Harry Pitts (27 June 1861 – 30 April 1897)

General Register Office General Register Office or General Registry Office (GRO) is the name given to the civil registry in the United Kingdom, many other Commonwealth nations and Ireland. The GRO is the government agency responsible for the recording of vital record ...

death indices
Harry Pitts Q2 1897 London City Vol 1c page 19
/ref> was the first person to be killed by a terrorist attack on the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

. Pitts died of injuries received from a bomb which exploded at Aldersgate Station (now Barbican) on 26 April 1897. The bomb was planted by

Russian anarchists Anarchism in Russia has its roots in the early mutual aid systems of the medieval republics and later in the popular resistance to the Tsarist autocracy and serfdom. Through the history of radicalism during the early 19th-century, anarchism de ...

in revenge for one of their members being given a seven-year prison sentence. At an inquest into Pitts death a verdict of "wilful murder against person or persons unknown" was recorded. Pitts was born in

Bradninch Bradninch is a small town and former manor in Devon, England, lying about south of Cullompton. Much of the surrounding farmland belongs to the Duchy of Cornwall. There is an electoral ward with the same name. At the 2011 Census the ward po ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

the son of a

millwright A millwright is a craftsperson or skilled tradesperson who installs, dismantles, maintains, repairs, reassembles, and moves machinery in factories, power plants, and construction sites. The term ''millwright'' (also known as ''industrial mecha ...

. He briefly spent some time in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

before settling in

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Waltham ...

, North

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. He was married and had two daughters.

References

1861 births 1897 deaths People from Tiverton, Devon History of the London Underground Deaths by improvised explosive device {{London-transport-stub