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.

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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 10

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

Leslie John Palmer

Leslie John Palmer

Fireman killed as a result of an air raid on Plaistow Road, E15 on 19 March 1941. Fireman Leslie John Palmer was born on 3 January 1910 in Penge, Kent, the 4th son of George Walter Palmer (b. 1869...

Person, Emergency Services

War dead non-military, WW2
2 memorials
Auxiliary Fireman Christopher Edward Seymour Hartwell

Auxiliary Fireman Christopher Edward Seymour Hartwell

Auxiliary fireman from Banstead killed in an air raid on Poplar. Christopher Edward Seymour Hartwell was born on 21 July 1898 in Chapel Brampton, Northamptonshire, the son of Elizabeth Annie Hartw...

Person, Armed Forces, Emergency Services

War dead non-military, WW2
1 memorial
Ronald Charles Wiggins

Ronald Charles Wiggins

The memorial does not give Wiggins a title (as it does for all the other names) and we are at a loss with "Southwark T/C".  But we think Wiggins was a firefighter who died as a result of a fire.

Person, Emergency Services, Tragedy

1 memorial
Chaplain 4th Class, The Reverend Cyril Bernard Wilson Buck, M.C., B.A.

Chaplain 4th Class, The Reverend Cyril Bernard Wilson Buck, M.C., B.A.

Cyril Bernard Wilson Buck was born on 1 June 1880 in West Ham, Essex (now Greater London), the youngest of the ten children of William Richard Buck (1837-1927) and Alice Emmeline Buck née Wilson (1...

Person, Armed Forces, Emergency Services, Religion, France

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Sgt Robert Bentley

Sgt Robert Bentley

Aged 36, was shot dead after entering the house in Cutler Street where robbers were trying to break into the jewellers behind.

Person, Emergency Services, Tragedy

1 memorial