Description:On 29th September 1888, a Saturday morning to be precise, tragedy struck at the heart of Ladywood.
For many years the Midland Flour Mill had stood at the far end of St. Vincent Street. It was conveniently situated next to the canal and with a railway siding connected to the Stour Valley line.
The mill, under the ownership of Messrs Watson, Todd & Co. was an impressive structure, including a five story block, with circular chimney stack and capacious enclosed yard. Equally impressive was the power source, comprising four powerful Cornish boilers from 25ft. to 30ft. each in length and about 8ft. in diameter, which occupied a strong vaulted subterranean chamber in the yard.
On the Saturday in question the mill was in full work, and three wagons laden with flour had just passed over the vaulted chamber. With no warning at all the massive floor of the yard suddenly opened with a deafening report, and dense volumes of steam and fragments of ironwork and masonry shot high up into the air as from the crater of a volcano. As the fragments fell back to earth the yard was buried under the debris.
As soon as the steam cleared a hunt began for casualties – and it was soon apparent that 4 men from the workforce of about 25 were dead or dying.
They were David Middleton, engineman; Charles Jones, boiler cleaner; Thomas Wheeler, slack-wheeler; and Jacob Whitehouse, clerk.
An inquest was opened on the following Tuesday to allow the victims the dignity of an early funeral. The inquest was continued and concluded two weeks later.
It transpired that just one of the four boilers had exploded. That boiler had been well cared for and examined by the company’s insurers internally and externally at least once a year. The remains of the boiler were re-examined for the inquest and although there were no signs of overheating or undue wear and tear, it became apparent that the boiler had failed where a crack ran alongside one of the seams. This crack had most likely existed since the boiler was manufactured but due to it’s location had escaped all subsequent examinations.
The jury had no choice but to return a verdict of accidental death on the four men.
And thus ended one of the saddest episodes in Ladywood’s proud industrial tradition.
Article contributed by Mark Barrett