London Fire Brigade
{followed by a list of 104 names on 3 long marble plaques. See Subjects commemorated for the names.}
The 104 names on the marble plaques are of men who either lost their lives, or gave distinguished service to the London Fire Brigade, and were buried in the plot between 1884 and 1955. We can see no logic in the sequence in which they appear but we note that the distinguished Major is last. No other titles or ranks are given. Perhaps it's chronological.
Site: London Fire Brigade - Highgate Cemetery (31 memorials)
N6, Swain's Lane, Highgate Cemetery
The plot consists of 36 graves acquired by the London Fire Brigade Widows and Orphans Fund (founded in1882 by Massey Shaw, who, probably not unrelated, was buried nearby, 1908). A memorial to firemen was first erected here in the 1880s. This decayed and was replaced in 1934 with this one. It's possible that the three marble plaques were retained from the original memorial.
We have seen a poor photocopy of a photo of the original memorial. It was a free-standing monument (rather than the wall we have today) and was topped with a large cross.
The 39 names on the individual plaques around the low border wall are of firemen who died in service between 1949 and 2004 but are buried elsewhere. The earlier plaques are closer to the memorial wall, either on the left or the right; the later plaques are nearer the entrance to the memorial. One of the plaques is either missing (stolen?), or unused, waiting for one last fire disaster. We've labelled the individual plaques as either R(ight) or L(eft) with a number starting from the memorial wall.
We have taken the date given on the individual plaques as the date of death but it may be the date of the fire which is not always the same thing.
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