More deaths at Dyer and Robsons

 A couple of weeks ago I did an article about a 19^th century explosion in a Greenwich fireworks factory on the site where Tunnel Avenue is now. I also talked about the work of Government explosives inspector. Vivian Majaenie.

 

I’ve found loads and loads of reports of explosions in local factories - some are really horrific with many casualties  but usually the information about them is available because of the detailed research done by Majendie and his team –which was then reported in the press..

 

In 1887  there was another accident at the Robson and Dyern firework factory.  As I said in the earlier article they had a house and offices on the site which is now the chip shop in Woolwich Road and there was a footpath which went back into the works and consisted of lots of little wooden  huts with tarred roofs spaced out in a field.  Inside the hut  was a wooden floor covered with oil cloth with the portion near the door covered with a thin sheet lead and a work bench which ran round the interior of the building.  

 

One of the regulations was that explosives had to be handled in small buildings with only one or two people working in each. These workers were required to wear special woolen clothing. and were forbidden to have any pockets.

 

The ‘fireworks’ they made were not just for fun.  A major part of their work was making the distress flares which every ship needed to carry.

 

On 11^th June 1887  Catherine Allman was at work in one of the isolated huts at Robson’s. With her were an older woman, Mary Masters, and also Anne Lake and Elizabeth Millman, the forewoman.    Most of these women lived locally in a small community in Blackwall Lane –many of whom were Irish immigrants. Catherine was a lodger with the Mahoney family whose daughter, Mary, had died in an explosion at the works five years previously.

 

Mrs. Millman had already made an explosive preparation for green star Roman candles in another shed. She had brought it in to be dampened with methylated spirits and made into stars in copper moulds. These candles were used as signals on the South Western Railway Steamers from Southampton and the chemicals used were an unusual mixture.  Mary Masters was filling ‘lights’ with layers of different coloured ‘composition’.   Anne Lake was filling small paper cones with ‘red fire composition’. Catherine Allman was pressing bright stars for ‘Very Signal Cartridges’ to be used as part of a large order for the Jubilee Naval Review.  

 

The explosion, when it came, was ‘like the firing of a pistol’.

 

It took a great deal of detective work on the part of the Government Inspectorate to work out exactly what had happened. First they examined the shed in which the work had been carried out. It was not structurally damaged but the windows were broken and the tar had melted from the roof.  Inside everything was scorched.  They then visited the women in hospital and asked where the explosion had come from. They carefully noted down what each said and then tried to plot the right spot in the shed. They also compared the burns, which the women had suffered and worked out where each of them had been.

 

It was concluded that the problem was Mrs Millman’s green stars.  It was a very hot day and experiments in the laboratory at Woolwich were able to prove that some of the ingredients might have become unstable when warmed. In addition it was probable that she was working ‘briskly’ – unconsciously jolting the explosive.  It was shown that Mrs. Millman, a very skilled workwoman and highly praised by everybody, could not possibly have known this and no blame could be attributed to her. 

 

Catherine Allman and Mrs. Millman although badly burnt were protected by their special clothing and lived. Five years earlier Michael Mahoney had had to identify his daughter’s body but this time he was spared. Both women were well enough to give evidence at the inquest into the deaths of the other two, Anne Lake and M ary Masters.  Once again the cause of death was ‘exhaustion following burns’.

 

Majendie’s annual reports to the government on explosives and explosions list every conceivable related incident in the British Isles. His reports are models of clarity and common sense. Six years later he referred to the accident at East Greenwich in his report on an explosion at the huge Brock factory in South Norwood.  Brock’s was an old established fireworks business originating in the 17^th century and which  lasted until recently when it was finally sold to a Chinese company and the British works closed down. They had works on several sites and the South Norwood one had been set up to provide displays at Crystal Palace.

 

In this accident George Nurse was doing work ‘not considered dangerous’.  He was shifting ‘stars’ from one box to another when something caused them to ignite. The only cause for the explosion seemed to be the sun's rays, which were ‘pouring in at the door’.   Mr. Brock talked about the advice he had receivcd from the Government Inspectors in the Royal Arsenal.  Majendie and his team ‘were very stringent’ but were quite unable to account for the cause of the explosion.

 

Captain  I. Thompson, was an inspector under the Explosives Act, who worked under Colonel Majendie. He had thoroughly examined the scene of the accident and as far as he and Colonel Majendie could see, everything was satisfactory. Some experiments had been carried out, to determine whether it was likely that the explosion was caused when emptying crimson stars from one box to another. He reported that every chlorate mixture containing sulphur was liable to spontaneous ignition – including the amber, purple, and green stars.  Thus with a high temperature, the spontaneous combustion and ignition took place in the box containing the stars.  ‘They had been there since the occasion of the Royal Wedding, during which period the weather had been hotter than at any time since the Jubilee year’.

 

Majendie lived at 23 Victoria Way and I have yet to find out where that building was - it must have been one of the large houses to the south of Wellington Gardens. Thanks to Pauline at Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust  who has found that when he died he was living at a house called Springfield with the address of Charlton Road . It was on the corner with Charlton Church Lane where the Springfield flats now are –obviously named after the house. There was great difficulty in building there because of the steep slope and the spring.

 

Majendie’s unusual name came from his background  of a Hugonaught family  – the great grandson of the original immigrant.  He was knighted in 1895 following a career which included acts of great personal bravery. Ian has told me about how he has met explosives experts and members of bomb disposal units in his research at the Royal Arsenal and how Majendie is very much remembered and h0w much of his work still relevant today.

Why don’t we put a plaque up to him??