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Little Hill Street fire 1863

Astoness

Astoness

TRUE BRUMMIE MODERATOR
Staff member
such a sad story is this one...but i thought some of you may find it of interest...its written by a descendent of the folk who perished in the fire...thanks to mike for providing the map pinpointing where little hill st was... first the map

map c1839 showing little hill St.jpg

lyn
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Lyn that is so sad. Thanks for posting I found it interesting that a fire appliance would not attend unless you were insured!
 
Before 1948 I think Fire Brigades were funded by insurance companies. As a customer you ould be given a metal sign to attach to your property to denote that you were a customer of a particular insurance company. They were called "Fire Marks" and some still exist.
It was known that some fire brigades would try to prevent other brigades getting to the property fire in order to persuade the occupier to change insurance companies.
Dog eat dog eh?
 
How very sad.

Here is the newspaper article of the time.

Suzanne
Replacement image

gamesonDec1863.jpg
 
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hi all..could someone confirm if little hill street was near to hill street..

many thanks...
 
It struck a chord with me because my Grandad who lived in Gt Russell street in the 30,s tried in vain to save a family in a blazing house next door to him but was beaten back by the fire and two kids died and a rescuer died. It was in the evening mail , I know this as I went to the central library and found the clippings. Very Very sad.
 
that is a sad story and must have been most upsetting for your grandad..a few years ago our mom was telling me of a simillar tragedy that happened in bridge st west....

lyn
 
My grandmother's grandad lost his wife and 3 children in a house fire.I have never seen a report about it...could this be the one?
As I have been unable to see these newspaper reports on the forum,would someone please send them to my email address?,it is in my profile.
 
As an addition to this thread I would like to add that my partner is also a direct descendant of George and Harriet Gameson the parents of the poor children who died.
my partners mother is Margaret Gameson of Shirley.
we have been researching the Gamesons and in particular recently we have been at Birmingham Central Library (BCL) looking at the archives of the Birmingham Post.
we found a very descriptive report of the occurrences of the morning of 25th December 1863 which moved us both to tears as we read it , making the fiche readers even more difficult to view. subsequently my partner trawled through the newspaper archives of the following days and weeks that cover the inquest, the conduct of the police and firemen and letters from the public as well as a fund that was set up.
Additionnally we traced the burial plot to St Bartholomews, Old Edgbaston Church, via the Burial Registers and the MI's kept at the library.
we visited the church last Tuesday accompanied by rainfall and managed to find and photograph the monument in the corner of the Churchyard to the right of the main entrance near a small gate.
i have included some photos for anyone interested, assuming my download technique works.
further i can add that Little Hill Street was situated where you can now find Irving Street , up the side of the O2 arena (the old dome) which we traced with the help of the magnificent staff at BCL and later visited, again accompanied by rain.
Unfortunately , nothing remains of the past and indeed they are currently building ParkCentral over much of that area.View attachment 57319View attachment 57321View attachment 57320
pencil.png
 
hi steve..so glad you decided to post this extra info and the pics to go with it..im so pleased for your partner that you managed to track down the monument placed for her ancestors who died in this most tragic fire as it is a most important part of her family history..im no expert but the monument looks to be in fair condition for the years its been there..i would imagine it would clean up well...i also agree with you about the staff at the central library archives...they are most helpful..

thanks again steve...

lyn
 
IMG_1922.jpg IMG_1923.jpg IMG_1924.jpg IMG_1925.jpg IMG_1926.jpg IMG_1930.jpg

Sometimes Health and Safety gets its “knockers” but the recent tragedy at Grenfell Tower shows how important it is.

For the tragedy mentioned in the Thread it seems most info has been lost, so I have dug the report out of the fire, and another of the police conduct. Not pleasant reading.
 
thanks to which ever moderator replaced my first 2 posts and others on this thread...i had not saved them..have now:) thanks pedro for the extra info

lyn
 
Through the information shared above, I have discovered my husband's family are descended from Alfred, a son who was born five years after this tragedy. Thank you for sharing this, and enabling me to add another layer, albeit a tragic one, to my research. I am now on the hunt for the grandfather who took in the surviving boys on the night.
 
Welcome to the forum Kiwi Lass. A terribly sad story. Hope you're able to track down the grandfather. Do let us know if find anything more about the boys. Viv.
 
Hello

First post on this site.

I am descended from Hannah Maria Gameson (1821-1903) and her father John Gameson (1792-1871) and his wife Hannah (1788-1853).

They are somehow related to George Gameson, who was the publican of the pub which caught fire on Christmas Day 1863, where he lost four of his children. I know this because Hannah Maria’s daughter Elizabeth Hancox was there that night and escaped.

But no matter how much I’ve researched, I cannot find the exact link between my John Gameson and George Gameson from the pub. Has anyone established the link in their research?

If anyone could shine a light on this, I would be most grateful.

Sue
 
hello sue and welcome....i am not subbed at the min to any of the ancestry sites but hopefully one or two of our members maybe able to link up a connection between john and george gameson for you...fingers crossed

lyn
 
SusanJane said:
Hello

First post on this site.

I am descended from Hannah Maria Gameson (1821-1903) and her father John Gameson (1792-1871) and his wife Hannah (1788-1853).

They are somehow related to George Gameson, who was the publican of the pub which caught fire on Christmas Day 1863, where he lost four of his children. I know this because Hannah Maria’s daughter Elizabeth Hancox was there that night and escaped.

But no matter how much I’ve researched, I cannot find the exact link between my John Gameson and George Gameson from the pub. Has anyone established the link in their research?

If anyone could shine a light on this, I would be most grateful.

Sue
Click to expand...
Hi Sue
I'm john Gameson , George gameson i believe was my great grandfather
 
STEVEROSTILL said:
As an addition to this thread I would like to add that my partner is also a direct descendant of George and Harriet Gameson the parents of the poor children who died.
my partners mother is Margaret Gameson of Shirley.
we have been researching the Gamesons and in particular recently we have been at Birmingham Central Library (BCL) looking at the archives of the Birmingham Post.
we found a very descriptive report of the occurrences of the morning of 25th December 1863 which moved us both to tears as we read it , making the fiche readers even more difficult to view. subsequently my partner trawled through the newspaper archives of the following days and weeks that cover the inquest, the conduct of the police and firemen and letters from the public as well as a fund that was set up.
Additionnally we traced the burial plot to St Bartholomews, Old Edgbaston Church, via the Burial Registers and the MI's kept at the library.
we visited the church last Tuesday accompanied by rainfall and managed to find and photograph the monument in the corner of the Churchyard to the right of the main entrance near a small gate.
i have included some photos for anyone interested, assuming my download technique works.
further i can add that Little Hill Street was situated where you can now find Irving Street , up the side of the O2 arena (the old dome) which we traced with the help of the magnificent staff at BCL and later visited, again accompanied by rain.
Unfortunately , nothing remains of the past and indeed they are currently building ParkCentral over much of that area.View attachment 57319View attachment 57321View attachment 57320
pencil.png
Click to expand...
I'm a decadent of the Gameson family too
 
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