Description:The Ledsam Street dynamite conspiracy made national news. Alfred Whitehead was arrested at 128 Ledsam Street on April 5, 1883, on the charge of manufacturing nitroglycerine, or dynamite. Whitehead was one of the Irish-American or American-Irish party of the Land Leaguers or Home Rulers. Well supplied with funds from New York, Whitehead quietly arranged his little manufactory, buying glycerine from one firm and nitric and sulphuric acids from others, certain members of the conspiracy coming from London to take away the stuff when it was completely mixed. The deliveries of the ingredients attracted the attention of Mr. Gilbert Pritchard, whose chemical knowledge led him to guess what they were required for; he informed his friend, Sergeant Price, of his suspicions; Price and his superior officers made nightly visits to Ledsam Street, getting into the premises, and taking samples for examination; on the morning of 5th April Whitehead was arrested, though not before he had been watched in sending off two lots of the dangerously explosive stuff to London.
No less than 200lbs weight of explosives were still on the premises. The men who carried it to London were caught with the dynamite in their possession, and, along with Whitehead, brought to trial, each of them were sentenced to penal servitude for life. The distribution of rewards in connection with the "dynamite outrages," so far as Birmingham people were concerned, was somewhat on a similar scale to that described by the old sailor, when he said "prize-money" was distributed through a ladder, all passing through going to the officers, while any sticking to the wood was divided among the men. Mr. Farndale, the Chief of Police, was granted an addition to his salary of £100 per year; Inspector Black was promoted to the rank of Superintendent, adding £50 a year to his salary, and was presented with £100 from Government; Sergeant Price, became Inspector, with a rise of £41 12s. a year, and received a bonus of £200; Inspector Rees' salary was raised to two guineas a week, with a gift, of £50: while Mr. Pritchard, to whom belonged the conspicuous service of having given the information which led the police to act, was rewarded (!) with £50, having lost his situation through his services to the public.
These illustrations are from the Illustrated London News. Top left image is of 128 Ledsam Street. Top right (2) is Detective Sergeant Richard Price. Below that (3) is the scullery where the dynamite was made. Left of that (4) is the kitchen with the police "discovering" the packaged dynamite. Below that (5) is a detail of one of the carboy containers - each containing 170lb of nitro-glycerine. Bottom right (6) is a vat in the cellar containing explosive liquid.
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