Trouble Brewing

Tuesday 9th January 1906 and brewer’s labourer James Cannon is at the Lichfield Brewery Co. Ltd. At 12:30 he is wearing heavy clogs as he slipped while adding hops to the contents of the copper boiler. Witness emptied the first can and was taking it away when he heard a splash. He turned to discover just Cannon's right hand hanging on to the side and immediately pulled him out. He walked to the office, badly scalded, where they stripped him and oiled the scalds. Dr Welchman arrived and ordered him to the Victoria Nursing Home, where James Cannon died three days later.

Lichfield's First Motorcycle Accident

Sunday 12th June 1904, the date of the first ever motorcycle accident in Lichfield. Between 3 and 4pm a Mr Savage, and electrical engineer from Burton-upon-Trent, was travelling along Pipe Hill when a dog ran out in front of him. He was thrown from his bike with what was described as ‘considerable force’. Injuries included an arm broken in two places, and fractures of the knee and skull. He was taken to the Victoria Nursing Home where he was treated by Dr Fraser and had been sent home on the Wednesday. The newspaper also reported the dog had died, its neck broken.