Details of the Accident
Place | River Dee Bridge, Chester (St. Mary-on-the-Hill), Cheshire, England |
Date | Monday 24th May 1847, p.m. |
Railway Company | Chester and Shrewsbury Railway/Chester and Holyhead Railway |
No. of Fatalities | 5 |
Cause of Accident | Collapse of bridge |
Description | The 6.15 p.m. Chester to Holyhead train was crossing a cast iron bridge when a span collapsed. The accident brought into question the safety of cast iron. |
Sources/Further Reading
- History of the Great Western Railway, Vol I 1833 - 1863 pp 178, E.T. MacDermott (revised by C.R. Clinker)
- Morning Chronicle, Wednesday 26 May 1847
- The Times, 27 May 1847 p5
- The Times, 29 May 1847 p8
List of Fatalities
The 5 fatalities are listed in the table below together with brief notes of any other information found so far.
The last column shows the General Register Office (England and Wales), Statutory Register (Scotland), General Register Northern Ireland or Civil Registration for Ireland reference where this has been identified.
Surname | First Names | Age | Occupation | Residence | Notes | GRO/SR/GRONI/GROIE Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ANDERSON | Thomas | Locomotive fireman | , | Died of injuries | 1847/Sep Gt Boughton 19 24 | |
JONES | Isaac | Tailor | Wrexham, DEN | Died of injuries | 1847/Jun Gt Boughton 19 54 | |
MATTHEWS | John | Coachman on the mail coaches from Chester to parts of Wales | Llangollen, DEN | 1847/Sep Gt Boughton 19 24 | ||
NEVITT | Charles | Mail coach driver | Wrexham, DEN | 1847/Sep Gt Boughton 19 24 | ||
ROBERTS | George | Railway guard | , | 1847/Jun Gt Boughton 19 53 |