Most historians are aware of the Great Fire that occurred in Ottery St Mary in Devon on May 25, 1866. But very few people are aware of the tragedy that happened several months later as a direct result of the fire.
The following is a summary of the newspaper report of the fire from the Exeter and Plymouth Gazette dated Friday June 1, 1866. Source - Harris, J. Ottery St Mary 1866 Devon Family Historian [Magazine], No. 69, Feb. 1994, pp. 36-39. [Account of a disastrous fire that destroyed a quarter of the town, with many names listed.]
The fire started about noon and the raged through the homes and shops of about a quarter of the town, reducing everything to ashes. The fire started on Jesu street where the charity schools formerly stood. At first some people beleived that the fire had been started by children playing with matches, but subsequent investigation has now proved this to be incorrect.
It now appears that the fire was started by a woman burning rubbish and papers in her cottage fireplace on Thursday. The fire smoldered and eventually burned through the wall to the school next door. It was eventually discovered at the top of the staircase in the schoolroom, near the cottage chimney around noon on Friday. It then spread very rapidly. Within hours one hundred houses had been destroyed, and 500 people rendered homeless - 10% of the population. A great part of the town extending westwards from the school to the silk factory in Mill Street was reduced to a heap of smouldering ruins.
The miracle was that "while several people had their faces scorched and their eyes injured, and it is a subject of surprise that noone was [more] seriously hurt."
Surnames of Owners of Houses and Shops Destroyed
BURROW
CHANNON
DAVEY
ELLIOTT
GODFREY
GUNNINGHAM
HUXTABLE
HARDING
MINIFIE
NORMAN
NORRINGTON
PIDSLEY
PRIDDIS
ROWE
SANDFORD
SEARLE
SHEPHERD
SHORELAND
WICKER
Names and Numbers of Poor Families who lost their Homes and Possessions
Ashford 1
Baker 2
Basten 4
Batstone 1
Bending 3
Bond 1
Bovett 2
Bower 1
Brown 1
Bucknell 1
Butterworth 1
Cann 1
Channon 3
Chapman 1
Chard 1
Churchill 1
Coombes 1
Cross 1
Darke 1
Davey 1
Daw 1
Dening 2
Elliott 1
Eveleigh 3
French 2
Gigg 1
Gilpin 2
Gooding 1
Gunningham 1
Hallett 2
Ham 1
Hammett 1
Harding 1
Hayman 1
Hill 1
Jennings 1
Knight 1
Knowles 1
Lathrope 2
Luxton 1
Matthews 1
Meldon 1
Murley 1
Payne 1
Perry 1
Phillips 1
Pike 1
Pine 1
Pocock 1
Rossiter 1
Rounsevell 1
Salter 1
Skinner 2
Smith 1
Stoodley 1
Stone 1
Sutherley 1
Temple 2
Watts 1
Webber 1
Whitcombe 1
Windover 1
One of the places that was damaged in the Great Fire was a shop in Tiphill street. On the evening of Sunday 2nd September 1866 a crowd gathered in the ruins of this shop to listen to a Plymouth Brethren preacher named Eliza Harker. She was preaching about Judgement day, little knowing that it would occurr within an hour. Part of the ruins surrounding the shop consisted of a brick wall some 10 feet high and 6 feet long, and a chimney stack about 15 feet in height. Sometime after 7.30 pm that evening, the chimney collapsed, and fell down onto the crowd bringing the ten foot high brick wall down with it. The crowd standing against the wall did not have time to escape. The scene was of the most heart rendering description.The road was covered with the debris among which lay the mangled bodies of those on whom it had fallen...... Amongst those who perished was Emma Rowe age 16 daughter of a Thatcher. 8 people died and 12 were seriously injured.
Source Long Ago in Ottery by Roy Packer
Published by E.R.D. Publications Ltd; Exmouth
"A story of a small town in East Devon called Ottery St Mary"
Above is a photo of Ottery St Mary after the fire was finally out. Below is a list of deaths from Honiton as published on the freeBMD for the September Quarter of 1866. Obviously not all these people died in this tragedy, but most of them would have.
Deaths Sep 1866
Surname/Forename/Age/Location/Volume/Page
Bishop Ann 52 Honiton 5b 22
Board Alice 5 Honiton 5b 22
Cox William 60 Honiton 5b 22
Davis Elizabeth 17 Honiton 5b 22
Gillam John 7 Honiton 5b 22
Hake Emma 13 Honiton 5b 22
Kellow Elizabeth 17 Honiton 5b 22
Lang James 23 Honiton 5b 22
Lang Jane 20 Honiton 5b 22
Row Emma 16 Honiton 5b 22
You're probably wondering why I mention this fire and how this is connected to my family Tree. There is a highlighted sentence above that mentions a name - Emma Rowe - who died aged 16. How is Emma connected to me? According to my genealogy database - she is my first cousin three times removed. Her Father George Rowe was a Thatcher. Her mother was Emma Burrow - daughter of John and Amy Burrow and sister of Isaac Burrow - my great great grandfather.