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What follows is a (un-comprehensive) list of London's deadliest and often forgotten disasters, complete with links in red to any interesting articles, so you can read about them for yourself and share with friends so those who died won't have died in vain and will no longer be forgotten. The Denmark Place Fire - On the 16th August 1980, in an illegal nightclub at 18 Denmark Place, a disgruntled customer - who felt he'd been overcharged for a drink - set fire to the building, killing 37 occupants. Although there has never been a memorial to the dead, this remains London's deadliest blaze since the Blitz. Murder Mile Walks is the only walk in London that covers this forgotten tragedy. To hear the full story, download episode one of the Murder Mile podcast. The Colney Hatch Fire - On 27th January 1903, in a timber-framed annex of The Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum, 52 patients (all female) were burned alive in the Jewish wing, either in their beds or huddled in corners. This remains the worst peacetime fire in London's history since the medieval period. In 1993, Colney Hatch (renamed Friern Hospital) ceased being a psychiatric unit and is now private luxury apartments. The Great Beer Flood - On the 17th October 1814, a colossal beer vat at The Horse Shoe Brewery situated on Tottenham Court Road ruptured, causing a wave of 135,000 gallons of locally brewed Porter Ale to flood the street, killing eight people, including a family who drowned in their own basement. Read more about it in my blog. The Soho Cholera Outbreak - On the 31st August 1856, several outbreaks of cholera erupted in Soho, killing 616 people (one sixth of Soho's population). How did it start? Who solved it? How was it solved? Why is there a pub named after Dr John Snow on Lexington Street? And how did this tragedy change the way that we all live today? Read the full story in my blog The Bethnal Green Tube Disaster - On a rainy night on the 3rd March 1943, an air-raid siren sounded, which lured hundreds of people to come to Bethnal Green Underground for shelter from the bombs. Unfortunately in the rush for safety, one person slipped on the wet steps and what followed became the London Underground's deadliest accident, with 173 people killed and 62 injured. Read more here. The Fatal Vespers of Blackfriars - On the 3rd July 1322, 52 men & women were crushed to death, as they waited for alms (money for the poor) when the floors of the Blackfriars Monastery collapsed. The only accurate account I can find is this tiny morsel. And yet, on 26th October 1623, 95 members of a Catholic Congregation were killed (with many more injured) when the chapel floor gave way. The Toxic Sewer of Pimlico - On the 12th October 1849, three workers - Thomas Gee, Daniel Peart and John Attwood — entered a sewer on Willow Way and never returned alive. When their bodies were finally recovered, their faces, necks and chest were completely bronzed, as a result of deadly carbonic acid. Read more here. The SS Princess Alice Disaster - On the evening of the 3rd September 1878, a paddle-steamer named the SS Princess Alice collided on the River Thames with military coal-ship called the Bywell Castle just by Tripcock Point (near North Woolwich Pier) and sunk, with the loss of 650 lives. This is the greatest loss of life in any shipping disaster in the history of the Thames. The Marchioness Disaster - On the evening of the 20th August 1989, a pleasure steamer called 'The Marchioness' - which was hosting a private party - fatally collided with a Thames dredger known as 'Bowbelle'. The heavier dredger pulled the much lighter pleasure-craft under the water, killing 51 people. The Great Fire of London (1212AD) - When anyone mentions The Great Fire of London we all think of the 1666 fire, which destroyed great swathes of medieval London, but which miraculously only killed six people. A much deadlier Great Fire of London (of which there have been many) occurred on the 10th July 1212 and killed 3000+ people on London Bridge alone. Read more. Regent's Park Skating Disaster - On the 15th January 1867, with ice-skating being the latest craze and winter in full swing, hundreds of people flocked to Regent's Park. But with the thin ice unable to cope under the weight, 200+ skaters plunged into the icy cold waters, with many being weighed down by heavy Victorian winter clothing. Only 40 bodies were recovered. Moorgate Tube Crash - On the 28th February 1975, on the HIghbury branch of the Northern Line, a packed tube train failed to stop and came to an abrupt stop when it hit the wall of the southern terminus, killing 43 people and injuring 74. Of course, something (or should I say someone) more horrific was riding the Northern Line around that time. He was the London's Underground's very own serial killer. Battersea Park Big-Dipper Accident - On the afternoon of 30th May 1972, five children were killed and thirteen were injured when a three-car wooden train on the Big Dipper at Battersea Park detached from its drive train and hurtled backwards at great speed, fifteen metres above the park. Read more. Theatre Royal Fire - On the 30th September 1808, a fire broke out at The Theatre Royal in Covent Garden killing 26 theatre goers, fire-fighters and even bystanders. Read more. Regents Park & Hyde Park Bombing - On the 20th July 1982, the IRA (Irish republican Army) detonated - within 2hrs of each other - a bomb at Regent's Park & Hyde Park. The first explosion in Hyde Park killed two soldiers and injured twenty-three others, with the second bomb in Regent's Park killing six soldiers and injuring twenty-four people and numerous horses. Read more. Warning: graphic images. Oddly, given that London is surrounded by two of the busiest airports in the world (Heathrow and Gatwick), as well as Luton and Stanstead, London has had very few peacetime air disasters.
And one infamous "near (but now nearly forgotten) air-accident" almost occurred on 5th April 1968 when RAF pilot Alan Pollock performed a series of dangerous and unauthorised low-level flights over several famous London landmarks, including the Houses of Parliament, Embankment as well as flying through the upper span of Tower Bridge. (image is an artist's interpretation of the incident) Obviously this isn't a comprehensive list of many of London's forgotten disasters, there are many disasters in London (and across the world) which often go unreported; sometimes because a more important news-story has taken precidence (as with the sinking of Titanic's twin sister - The Britannia - barely a few years later) or because - in the case of the Denmark Street Fire - the bulding was primarily full of illegal immigrants, so nobody (including the press) cared. If you liked this blog, you may also like London's Bloodiest Execution Sites. Michael J Buchanan-Dunne is a writer, crime historian and tour-guide who runs Murder Mile Walks, a guided tour of Soho’s most notorious murder cases, hailed as “one of the top ten quirky & unusual things to do in London” and featuring 12 murderers, including 3 serial killers, across 15 locations, totalling 75 deaths, over just a one mile walk.
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On Tuesday 3rd January 1933, in his rented shed at 30 Hawley Crescent in Camden, local builder Mr Samuel J Furnace died… for the very first time, but his death was not to be his last.
At 8pm, that very evening, a crowd began to gather around the merchant’s yard of Hawley Crescent as thick plumes of smoke poured from the brick shed and flames lapped at the windows. Mr Wynne, the owner called the fire brigade, and within minutes the blaze was extinguished, but it wasn’t until they’d broken down both doors, that they saw the full horror of the scene. As sitting at his desk, in a high chair, slumped over a high wooden table, was a badly charred body of a man, identified by a lodger and Mr Wynne himself as Samuel J Furnace, the local builder who’d rented the shed. Unable to see a way out of his spiralling financial situation, Samuel Furnace took the ultimate tragic step, and ended his life by setting himself alight. He left behind a wife and three children. Their only reminder of his final hours being a suicide note, written on a typewriter (seen above), which summed up his desperation that simply read “No money. No work. Goodbye. Samuel J Furnace”. Mr Samuel J Furnace was dead, death by suicide, and the case was closed…
…or, so you would think?
But a few factors didn’t sit well with the forensics, nor the Police. Why would a builder, who has access to all manner of tools, blades, tourniquets and even chemicals, set himself on fire? Why not hang himself? Drown himself in the Regent’s Canal (a 2min walk from him shed)? Or shoot himself with the loaded gun that he owned? Why write a suicide note, using paper, when you plan to set yourself on fire? And even more bizarrely, how did he manage to remain so still, and seated in a high chair, at his desk, after he’d set himself on fire? It simply didn’t make sense. When district Pathologist, Mr Bentley Purchase, examined the badly charred body, he noticed that Samuel Furnace had been shot; once in the back and once on the left-hand-side of his torso, both occurring before he’d died, and before he’d set himself alight. Which begged the question, who had shot Samuel Furnace, and – having been shot - why had Samuel set himself alight? Or, if he hasn’t, had his killer torched the body to make it look like a suicide to cover their tracks? The Police knew that this was not a suicide - this was a murder. But, then who had killed Samuel Furnace? Well…
…no-one.
When the Pathologist examined the charred body he deduced that, even though two independent witnesses had identified the smouldering corpse as that of the 42 year old builder Samuel Furnace, the teeth were of a considerably younger man - twenty years younger, in fact. In a badly burned overcoat found next to the body, Police found fragments of the owner’s post-office savings slip, a debtor’s collection book and an empty wallet, all marked with the – slightly scorched but still legible - name of “W Spatchett”. Walter Spatchett, a 25 year old debt collector, who’d gone missing that day, having completed his rounds, collecting £40 (roughly £2000 today) from debtors and made a sizable withdrawal from his savings account, had returned to the shed he’d shared with Samuel Furnace - who Walter had bailed out financially on numerous occasions - and was never seen again. It seems that no-one had shot Samuel Furnace, nor had they set him on fire. Instead, he was alive, well and on the run. He’d murdered Walter Spatchett, having accrued an unmanageable number of debts, being short of work, low on cash, frustratingly married and living a lifestyle he couldn’t afford with numerous “lady friends”. As well as having recently renewed his life own insurance policy. Samuel Furnace planned to disappear, but this was thwarted by his own brother-in-law, who Furnace had sent a desperate letter to, asking to meet him in Southend with “a bag full of clothes” and no explanation. His brother-in-law agreed, but not before he’d tipped off the Police, an ambush was set, and Furnace was captured and arrested. In custody, Samuel Furnace claimed that he’d “accidentally” shot Walter Spachett (albeit twice), stolen his money to escape his financial woes, set the shed on fire to cover his tracks, and had thrown his gun into the Regent’s Canal. Furnace was charged that evening with murder. But he was never brought to trial, as the night after his arrest, as he rested in his prison cell, he complained that he was cold and asked the officer on duty if he could have his overcoat to keep himself warm. At 7am the next morning, as the officer checked his cell, and saw Furnace raising a small bottle to his lips, that he’d hidden in the lining of his coat (should he ever need it). It was hydrochloric acid.
Samuel Furnace died 24 hours later in St Pancras Hospital, his last words from his burning lips being “my dear wife…”. Oddly, Samuel Furnace died on 16th January 1933, thirteen days after he’d originally died, but this second suicide, was the to be last. Samuel Furnace was dead.
And his windfall to save his family from spiralling debts was not to be, as having not checked the small print, his life insurance policy was deemed null & void, as it did not cover him… for suicide.
Michael J Buchanan-Dunne is a writer, crime historian and tour-guide who runs Murder Mile Walks, a guided tour of Soho’s most notorious murder cases, hailed as “one of the top ten quirky & unusual things to do in London” and featuring 18 murderers, 3 serial killers, across 21 locations, totalling 75 deaths, over just a one mile walk.
In Victorian England, following the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 (which removed any financial obligation from the fathers of illegitimate children), unmarried mothers were stigmatized, struggled to make ends meet, and were subsequently forced to give away their unwanted children to the local “baby farm” for a small fee. These were supposedly a safe haven for the illegitimate foundlings to flourish with food, warmth, clothing and – maybe – an education, but more often than not, baby farms were established to make money, by exploiting the weak, impoverished and the vulnerable.
Whether overwhelmed by a deluge of bastards, or unable to adequately care for the illegitimate, many babies died of a lack of nutrition, measles, mumps or cot-death, but many unscrupulous “baby farmers” simply starved the babies (once payment had been made) to save money, or poisoned them with a lethal mix of syrup and opium, curiously known as “Mother’s Friend”. One such baby farmer was Amelia Dyer; midwife, nurse and married mother-of-two, who easily reassured her clients – all distraught mothers with the hardest decision to make – that with her pleasant home, stable marriage and two healthy children, that she was the right choice to give their unwanted offspring a chance. But for Amelia… “baby farming” was nothing more than a lucrative way of making her money. And so, being unwilling to waste any time, money or effort by letting the children die of neglect or starvation, Amelia simply murdered each child the second their distraught mother was out of earshot, and pocketed the cash. Was she ever caught? Of course. As a mentally unstable alcoholic with a growing opium addiction and a history of suicidal tendencies, whose mood swings and temperament swung between high-as-a-kite and hateful beyond the extreme, a local doctor became suspicious of the number of child deaths he’d been called to certify in Amelia Dyer's care and called the authorities. So, she was convicted of murder, manslaughter, or maybe infanticide, right? No. She was sentenced to just six months hard labour… for child neglect. But wasn’t she even imprisoned for murder when caring for an illegitimate baby, as the governess grew suspicious that this baby that had been returned to her… wasn’t hers, stripped off the baby’s clothes to reveal a birthmark, which wasn’t there? No. Amelia Dyer feigned a breakdown and committed suicide by drinking two bottles of laudanum. Or she would / should have died, had she not built up a tolerance, owing to her long-term substance abuse, and survived. Upon release from hospital – and having been declared “sane” - Amelia stopped relying on doctors to issue a death certificate for each child she'd dispatched, as this only aroused suspicion from the Police and even mothers desperate for their child’s safe return, their fortunes now better, so she began disposing of the diminutive little bodies herself. Often by wrapping them in carpet, weighed down with bricks, and dumping them in the River Thames. But unknown to Dyer, on 30 March 1896, a package was retrieved from the Thames at Reading by a bargeman. The package Amelia dumped had not weighted down adequately and was easily spotted. It contained the decomposing body of a baby girl, later identified as Helena Fry. It was while examining the paper that the baby was wrapped in that Detective Constable Anderson made a crucial breakthrough, using a microscope he deciphered a barely legible name—Mrs Thomas (one of Amelia’s many aliases)—and an address. On 3 April 1896, police raided Amelia’s home, and were immediately overpowered by the stench of human decomposition. And although no human remains were found, there was enough evidence in the form of white edging tape (used to strangle the babies & children), telegrams making reference to “adoptions”, pawn tickets for the child's belongings and letters from distraught mothers inquiring about the well-being of their children to have her arrested.
At the inquest, Police calculated that, in just a few months, Amelia Dyer had “cared” for at least twenty children, leading some experts to estimate that over the two decades of which she was a “baby farmer”, she may have killed over 400 babies and children, making her one of the most prolific murderers ever, as well as the most prolific female serial killer ever.
On the 10th June 1896 “baby farmer” Amelia Dyer (aged 69) was charged with three counts of murder and was executed by hanging at Newgate Prison, drawing in one of the largest gatherings in London to a public execution in the 1890's.
Looking for something quirky, curious, original & unusual to do in London or Soho this bank holiday weekend? Try Murder Mile Walks, on Saturday 28th, Sunday 29th and Monday 30th May @ 11am. And having read this blog post, I'l give you 30% OFF all tickets, simply by typing MULLEDW1NE into the booking widget above.
Michael J Buchanan-Dunne is a writer, crime historian and tour-guide who runs Murder Mile Walks, a guided tour of Soho’s most notorious murder cases, hailed as “one of the top ten quirky & unusual things to do in London” and featuring 18 murderers, 3 serial killers, across 21 locations, totalling 75 deaths, over just a one mile walk.
In 1888, amidst the pitch black alleys, the fog wreathed streets and the shadowy nooks of London’s East End, a sadistic maniac dubbed by the press with the macabre moniker of “Jack the Ripper”, fuelled by an insatiable lust and hatred for the gin-soused street-walkers, seized a terrified city in fear as he soaked the cobbled stones of Whitechapel with their blood…supposedly. Of course, there is no evidence that “Jack the Ripper” ever existed. The fact is that during Jack the Ripper’s so-called reign of terror, London’s most notorious serial killer either killed three women, or five, or seven, or nine, or eleven, or as many as twenty-two, depending on which theory you choose to believe and what book you’ve just read, over a period of somewhere between three months and three years, and for whom not one single piece of evidence nor victim can conclusively be linked to one of the one hundred and six current suspects. So why do we still believe (even after 128 years) that “Jack the Ripper” exists, if he probably didn’t? Because “Jack the Ripper”, as commonplace as his crimes were in an ever-expanding city (divided by wealth and health, with a barely fledgling Police force) was nothing more than a very clever construct of media manipulation; a convenient if slightly sensational character created by eager journalists during the birth of tabloid to sell newspapers. Admittedly, in a morally uptight Victorian era, there was nothing newsworthy about the nightly violence inflicted on the city’s sex-workers - destitute by destiny, shunned by society and regarded by many as “ten-a-penny” - whose attacks by drunken punters, were seen as little more than an occupational hazard. Crimes such as these of often went unrecorded, unreported and unsolved. But… by connecting these crimes together, giving their murderer a motive, a mission and a memorable name that is easily whispered from person to person? And you’ve got yourself something sensational. Therefore in a very short space of time, just the idea of “Jack the Ripper” created mass-panic, a climate of fear, a society fuelled by suspicion, speculation and sensationalist theories, and a media feeding frenzy, which still exists, even today. So, was there ever a “one-man ripper” slaughtering prostitutes in London’s East End? Probably not. But… there was in the West End. After the Blitz of 1940-41, as London was gripped in a continual state of fear as German bombers loomed overhead, a maniac prowled the seedy dark-lit streets of Soho. He attacked by night, during air-raids, when the city was at its blackest. And every street lamps was off, every house-light was out, every curtain was closed, and every door was shut. His name was Gordon Frederick Cummins. But you won’t have heard of him. Very few people have. As during war-time, with London’s debilitated public morale at an all-time-low after a constant barrage of nightly bombardments and for fear of starting a panic, much of this story was suppressed. The Press called him “The Blackout Ripper”… …he brutally slaughtered four women… …and attempted to murder two more… …all in just six days. Sunday 9th February 1942: Pharmacist named Evelyn Hamilton was strangled in an air-raid shelter in Montague Place using her own stockings. With no signs of assault and her handbag containing £80 missing, Police suspected this was a simply robbery. Monday 10th February 1942: Unemployed actress and part-time prostitute Evelyn Oately (known locally as “Nita Ward”) was found murdered in her Wardour Street flat by a workman who had come to read the meter. She’d been strangled, beaten, stabbed, and severely mutilated with a can-opener. Tuesday 11th February 1942: Veteran sex-worker Margaret Lowe (“Pearl”) was also strangled, beaten and stabbed, but as The Blackout Ripper’s confidence grew, so did his sadism, and he mutilated her with whatever household utensils came to hand. Wednesday 12th February 1942: Doris Jounette (alias “Doris Robson”) was the fourth victim of “The Blackout Ripper”. So horrific were her injuries even Home Office Pathologist Bernard Spilsbury would only comment that they were “quite dreadful”. But, as The Blackout Ripper’s confidence grew even further, so did his arrogance, and it is that which would bring about his downfall. Friday 14th February 1942 “Valentine’s Day”: Fuelled an overwhelming compulsion to kill again, “The Blackout Ripper” picked up two more prostitutes – Greta Hayward and Catherine Mulcahy - in quick succession. Both women were attacked in broad daylight. Both women survived. And both women gave the Police an identical description of their attacker… which wasn’t enough to identify him… or it wouldn’t have been, had he not left behind his RAF issue belt and gas-mask, inside which were inscribed three important details; his name, rank and serial number. Gordon Frederick Cummins (“The Blackout Ripper”) was tried at The Old Bailey on the 24th April 1942. So conclusive was the evidence against him that over just a one-day trial, the jury found him guilty in just thirty five minutes. He was executed on the 25th June 1942 at Wandsworth Prison by the famed executioner Albert Pierrepoint, ironically… during an air-raid. Oddly, Gordon Frederick Cummins didn’t fit the usual profile of a serial killer; he had no prior convictions, no known mental illnesses and no history of violence, he was married, well-educated and he came from a good family. But Scotland Yard would later confirm that he had murdered two other women, just five months earlier in October 1941, whilst on a “day-trip” to London. But it wasn’t until 1942 that he was assigned to the Regent’s Park RAF Reception Centre on a three week course. By the time of his arrest, Gordon Frederick Cummins, dubbed “The Blackout Ripper” by the press… …had brutally slaughtered four women… …and attempted to murder two more… …all in just six days… …but (had he not been arrested) he could have gone on to kill for another twelve. Michael J Buchanan-Dunne is a writer, crime historian and tour-guide who runs Murder Mile Walks, a guided tour of Soho’s most notorious (and often forgotten) murder cases, featuring 12 murderers, 3 serial killers, over 15 locations, totalling 75 deaths, over just a one mile walk.
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AuthorMichael J Buchanan-Dunne is a crime writer, podcaster of Murder Mile UK True Crime and creator of true-crime TV series. Archives
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