In 1916, at the Garrick Theatre in

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...

, England, eight child performers were killed by a fire during a fund-raising concert. One of the group's costumes caught light when they were leaving the stage.

Theatre

The theatre was built in 1882 and renamed in 1909 after

David Garrick David Garrick (19 February 1717 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Sa ...

, the actor and theatrical manager, who was born in

in 1717.

Concert

In 1916, during World War I, a fund-raising concert was held "for the benefit of the Herefords and Shropshires" (two local county regiments, the former being the Herefordshire Light Infantry, the latter the King's Shropshire Light Infantry) at the Garrick Theatre,

. One of the turns was provided by more than forty local school-children, wearing

snow maiden Snegurochka (diminutive) or Snegurka ( rus, Снегу́рочка (diminutive), Снегу́рка, p=sʲnʲɪˈgurətɕkə, snʲɪˈgurkə), or The Snow Maiden, is a character in Russian fairy tales. This character has no apparent roots in ...

and

Eskimo Eskimo () is an exonym used to refer to two closely related Indigenous peoples: the Inuit (including the Alaska Native Iñupiat, the Greenlandic Inuit, and the Canadian Inuit) and the Yupik peoples, Yupik (or Siberian Yupik, Yuit) of eastern Si ...

costumes made in part from

cotton wool Cotton wool consists of silky fibers taken from cotton plants in their raw state. Impurities, such as seeds, are removed and the cotton is then bleached using hydrogen peroxide or sodium hypochlorite and sterilized. It is also a refined product ( ...

, even though its use was prohibited in theatres, due to the risk of fire. As a group of 13 children were leaving the stage, one of their costumes caught fire: within moments, all 13 were alight. By the end of the night, despite rescue efforts by members of the cast and audience, six children had died. Two more died subsequently from their burns.

Inquest

The subsequent inquest heard conflicting claims. Faith Mailes, the concert organiser, whose daughter died, said that she had seen a smoker, backstage, discard a match. Theatre staff and others present denied that anyone had been smoking. Verdicts of accidental death were returned.

Funerals and legacy

A joint funeral for five of the victims was held at

Hereford Cathedral Hereford Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Hereford in Hereford, England. A place of worship has existed on the site of the present building since the 8th century or earlier. The present building was begun in 1079. S ...

. The public stood "ten deep" in parts of nearby Broad Street as the funeral corteges passed. Soldiers served as pall-bearers. The girls were buried at Hereford Cemetery, but the precise location of their graves is lost. Plaque at Hereford Cathedral

At a meeting held in

Hereford Town Hall Hereford Town Hall is a municipal building in St Owen's Street, Hereford, Herefordshire, England. The building is a Grade II* listed building. History The original town hall was an ornate timber building in the Tudor style which had been compl ...

in September 1916, it was decided to raise £500 with which to endow a memorial cot on the Children's Ward of Herefordshire General Hospital (since demolished). That target was exceeded, and the cot was unveiled there, together with a memorial plaque, in April 1917. The theatre was rebuilt later in 1916, but subsequently demolished. Another plaque, mentioning the fire, marks its former location, on Widemarsh Street. Local residents campaigned for a "lasting memorial" near the site. This campaign inspired Hereford Cathedral and architect Robert Kilgour to commission a

memorial plaque A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...

, cast in lead. The commission was accepted by Carey Lead Ltd. and installation was carried out on 15 March 2018. The plaque is on permanent display below the SAS memorial window in the cathedral's Lady Arbour Cloister.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 52, 3.5340, N, 2, 42.9744, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Hereford 1916 in England Theatre fires Theatres in Hereford United Kingdom home front during World War I 1916 disasters in the United Kingdom Building and structure fires in England 20th century in Herefordshire 1910s fires in the United Kingdom 1916 fires