Level Crossing Tragedy

Saturday 3rd January 1885 and blacksmith Francis Clay, aged 62, left home for work at 6:30am. He walked with a stick and was decidedly deaf, both undoubtedly factors in what was to follow. This day, as many other days, he was touring the local farms for work to help support his wife Emma and their seven children, ranging from a babe in arms to a 17-year-old. One hour after least seeing her husband she received the news he was dead. He had been hit by a train at Hademore Crossing. The signalman gave evidence at the enquiry on Wednesday 7th saying he was to another signalman at 7am that morning, when the 6:20 from Stafford to Rugby passed at about 45mph. They heard a thump and went to investigate. Evidence was also given by a policeman. Together these witnesses painted a most gruesome picture.

The body appears to have been thrown against the crossing gates, the gate post taking most of the impact. They also found his toolbox, coming to rest some 60 yards down the line. The gates were locked, the wicket gate unlockable, although people would often cross after the gates were locked. Despite the dark mornings there was plenty of light to see by. His body was found on one side of the gate, flesh removed from one hand, his clothes thrown up over his face. The post was covered in blood and brains. When they uncovered the face they discovered part of the head was missing, this they found on the other side of the gate on the turnpike road. Before the inquest on the Wednesday, his wife had been allowed to wash all the blood from the post and around the scene. Such was the force of the body hitting the post, it had broken. It was common to cross on foot when gates were closed, usually under supervision from the signalmen(!), no whistle was noted but, once again(!), this was not unusual.

Railway Accident

1881 – Tuesday 11th October 1881 and young Stephen Freemen, aged 11, of Frog Lane at 8:45am went to Lichfield City Station to get ‘a penn’orth of coal’. He crossed the line and passengers on the platform called out to him, warning him of a shunting engine moving trucks but he insisted on passing between the trucks. These were about a yard apart. He became trapped between the buffers, only damage visible being a graze the size of a crown piece on his left hip and while in obvious discomfort was quite lucid and conscious. He died at 3:30am the following morning of a ‘contusion’.

The coroner questioned if it was common for shunting trains to be dancing about here while passenger trains are leaving. When told it was usual but not common, he advised that such should be avoided as far as possible. Verdict: Accidental Death.

Panama Place Names Explained

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time I cast my net a little wider. As English place names share some links to other tongues it would be interesting to see if any of the elements contributing to our place names could be found elsewhere. Continuing an alphabetical tour of the world and a look at the largest Panama's cities.

Panama City gave its name to the country and, as explained in detail in my post Countries of the Americas, means 'many butterflies' or 'abundance of fish'.

David is named after the biblical King David.

La Chorrera has always been thought to refer to the large number of waterfalls, although the name does not mean waterfall and does not translate at all.

Santiago de Veraguas has a Spanish prefix, meaning Saint James, and the name of the province, itself from an indigenous language where Veracua or Viragua was probably a proper name, although there are many (unproven) theories.

Penonome comes from peno Nome, where Nome was the local chieftain put to death by Spanish conquistadores when he dared to resist their rule. Peno Nome literally means 'Nome was punished'. Legend speaks of his love for a local woman named Zarati. However, the tribe didn't approve of their love and told him she had drowned. He is said to have thrown himself into the same river and perished, thus giving names to the Zarati River and a slightly different meaning for the place name of 'Nome mourned'.

Puerto Armuelles was named to honour Colonel Tomas Armuelles, a hero of the Coto War between Panama and Costa Rica and fought over a period of thirteen days in February and March 1921. Port Armuelles was named shortly after his death in a train accident on 18 March 1921, it had previously been known as Rabo de Puerco or 'pigtail'.

Chitre takes its name from the local tribe, the Chitra.

Almirante is the Spanish word for 'admiral'.

Last Tablas takes its name, according to folklore, from planks of wood salvaged from a Spanish ship which ran aground after fleeing from the pirate Sir Henry Morgan. The only evidence to support this is the literal translation of las tablas as 'the boards'.

Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.

Bad Career Move

December 1864 and at the Glascote coalmine in Tamworth tragedy strikes. A former policeman, now working in the mine, is killed when a single lump of coal fell 450 feet and hit the poor man so hard it resulted in his death.

Train Crash

August 8th 1861 and near the canal bridge at Slade Heath the driver of a locomotive shut off steam as they approached Four Ashes. As they slowed the driver felt his engine riding roughly and thought they had broken an axle. Moments later the engine and tender left the track and came down the embankment, bringing with it tons of earth which buried stoker Richard Barnwell to the waist. Luckily the engine, which toppled over on to its right side, missed him by inches. Furthermore, another miraculous stroke of luck saw driver James Harrison thrown clear of the footplate and the remainder of the train, the coaches and passengers, remained on the line.

The driver went to retrieve the lamp and sent two men, including coroner Mr Collins, ahead to stop the mail train from Scotland at the station and prevent a crash. Meanwhile he and men from Standeford Mill, who had come to offer assistance, set about releasing the trapped stoker and convey him quickly to the infirmary. His injuries were severe and both legs had to be amputated, he had been scalded, with bruising and lacerations. Three weeks later, while seemingly on the road to recovery, he died.

At the subsequent inquest the coroner heard how two large pieces of timber, over twelve feet in length and three feet wide, showed wheel marks and splintering and revealed they were the cause of the crash. Evidence from the railway company told how this timber had been part of a load coming from Wolverhampton earlier that afternoon. As usual, they had been tied to the truck with an empty truck behind to catch any which worked loose.

The coroner suggested such practice was completely inadequate and an urgent review necessary.

Dog Problem

It is May 1861 and in the town of Stafford a large dog, the property of a Mr Bostock, leaps out and grabs at the nose of a passing horse crossing the railway bridge in Rickerscote Lane. Unfortunately the horse is pulling a trap driven by Mr Price of Gaol Square, he having hired the vehicle from a Mr Bishop. Worse still, Mr Price had his wife's sister and her child as passengers.

The horse, somewhat understandably, plunged and reared for some thirty yards before it finally managed to free itself from the jaws of the offending canine. It continued on, still kicking and thrashing violently, resulting in the occupants of the trap being thrown out. While the woman and her child escaped with a few bruises, Mr Price landed on his head.

The next report on the incident spoke of how Mr Price was still in hospital and had yet to speak adding that the horse was probably going to be shot. Nothing could be traced regarding any prosecution of Mr Bostock or of the fate of his mutt.

Eli Meakin

Back almost 150 years to the day, waggoner's boy Eli Meakin was working on Mr Meakin's farm at Whitgreave. It was normal for him, as on this day, to work the threshing machine pulled by two horses. Whilst turning the horses, it was necessary to step over a horizontal shaft. No witnesses saw what happened next is unknown, he either slipped or perhaps his clothes became entangled in the machine, for it was not until someone noticed the horses were stationary did anyone investigate. Young Eli was found trapped between the cog wheels. Others helped to free him quickly but the injuries to his chest were severe and the boy died shortly afterwards.

A verdict of accidental death was recorded at the inquest. However, the coroner issued a notice saying the wheels were unprotected and dangerous for any driver, while the rods were at such an angle as to make them liable to cause injury. He insisted Mr Meakin made the machine safe before anyone would be allowed to operate the thresher again. The farmer agreed and nobody blamed for the incident.

Stand Back from the Platform Edge

April 13th 1857, and nearby the clock shows 6pm. Returning to the station yard, and his job in managing the engine shed, is 42-year-old William McCabe. Having gone home a couple of hours earlier for his tea at his home in Newton, he walked coming along the siding before encountering a shunting engine and thus crossing the up line to the engine shed on the opposite side.

Some twenty years earlier McCabe had lost his leg in an accident when it was crushed by a wagon on the Manchester to Liverpool line. Because of this he wore a wooden leg and no longer worked on the engines but employed in the 'stationary job' in the engine shed. Whether it was the shunter that distracted him, or perhaps the difficulty negotiating the lines with a wooden leg, likely both, but he did not take notice of the warning whistle and shout from Thomas Pattison, the driver of the shunting engine warning of the engine approaching him from behind on the main line. Seconds later he was dead.

Coming along the up line in reverse, tender first, the locomotive travelling at 6mph was but 10 or 12 yards away from McCabe when the shout went up. Hit by the buffer he fell, with his head across the rail. The wheels pushed him along for a short distance before severing his head completely. The first person to reach the body was the driver from another nearby shunter - this man was none other than William McCabe's eldest son.

The body was quickly removed to the Vine Inn, Newton where the inquest was held the next day. A verdict of accidental death was recorded. William McCabe left a widow and six children.

Don't Pull the Communication Cord

July 1st 1907 and at 2pm the London and North West Railway's express from Liverpool stops at Tamworth after someone had pulled the communication cord. When the guard investigated he found it had been pulled by Mrs Higham, none other than the wife of the MP for Sowerby in Yorkshire. She claimed her son of 3.1/2 had fallen from the train. Quickly all stations and signalmen on the line between Tamworth and Stafford were alerted and all traffic stopped as the search began.

By 4:30pm news filtered through that the child had been found near Hademore Crossing and was being treated by a district nurse at the cottage of a Mrs Smith near Whittington Bridge. In Tamworth the stationmaster, a Mr Matthews, stopped the down train and accompanied Mrs Higham as she went to check on her son. They arrived at the same time as Dr Homan who reported the child to have been badly hurt but would live. He had been discovered by a platelayer ganger working on the line. Noticing movement at the side of the line he investigated and found the young boy. He had carried the child to the cottage after sending his colleague for the district nurse whom he had seen cycling past just moments earlier.

How the door came open on a train travelling at 60mph was never explained, although he was a large child for his age and perhaps he had done something to contribute to the accident. Indeed, his bulk will have helped protect him as an examination of the trackside revealed he had collided with and broken a number of large stones as he bounced along for some 40 yards before coming to rest alongside the line used by traffic in the opposite direction. Although conscious he had not attempted to move which was fortunate indeed as the down express had passed him two minutes after he came to rest here. The driver of the down train had seen the body of the child but surmised he must have hit the mother, hence stopping at Lichfield to raise the alert.

Later that evening Mr Higham MP arrived from London Euston. He made a statement in the House the following day, thanking all those who had had a hand in the rescue and informing them his son was "progressing nicely".

Perhaps the oddest part of this potentially tragic tale came in the form of the newspaper headline, for the Lichfield Mercury led with the odd choice of EXCITEMENT ON THE TRAIN LINE NEAR LICHFIELD.

No Cure for a Headache

So everyone has opened advent calendars, at least thought about Christmas shopping, cards, presents or decorations, and a general feeling of joy begins to grow. Well let's put a stop to all that and turn thoughts back to 1900 and 2nd February.

Councillor George Green, meat contractor of Boston House, Walsall Road, Lichfield. His body was found at 7am on Thursday, the top of his head completely blown away, body lying on his carbine, and the bullet stuck in a window frame behind him. He was still wearing his dressing gown (reported the local press).

Aged 39 he left a widow and five children. He had given weekly gifts of meat to the families of reservists sent to the front. He had large outlets at Lichfield and London and shops at most towns in the Midlands. He was quartermaster of the Lichfield Troop of the Staffordshire Yeomanry, popular with comrades and citizens alike. In November elected to represent the south ward of Lichfield. Two years previously he and Mrs Green had been out driving a trap when the horse took fright and both were seriously injured when the trap crashed into the window of the George Hotel. He never fully recovered from his injuries and had been unwell for a time prior to his death. His rejection on medical grounds must have disappointed him when he volunteered for duty in South Africa.

Inquest the following week reported how he rose at 6:48am, telling his wife he was due to meet Mr Johnson to discuss accounts and bring her a cup of tea. She never saw him alive again. Top of his head removed from the bridge of his nose. Both halves of his brain lying on the floor. Accident had seen him suffer a fractured skull. He suffered from indigestion, fatigue and would constantly overwork to the point of exhaustion. Rejected as he had a weak heart and could not tolerate heat. He is buried at Christ Church, Lichfield.

The relief of Ladysmith came the same day as the inquest.

Health and Safety

On Tuesday 23rd November 1858, Eli Meakin had been working on his father's farm at Whitgreave. Employed as a waggoner's boy, whilst driving the horses he is thought to have stepped over the horizontal shaft between them and the threshing machine. His action caused him to slip and he fell between the cog wheels. Subsequently found by a passer-by who, seeing the horses stopped and unsupervised, investigated and found the lad held quite firmly. The man released him but his chest injuries were appalling and he died shortly afterwards. Eli Meakin was just twelve years of age.

At the subsequent inquest the threshing machine was deemed to be dangerous for any driver, for the rods were secured in an improper position and the wheels unprotected. The owner of the farm promised the equipment would not be used again until the improvements had been made. Too late for young Eli whose demise was recorded as Accidental Death.

It seems unlikely the same verdict would be reached today. Further stories like this can be found in my Bloody British Histories: Stafford.