Fire service historian and author
Roger Mardon
www.romar.org.uk
© Copyright Roger Mardon
www.romar.org.uk
All rights reserved
The invention of the force pump is attributed to Ctesibius of Alexandria in the 3rd century BC.
The first steam fire pump was built by Braithwaite and Ericsson of London in 1829.
The first self-
Daimler of Germany built the first petrol-
Merryweather of London built the first self-
Turntable ladders seem to have originated in 1800 but Edinburgh Fire Brigade probably built the first in Britain 90 years later.
Simonis introduced the powered ladder to Britain when it supplied a horse-
The first turntable ladder to use a petrol-
Insurance pioneer, Nicholas Barbon, started the first private fire brigade in 1680.
In Edinburgh 12 firemasters, each to have 6 assistants, were appointed by the City Council in 1703.
In 1707 churchwardens in London were required by Parliament to keep an engine and a leather pipe.
Lombard House offered the first contents fire insurance and by 1707 employed porters to help remove goods from affected premises, thus creating the forerunner of the salvage corps.
Beverley established the first municipal fire brigade in 1726 when the council appointed men to manage the fire engine and turn out with it to fires. It is widely believed that Tetbury followed in 1745 and Grantham in 1764. Whilst the purchase of equipment was more common, there was no great rush to nominate and pay men to operate and maintain it.
Between 1791 and 1805 the Royal Exchange, Phoenix and Sun insurance companies jointly operated The Fire Watch, a patrol of London’s streets which ceased when the Phoenix was no longer prepared to see these three companies alone meet the cost.
After three big fires in 1824, the Edinburgh Fire Engine Establishment was set up as a jointly funded venture by six insurance companies and the City. James Braidwood was appointed as Master of the Fire Engines.
In 1832 the London Fire Engine Establishment was created by the amalgamation of insurance brigades. By this time Braidwood had made his mark and was appointed as Superintendent. The new force became operational on 1 January 1833. Braidwood was killed at a fire in Tooley Street in 1861.
Fire brigades were rooted in the insurance companies and their primary concern was
the saving of property to keep the level of claims down. The saving of life was a
secondary concern. In response to public disquiet over the loss of life, the Fire
Escape Society was formed in London in 1828 and six wheeled escapes were strategically
placed in streets to be ‘run’ by conductors to the fire with the object of effecting
any necessary rescues. The Society was funded by private donation and failed to secure
enough support, being absorbed by the newly-
The Metropolitan Fire Brigade was established in 1866 and funded by the ratepayers of London. The following year it took over responsibility for the Royal Society’s escapes, by which time the number of escape stations had reached 85. The Royal Society then concentrated its efforts in the provinces but discontinued its rescue activities in 1881, by when these were seen as a local authority responsibility.
The Metropolitan Fire Brigade was renamed London Fire Brigade in 1904, five years after the London County Council had succeeded the Metropolitan Board of Works.
Until 1938 the provision of fire brigades by local authorities was, in the main, discretionary. Compulsory provision was supplemented by the creation of the Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) in anticipation of war.
The local authority fire brigades and AFS were responsible for fire-
The service was returned to local authority control in 1948. There were then 135 brigades in England & Wales, 11 in Scotland, and 4 in Northern Ireland. There are now 61 brigades serving the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
Previous
Next
