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 C. Plant

William C. Plant

Fireman killed as a result of an air raid on Old Palace School, Bow, E3 on 20 April 1941. Our colleague Andrew Behan has kindly researched this man: Auxiliary Fireman William Charles Plant was bor...

Person, Emergency Services

War dead non-military, WW2
1 memorial
Mrs E. McCaffrey

Mrs E. McCaffrey

Lady District Officer in the St John Ambulance Brigade, No. 1 District, 1918-1942. Serving Sister in the Order of St John.

Person, Emergency Services, Medicine, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Fireman Edward George Pepper
War dead non-military, WW2
1 memorial
Mary Bridget Cooke

Mary Bridget Cooke

Member of the ARP/Civil Defence Services - nurse. Andrew Behan has kindly provided this research: Mary Bridget Cooke was born about 1904. She was a spinster living at 45 Parnell Road, Bow. She was...

Person, Emergency Services

War dead non-military, WW2
1 memorial
Charles Albert Goodwyn

Charles Albert Goodwyn

Charles Albert Goodwyn was born on 26 February 1906 in Southwark, one of the nine children of Frederick William Goodwyn (b.1870) and Elizabeth Goodwyn née Harris (1870-1945). In the 1911 census he...

Person, Emergency Services

War dead non-military, WW2
1 memorial