3-008-364 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Memorial-stone to the late Mr. Braidwood, 1862. 'The tribute to the memory of the late Mr. Braidwood, Superintendent of the London Fire Brigade, raised by the M division of police, is an effectively-carved monument of Portland stone, designed and executed by Mr. S. H. Gardiner, of the New Kent-road. A wreath of laurel stands out in bold relief, round which entwines a fire-hose, encircling the inscription. At the foot of the wreath, forming the base of the memorial, are carved a fireman's accoutrements, consisting of a helmet, a hose-point, hatchet, crowbar, Ac. On the plinth some lines are inscribed. In the background, on the left, is a house on fire, the spreading flames and volumes of rolling smoke from the roof completing the upper part of the memorial. In the right background is an engine. The height of the stone is 4ft, 4in,, and the breadth 3ft. 2in. It will be placed against a wall, supported by iron brackets, in such a position as to mark the spot where Mr. Braidwood was buried in the ruins'. The Tooley Street fire started in Cotton's Wharf on 22 June 1861. The fire lasted for two weeks, and caused £2 million worth of damage. James Braidwood, superintendent of the London Fire Engine Establishment, was killed in the line of duty. From "Illustrated London News", 1862.