British History – Page 71

On this day in history….12th April 1831

On this day in history : 12th April 1831 – The Broughton Suspension Bridge in Manchester collapses – believed to have been caused by a mechanical resonance due to troops marching over it….

The iron chain suspension bridge, one of the first in Europe, was erected in 1826 to span the River Irwell between Broughton and Pendleton – now part of Salford, Greater Manchester – to link the two towns together…. It was built at the personal expense of John Fitzgerald, MP and wealthy owner of Castle Irwell House….

Broughton Suspension Bridge after it had been rebuilt, 1883 – Public domain

The 60th Rifle Corps had been out on exercise on Kersal Moor, under the command of Lieutenant Percy Slingsby Fitzgerald – the son of John Fitzgerald…. The troops needed to cross the bridge as part of their route back to the barracks – 74 soldiers, 4 abreast began to march across…. As they did so they felt it begin to vibrate in time to their marching feet…. They found it all rather amusing and began to whistle an accompanying marching tune; the vibrations continued to get stronger….

As the head of the column approached the far side loud cracking and banging sounds were heard…. Suddenly one of the iron pillars supporting the suspension chains gave way….falling towards the bridge, dragging with it the massive stone to which it was fixed…. The bridge, now unsupported, fell into the river….

About 40 of the soldiers were hurled into the water, which lay 16-18ft below…. The river was low at the time, with around only 2ft of water – so not enough to break a fall…. Thankfully nobody was killed but around 20 sustained injuries – ranging from broken bones, to concussion, head injuries and severe bruising….

An investigation discovered a bolt in one of the stay-chains had snapped; further examination revealed it had been badly forged…. It is believed the cross-bolts had begun to bend and crack before the bridge’s collapse and it was an accident waiting to happen…. The marching troops had just sped up the process….

Sign on Albert Bridge, London – Image credit: Iridescent CC BY-SA 3.0

After the incident the British army issued an order to ‘break step’ when marching across bridges…. The Broughton Suspension Bridge was rebuilt – but in 1924 it was replaced with a Pratt truss footbridge – which is still in use today….

The replacement Pratt truss footbridge still in use today – Image credit: Richerman CC BY-SA 3.0

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On this day in history….11th April 1936

On this day in history : 11th April 1936 – Billy Butlin opens his first Butlin’s Holiday Camp in Skegness….changing the concept of the British family holiday….

Billy Butlin was born in Cape Town in 1899 – but when he was around 7-years-old his parents separated and he came to England with his English mother…. For the next five years he travelled the Country with his grandmother’s fairground, where his mother sold gingerbread…. This gave the young Billy an insight into commerce and entertainment…. His mother emigrated to Canada when he was 12, leaving him in the care of an aunt; but two years later, once she had settled, she sent for him….

Finding it difficult to fit into school, where he was bullied and teased for his English accent, Billy left and found work in a department store…. He served in the Canadian army as a bugler during World War 1 and after the war returned to England – with just £5….

Billy invested £4 of his money into a stall on his uncle’s travelling fair…. One stall became several, some of which were at prime static locations…. He purchased some fairground equipment and started a travelling fair of his own…. By 1927 he had opened a static fairground in Skegness….he opened a similar one at Bognor Regis in 1932….

It was on a visit to Barry Island that Billy experienced the frustration of many a family holidaying in Britain at the time…. Staying in a boarding house he found himself being shooed out by his landlady between meals…. He felt sorry for the families who were on their holidays, locked out of their paid accommodation – in whatever weather – often with little to do….

Billy had already been considering the idea of providing accommodation to attract visitors to his fairground in Skegness…. Holiday camps were to a certain extent already founded – such as Warner’s – but it was Billy Butlin who was to take the concept and turn it into an iconic British culture….

After securing a plot of land Billy built his first camp at Ingoldmells, close to Skegness…. His idea was to provide a week’s holiday, with 3 meals a day and free entertainment in between…. A holiday would cost between 35 shillings and £3 per week, depending on the time of year…. He took out an advertisement in the Daily Express costing £500 (equating to over £30K in today’s terms) and on the 11th of April 1932 – Easter Eve – the camp was officially opened by aviator Amy Johnson – the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia….

He quickly realised the holiday makers were not interacting with one another quite the way he had intended – families were keeping themselves to themselves…. he asked Norman Bradford, an engineer who had been involved with the construction of the camp, to take on the duty of entertaining the guests…. Norman mingled with the holiday makers, chatting, telling jokes and creating a holiday atmosphere…. He was to become the first of Butlin’s Redcoats….and soon a whole team had been recruited….

Within a year the holiday camp had doubled in size – and two years later Billy built his second camp at Clacton-on-Sea…. Butlin’s holiday camps were on their way….

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On this day in history….10th April 1877

On this day in history : 10th April 1877 – 14-year-old Rossa Matilda Richter, using the stage name ‘Zazel’, performs the first human cannonball act in London….

Rossa was born into a family of acrobats in Lambeth, London in 1863….her parents having come to live in England from Dresden…. Her father was a well-known agent, supplying performers and animal acts to circuses and shows – whilst her mother was a dancer in a circus….

At the age of 4 or 5 Rossa started a career on the stage…. She took up ballet lessons and gymnastics and by the time she was 6 she was performing as a trapeze artist with the stage name ‘La Petite Lulu’….

When she was aged 12 Rossa joined an acrobat troupe that took her to Dublin, Marseilles and Toulouse…. It was whilst performing in Toulouse that she had an accident and subsequently returned home to London….

Rossa had come to the attention of Canadian daredevil William Leonard Hunt – ‘The Great Farini’….known for his death-defying stunts and particularly his high wire acts – such as his crossing of Niagara Falls…. It was he who conceived the idea for the human cannonball act…. In the beginning he used his stepson as the ‘cannonball’; the boy, dressed as a girl, wowed the crowds and the act became extremely popular…. Only after a serious accident that hospitalised the boy was his true identity revealed….

Farini needed a new ‘cannonball’….he had been hired by the Royal Aquarium in London to attract visitors…. Rossa’s father was very protective and swore that his daughter was not going to be used in one of Farini’s dangerous performances…. However, her mother had no such qualms and tricked Rossa’s father into signing an agreement with Farini – saying the contract was with someone else and that Rossa would just be singing and dancing….

Performing as ‘Zazel, the Beautiful Human Cannonball’ Rossa became an overnight success….thousands flocked to see her…. In the words of the Mackay Mercury “hurled from the jaws of death into the arms of fame”….and from the ‘jaws of death’ indeed it must have seemed…. The cannon operated using rubber springs, accompanied by a gunpowder explosion for effect only….the contraption was extremely temperamental and Rossa would have had no way of controlling her flight or landing…. A great deal depended on luck that she landed in the net….

So popular was her act that often she would perform in front of 20,000 spectators and sometimes twice a day…. Even the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII attended her performance twice…. Wearing a skimpy costume she cut a fine figure and souvenir photographs sold well…. Rossa was soon earning £200 a week – a considerable amount of money at the time…. So successful was the show the Aquarium extended its run….

Rossa went on to perform across Europe, adding more awe-inspiring acts such as high dives…. Eventually she went on to join Barnum’s Circus and ended up marrying its manager George Oscar Starr….

Although she suffered accidents nothing was as catastrophic as to harm her career….but all that was to change whilst performing in New Mexico…. Rossa was balancing on a high wire situated 40ft above the ground – when she fell…. She landed on her hands and knees – and broke her back….

Rossa spent several months in a body cast….she did recover – but was not to perform again….

British Library – Public domain

Public domain

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On this day in history….9th April 1483

On this day in history : 9th April 1483 – A young Edward V accedes to the throne upon the death of his father, King Edward IV…. Edward and his brother mysteriously disappear whilst housed at the Tower of London….

It was on Monday the 14th of April 1483 at Ludlow that the 12-year-old Edward learned of his father’s sudden death five days before…. King Edward IV had in his Will nominated his brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, to serve as Protector of the Realm during his son’s minority….

Edward had been living at Ludlow Castle as the Prince of Wales – a role he was assisted in by his uncle, Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers…. The Earl accompanied the boy to London to take the throne; however, the Duke of Gloucester had the Earl and other members of his party arrested and subsequently executed…. The Duke now had control of the young king and also that of his younger brother, Richard, the Duke of York….

Edward V as Prince of Wales – From Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers, Lambeth Palace – Public domain

The Tower of London at the time was a royal residence as well as a prison – and it was here that Edward was brought to live whilst awaiting his coronation…. He was soon to be joined by his brother….

Edward’s reign came to an abrupt end just a few weeks later, on June the 26th…. His uncle, the Duke, claimed that Edward IV’s marriage to Queen Elizabeth (Woodville) was invalid and so their children were illegitimate…. His claim was accepted and Gloucester was proclaimed King Richard III….

King Edward V and the Duke of York in the Tower of London by Paul Delaroche – Public domain

It was not long after that the two young princes disappeared from the Tower of London; there are no recorded sightings of them after the summer of 1483…. Many historians believe that Richard III had them murdered – but the finger of blame has also been pointed at Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, or even at Richard III’s successor, Henry VII….

In 1674 some workmen at the Tower dug up a wooden box buried 10ft under the staircase leading to the chapel of the White Tower…. The box revealed two small skeletons; the remains were interred in Westminster Abbey and are believed to belong to the ‘Princes in the Tower’….

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On this day in history….8th April 1968

On this day in history : 8th April 1968 – BOAC flight 712 bound for Sydney catches fire shortly after takeoff from Heathrow…. Air stewardess Barbara Jane Harrison is awarded a posthumous George Cross for her bravery….

22-year-old Jane (as she preferred to be called) from Bradford, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, had joined BOAC in May 1966…. She was at the time living in Kensington, London, sharing a flat with other BOAC flight attendants…. She had volunteered for the long haul flight to Sydney, which was to travel via Zurich, Tel Aviv, Tehran, Bombay (now Mumbai), Singapore and Perth….as she had been invited to a wedding in Sydney. It is also thought that she was possibly hoping to meet up with a pilot she had met a few months previously, who flew with Qantas….

BOAC flight 712 took off from Heathrow mid afternoon with 116 passengers and 11 crew on board; almost immediately after takeoff the No.2 engine of the Boeing caught light…. Officials on the ground watched in horror as the wing was engulfed in flames and then to add to the terror the engine fell from the aircraft….a fierce fire raged where the engine had been positioned….

The aircraft in flight over Thorpe, with the detached engine (circled) – Fair use

The plane made an emergency landing back at Heathrow – a perfect landing and quickly came to a halt….but by now the fire had intensified….

Jane’s duty was to help the steward at the back of the aircraft to open the rear door and inflate the emergency escape chute – and then to assist passengers at the back of the plane to leave in an orderly manner…. Only the chute twisted and the steward had to climb down to straighten it before it could be used…. Jane was left to attend to the passengers alone….

Approximately six made it down the chute before it disintegrated in the heat and flames…. Jane encouraged the remaining passengers to jump – even pushing some…. All the while flames and explosions were all around her….

It seems she was making preparations to jump herself – but at the last moment she turned back into the burning aircraft…. She was not to be seen alive again….

Jane had gone back to try and help a disabled passenger, an Israeli woman, Esther Cohen – their bodies were found close together…. Along with them perished a young Australian teacher, Catherine Shearer, a widow named Mary Smith and an 8-year-old girl, Jacqueline Cooper, who was emigrating to Australia with her family….

In August 1969 Jane was awarded the George Cross; she is the only woman to have received it during peace time – and the youngest woman ever to be a recipient of it…. The award was collected by her father….

Jane is buried at Fulford Cemetery near York….