Group    From 1865 

London Fire Brigade

Categories: Emergency Services

The London Fire Engine Establishment, formed in 1833 under the leadership of James Braidwood, was a private organisation funded by insurance companies, mainly aimed at saving material goods from fires. In 1865, following the Tooley Street fire and others, the publicly-funded and managed Metropolitan Fire Brigade was created, under the control of the Metropolitan Board of Works, later the LCC. In 1904 it was renamed as the London Fire Brigade.

From 1833 the first headquarters were at 68 Watling Street (see Beyond the Flames for some details and a photo), in the City of London. In 1878 moved into an old workhouse on Southwark Bridge Road, extended in 1883. 1937 moved into its Lambeth HQ. In 2007 it moved from there to 169 Union Street, Southwark, practically adjacent to its previous Southwark home.

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
London Fire Brigade

Commemorated ati

Dudgeon's Wharf explosion - red plaque

Unveiled on the 50th anniversary of the fire.

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Eyre Massey Shaw

Sir Eyre Massey Shaw, 1830 - 1908, first chief officer of the Metropolitan Fi...

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Fire Brigade HQ - Southwark

This stone relief was located above the main entrance to the former headquart...

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Great fire of Tooley Street

2021: This plaque has been replaced with a similar plaque, re-branded to prom...

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James Braidwood

What a great plaque. The inscription is inside a laurel wreath, in front of a...

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Show all 9

This section lists the memorials created by the subject on this page:
London Fire Brigade

Creations i

Dudgeon's Wharf explosion - oblong plaque

The unveiling of this plaque was reported in the East London Advertiser of 24...

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Sidney Street siege and fire

Our colleague Alan Patient decoded JEECS into ‘Jewish East End Celebration So...

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Stephen Maynard - steel plaque

Plaque erected on the 30th anniversary.

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Other Subjects

P. G. Bettison

P. G. Bettison

District Officer in the St John Ambulance Brigade, No. 1 (Prince of Wales's) District, 1926-1947. Serving Brother in the Order of St John.

Person, Emergency Services, Medicine, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
District Officer Charles Edward Pearson

District Officer Charles Edward Pearson

Died at the Siege of Sidney Street.  Andrew Behan has researched this man: District Officer Charles Edward Pearson was born on 2 August 1869 in Shadwell, a son of Henry Grove Pearson and Sarah Pea...

Person, Emergency Services, Tragedy

1 memorial
Auxiliary Firewoman Joan Fanny Mary Bliss Bartlett

Auxiliary Firewoman Joan Fanny Mary Bliss Bartlett

Firewoman with the Auxiliary Fire Service. Killed during an air-raid at Cubitt Town School which was being used as an emergency depot. She was aged 18. Joan Fanny Mary Bliss Bartlett was born on 2...

Person, Emergency Services

War dead non-military, WW2
2 memorials
W. Rea Edwards, OBE, ACA

W. Rea Edwards, OBE, ACA

William Rea Edwards was Superintendent Secretary in the St John Ambulance Brigade, Metropolitan Corps, 1892-1900. Knight Grace in the Order of St John. Inver Museum has a photo of a Rea-Edwards mo...

Person, Emergency Services, Medicine, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
T. E. Walsby

T. E. Walsby

District Staff Officer in the St John Ambulance Brigade, No. 1 District, 1915-1948. Officer in the Order of St John.

Person, Emergency Services, Medicine, Politics & Administration

1 memorial