3-074-974 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Fire at Forest Gate, Stratford, the District School of the Whitechapel and Poplar Unions: view of the building, 1890. 'New Year's Day at the East-End of London was saddened by a terrible disaster, appealing to all compassionate hearts. In the last night of the year, soon after midnight, one of the wings...was discovered to be on fire. Means were promptly taken to extinguish the flames, but two of the boys' dormitories were destroyed, and twenty-six of the unfortunate children perished...The school, with its infirmary and other offices, is a set of buildings in Forest-lane...It is maintained by the Guardians of the Poor of the Whitechapel and the Poplar Unions...It has accommodation for 720 children...Miss Bloomfield, the wardrobe-woman, was the first to discover the fire, which began in the needle-room. Two female servants upstairs escaped with difficulty by the windows, one climbing down a waterspout, the other jumping and breaking her ankle. The children who perished were all little boys, from seven to ten or twelve years of age. Fifty-eight were rescued alive, and not much hurt. The funeral of the children, in the West Ham Cemetery, on Jan. 6, was attended by the Board of Management of the School, and by a large concourse of people'. From "Illustrated London News", 1890.