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

Mervyn Peake

Mervyn Peake

Artist and writer. Mervyn Laurence Peake was born on 9 July 1911 in Kuling, Dehua, Fujian, China, the younger child of Ernest Cromwell Peake (1874-1950) and Amanda Elizabeth Ann Peake née Powell (...

Person, Art, Emergency Services, Literature, Seriously Famous, Channel Islands, China/Hong Kong

1 memorial
Victor Ralph Farley Chipperfield

Victor Ralph Farley Chipperfield

Co-partner or employee of the South Suburban Gas Company. Served but did not die in WW1. Victor Ralph Farley Chipperfield was born on 21 August 1897, a son of Henry William Chipperfield (b. circa ...

Person, Armed Forces, Emergency Services

War served, WW1
1 memorial
Yvonne Green

Yvonne Green

Born in Canada and married to a Canadian army officer. Living at 34 Old Church Street. A part-time Auxiliary Fire Service driver. One of five fire-watchers killed as the night bombs fell on Chelsea...

Person, Emergency Services, Canada

War dead non-military, WW2
2 memorials
Lt.-Col. Francis A. Brooks, MD, MRCS

Lt.-Col. Francis A. Brooks, MD, MRCS

Inspecting Officer on staff of Chief Commissioner in the St John Ambulance Brigade, No. 1 District Metropolitan Corps, 1899-1935. Knight Grace in the Order of St John. The Museum of the Order of S...

Person, Armed Forces, Emergency Services, Medicine, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Ernest John Purdy

Ernest John Purdy

Member of the ARP/Civil Defence Services - stretcher bearer. Andrew Behan has kindly provided this research: Ernest John Purdy was born on 24 May 1913 in Poplar, a twin with his sister, May Floren...

Person, Emergency Services

War dead non-military, WW2
1 memorial

Previously viewed

Mrs Knott's Dame School

Mrs Knott's Dame School

School in Bromley, attended by the young H.G. Wells. Dame Schools were an early form of private elementary school, often found in areas of poverty. They were usually run by women and were often loc...

Place, Education

1 memorial
St John's House

St John's House

From the National Archives : "St John House was founded in 1848 as a 'Training Institution for Nurses for Hospitals, Families and the Poor'. It was a religious community run by a Master, who was a ...

Group, Education, Medicine, Religion

1 memorial
Firewoman Yvonne Green

Firewoman Yvonne Green

SW3, Old Church Street, Roper’s Garden

On a plaque inside the church porch Yvonne Green is commemorated with the other, non-AFS, fire-watchers who died the same night. This bom...

Civilian war dead | WW2
3 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Grand Lodge of England

Grand Lodge of England

By 1717 the Masonic lodges were already clubs having no connection to stone-masonry. Four London lodges met at the Goose and Gridiron pub in St Paul's Churchyard and formed the first Grand Lodge, i...

Group, Community / Clubs, Philanthropy, Politics & Administration

2 memorials
Covent Garden Jubilee Market Hall

Covent Garden Jubilee Market Hall

The original Jubilee Market, to the left of this Jubilee Market Hall, was erected in 1904. 

Group, Commerce

1 memorial