DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.70267#0255
DREADFUL FIRE AT MILE-END.
225
preceding; the particulars, as appeared before the Jury,
were as follows : Mr. Williams sent a female child of his to
a friend in White Horse-street, Stepney, on Tuesday, to
be out of the way during Bow Fair; which child (with the
exception of a daughter, who is married,) is now the only
one of the family left. The cause of the melancholy acci-
dent cannot be discovered; some assigning one cause, and
some another: the servant-maid, who is in the hospital,
says, that when she retired to bed, at one o’clock, Mrs.
Williams put a horse at the tap-room fire, with some wet
clothes to dry. A little after two o’clock, the patrole dis-
covered the house to be on fire, and gave the alarm ;
on which several persons assembled, and strove to break in
the door, but could not. At length the windows were forced,
but too late, as the fire was so rapid that no person could go
in. Mr. Williams, and some of the unfortunate sufferers,
slept in the one pair of stairs back room, the front room
being a sitting room. It is believed, that when they awoke,
the fire was too great for them to come out at the door ;
and, unfortunately, the windows were strongly barred with
iron, owing to the house having been robbed last year. It
is thought that Mr. Williams advanced rapidly in this dread-
ful dilemma to the window, as his body and four others
were found together, and a sixth separate ; on the arrival of
the engines the exertions of the firemen were rendered
useless for near a quarter of an hour, on account of the
want of water. At that time the house was in a complete ir-
resistible flame, and it is remarkable, fell in less than an hour
after the first alarm. There were four lodgers slept in the
attic story, three of whom made their escape out on the
tiles, viz. a bricklayer, a carpenter, and his daughter, a
child of thirteen years of age; the fourth, a drover of the
name of Andrew Springet, thought to save himself by run-
ning down stairs ; but finding the staircase in a blaze, he
was forced to return; when the fire was raging with such
I fury,
225
preceding; the particulars, as appeared before the Jury,
were as follows : Mr. Williams sent a female child of his to
a friend in White Horse-street, Stepney, on Tuesday, to
be out of the way during Bow Fair; which child (with the
exception of a daughter, who is married,) is now the only
one of the family left. The cause of the melancholy acci-
dent cannot be discovered; some assigning one cause, and
some another: the servant-maid, who is in the hospital,
says, that when she retired to bed, at one o’clock, Mrs.
Williams put a horse at the tap-room fire, with some wet
clothes to dry. A little after two o’clock, the patrole dis-
covered the house to be on fire, and gave the alarm ;
on which several persons assembled, and strove to break in
the door, but could not. At length the windows were forced,
but too late, as the fire was so rapid that no person could go
in. Mr. Williams, and some of the unfortunate sufferers,
slept in the one pair of stairs back room, the front room
being a sitting room. It is believed, that when they awoke,
the fire was too great for them to come out at the door ;
and, unfortunately, the windows were strongly barred with
iron, owing to the house having been robbed last year. It
is thought that Mr. Williams advanced rapidly in this dread-
ful dilemma to the window, as his body and four others
were found together, and a sixth separate ; on the arrival of
the engines the exertions of the firemen were rendered
useless for near a quarter of an hour, on account of the
want of water. At that time the house was in a complete ir-
resistible flame, and it is remarkable, fell in less than an hour
after the first alarm. There were four lodgers slept in the
attic story, three of whom made their escape out on the
tiles, viz. a bricklayer, a carpenter, and his daughter, a
child of thirteen years of age; the fourth, a drover of the
name of Andrew Springet, thought to save himself by run-
ning down stairs ; but finding the staircase in a blaze, he
was forced to return; when the fire was raging with such
I fury,