Group    From 1865 

London Fire Brigade

Categories: Emergency Services

The London Fire Engine Establishment, formed in 1833 under the leadership of James Braidwood, was a private organisation funded by insurance companies, mainly aimed at saving material goods from fires. In 1865, following the Tooley Street fire and others, the publicly-funded and managed Metropolitan Fire Brigade was created, under the control of the Metropolitan Board of Works, later the LCC. In 1904 it was renamed as the London Fire Brigade.

From 1833 the first headquarters were at 68 Watling Street (see Beyond the Flames for some details and a photo), in the City of London. In 1878 moved into an old workhouse on Southwark Bridge Road, extended in 1883. 1937 moved into its Lambeth HQ. In 2007 it moved from there to 169 Union Street, Southwark, practically adjacent to its previous Southwark home.

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
London Fire Brigade

Commemorated ati

Dudgeon's Wharf explosion - red plaque

Unveiled on the 50th anniversary of the fire.

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Eyre Massey Shaw

Sir Eyre Massey Shaw, 1830 - 1908, first chief officer of the Metropolitan Fi...

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Fire Brigade HQ - Southwark

This stone relief was located above the main entrance to the former headquart...

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Great fire of Tooley Street

2021: This plaque has been replaced with a similar plaque, re-branded to prom...

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James Braidwood

What a great plaque. The inscription is inside a laurel wreath, in front of a...

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Show all 9

This section lists the memorials created by the subject on this page:
London Fire Brigade

Creations i

Dudgeon's Wharf explosion - oblong plaque

The unveiling of this plaque was reported in the East London Advertiser of 24...

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Sidney Street siege and fire

Our colleague Alan Patient decoded JEECS into ‘Jewish East End Celebration So...

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Stephen Maynard - steel plaque

Plaque erected on the 30th anniversary.

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Other Subjects

Temporary Leading Fireman Stephen Thomas Maynard

Temporary Leading Fireman Stephen Thomas Maynard

Temporary Leading Fireman of Poplar Fire Station who died, aged 26 years, fighting a fire aboard the petroleum gas tanker the M. V. Rudi M, at Limehouse Basin on 25 January 1980. 50 firemen had bee...

Person, Emergency Services, Tragedy

2 memorials
David Arthur Morton-Holmes

David Arthur Morton-Holmes

Member of the ARP/Civil Defence Services - stretcher bearer. Andrew Behan has kindly provided this research: David Arthur Morton-Holmes was born on 17 September 1909 in Belvedere, Kent, the second...

Person, Emergency Services

War dead non-military, WW2
1 memorial
Auxiliary Firemen Victor Bruce Wratten

Auxiliary Firemen Victor Bruce Wratten

From the Sub Fire Station 6W, Cheyne Place. Died in a fire which took the lives of seven firemen, known as "The Wednesday".

Person, Emergency Services

War dead non-military, WW2
1 memorial
PC Patrick Dunne

PC Patrick Dunne

Police Constable Patrick Dunne was born on 2 April 1949 in Shoreham-on-Sea, Sussex, the son of Patrick Dunne (1915-1986) and Betty May Dunne née Wells (1926-2019), the first of their three sons. Hi...

Person, Education, Emergency Services, Tragedy

2 memorials
Percy C. Aitchison

Percy C. Aitchison

Auxiliary Fireman Percy Charles Aitchison was born on 2 February 1914 in Brockley, London, a son of Robert Imrie Aitchison (1876-1964) and Eugenie Louise Sarah Aitchison née Demolice (1874-1939). H...

Person, Emergency Services

War dead non-military, WW2
1 memorial