead or alive, on the ground floor but could go no further as the staircase had been burned.

A while later the fireman had extinguished the fire and were entering the top floor via the fire escape. The police joined the firemen and soon there was a queue on the ladder waiting to climb into the building. All of this weight caused the wood of the ladder to snap about 18 inches from the top. The construction of the ladder ensured it could not fall as the wood was sandwiched between iron supports. Observers on the ground did not realise this and they became concerned for the police and firemen.

The constables believed it was their duty to assist the firemen in recovering the bodies. Fireman Wilson recovered Mrs. Bradbury. Constable William Harris recovered another four bodies and the final was retrieved by another Birmingham fireman. All bodies were brought down the fire escape safely even though the wood had snapped earlier. The bodies were covered up as well as possible with sheets and blankets and taken to Acorn public house, almost opposite the burnt tavern.

CORONER’S FINDINGS
The Borough Coroner, Dr. Birt Davies, held an inquest into the fire on 29thDecember 1863. It was held at the Coach and Horses public house in Irving Street. The jury consisted of Mr. Stephen Knapp, foreman; Messrs Charles Henry Hobday, Henry Chandler, Henry Borastan, Henry Spencer, Thomas Jephcott, Thomas Thompson, John Meore, Lawson W. Bourne, Isaac Horton, Richard Lloyd, Henry Greaves and William Taylor. Mr. Benjamin Hall and Mr. James Timmins Lee did not appear as requested and were fined 10s.
The coroner found that most had died of asphyxiation rather than burning but this does not correspond with the witness statements.
For instance, Matilda appeared to be asleep and consumed by smoke. This could not have been the case as she was with Elizabeth Hancox when the bedroom of Mrs. Bradley was well alight.

His summation stated that there was no doubt as to the cause of death of the victims. There was little or no evidence, or even the faintest suspicion, that the deaths were caused by the wilful act of anyone.

The minor damage to the fire escape, although it looked dramatic to the spectators, did not cause issues with the attempted rescue and was not a factor in their deaths.

The jury returned a unanimous verdict of “Accidental death, but by which means the fire originated there is no positive evidence to show.”

INVESTIGATION BY THE WATCH COMMITTEE
Reports of Police being drunk, aggressive control of the onlookers and inaction by some members caused an investigation by the Watch Committee to be held on the 5th January 1863.
It was held at the Public Office and chaired by Mr. Holland. Committee members were Mr. Holliday (the Mayor), Aldermen Manton and Gameson, Messrs, Goodrick, Nash, Taylor, Webster, Brown, Brissley, Beddington and Pedley.

The Chief Superintendent, Mr. Glessop, submitted a report that appears to be unfairly scathing of the unfortunate parent, Mr. George Gameson. It stated, “..The cause of death is attributable to the unfortunate act (through fright) of throwing open the rooms and front door, by which mans the draught drove the fire and smoke upstairs with such force that the rooms were untenable in a very few moments, and before help could be procured, although Payne and Landsdown (who discovered the fire and called Gameson) were there ready and willing to render assistance. It is very much deplored that they or Mr. Gameson had not the presence of mind to procure a bed or two, and desire the inmates to jump on them. Those who were awake could have thrown them down, and if done promptly, they could have descended from the first floor as the serving girl ultimately did, instead of the attic. Nevertheless, great credit is due to Landsdown for so promptly running for the escape, which will be found to have arrived in about 20 minutes. The fire had, however, in that 20 minutes, through the mistake of the above-mentioned, suffocated the six poor creatures.”

This is very harsh as Mr. Gameson was not aware of the size of the fire till he opened the sitting room door. The fire then flashed over and was already burning and climbing the stairs before he crawled his way to the front door, choking on the same smoke that is supposed to have killed the “inmates”. If he had not opened the front door the fire would still have killed the others but he would have died as well!!! Spending time getting the beds and mattresses would have done nothing to save anybody. He was barely outside the building before his son threw young George onto the street. His wife was already outside on a window sill and Ms. Hancox barely had time to make it to the window sill before Mrs. Bradley’s room was engulfed in flames. Where were they to get mattresses and beds from in the few minutes it took for the six to perish? Surely the first thought of a father is to try and gain entry to the premises to save his family, not run around gathering mattresses?

The committee found the police were not intoxicated although a couple of them showed a lack of action but not cowardice.

They found that the fire escape had to come from too far away and that more were needed.

The commended John Hubball on his bravery and awarded him a 13s reward.

SUBSCRIPTIONS ON BEHALF OF MR. GAMESON
On the 29th December 1863 a public meeting was held at The White Swan Inn, Sherlock Street. Mr. S. Harrison, the inn’s owner, had called the meeting to discuss a practical means of raising a subscription on behalf of Mr. Gameson. Many members of the local community were then appointed to a special committee for raising such a subscription. Several similar meetings were held elsewhere and subscriptions raised in many locations for Mr. Gameson.