tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710611656756005747.post7446747755342482597..comments2024-03-27T09:59:48.839+00:00Comments on Greenwich Industrial History: A whole lot of bits and piecesDavid Riddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15841234446226688028noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710611656756005747.post-77390060375261863192009-03-23T14:58:00.000+00:002009-03-23T14:58:00.000+00:00Apropos the Erith explosions ... The Archives of T...Apropos the Erith explosions ... <BR/><BR/>The Archives of The Times' newspaper include a number of articles apropos the explosion; daily, monthly and annual subscriptions to the Archives are available. <BR/><BR/>The following is a very brief synopsis and needs to be supplemented by reference to the The Times' Archives &c.<BR/><BR/>There were two individual explosions on Saturday 1 October 1864; both occurred on the Plumstead Marshes when two gunpowder magazines exploded; one at a depot used by Messrs John Hall & Sons, the other at a depot used by the Lowood Gunpowder Company (aka Messrs Daye and Barker, the previous owners). It appears that at least five people were known to died viz. George Rayner (a storekeeper at Messrs John Hall & Sons), John Yorke (a thirteen year-old boy employed at Messrs. John Hall & Sons), Elizabeth Wright (of about the same age as John Yorke and daughter of the under-storekeeper at Messrs John Hall & Sons) and two labourers, namely James Eaves and Thomas Hubbard, neither of whom were connected to the depots but who were working by the river (Thames) at the time of the explosion. A further five people, including Elizabeth Wright's father, were listed as missing. Some significant property damage was reported and it seems the explosions could be heard up to fifty or so miles away.<BR/><BR/>In terms of impact, it was claimed that the widespread terror &c. caused by the explosions compared to similar feelings following another gunpowder explosion, this time at Gateshead-Upon-Tyne, during I think, 1854.Mike Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11388864903564340927noreply@blogger.com