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

William Charles Miles

William Charles Miles

Member of the ARP/Civil Defence Services - stretcher bearer. Andrew Behan has kindly provided this research: William Charles Miles was born in 1899 and in 1937 he married Ellen Sheila Scallan (190...

Person, Emergency Services

War dead non-military, WW2
1 memorial
Horace William Field

Horace William Field

Member of the ARP/Civil Defence Services - stretcher bearer. Andrew Behan has kindly provided this research: Horace William Field was born 13 March 1890 in Limehouse, the 3rd of the seven children...

Person, Emergency Services

War dead non-military, WW2
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
Col. Cyril W. Bowdler Bowdler, CB

Col. Cyril W. Bowdler Bowdler, CB

Chief Commissioner in the St John Ambulance Brigade, No. 1 District Metropolitan Corps, 1895-1911. Knight Justice in the Order of St John. In 2012 Roger Bowdler posted this at Genealogy: "My gt-gr...

Person, Armed Forces, Emergency Services, Medicine, Music / songs, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Fireman 3rd Class Herbert White

Fireman 3rd Class Herbert White

Died in a fire at Lots Road SW. Our colleague, Andrew Behan, was able to find very little about this man apart from the fact that when his death was registered in the 4th quarter of 1904 in the Ke...

Person, Emergency Services, Tragedy

1 memorial