The Sun.
London, England, 1851-08-06 00:00:00

GREAT FIRE IN FINSBURY.

Last night, between the hours of eight and nine
o'clock, a fire that destroyed a great deal of valuable
property, and which at midnight was far from being
entirely extinguished, broke out on the premises
belonging to Messrs. James, Wild, and Co., extensive
upholsterers, cabinetnelsers, and feather merchants,
situate in Worship-street and the Curtain•road,
Shoreditch. The property in question was of vast
extent, and formed six houses in the last-named
thoroughfare, whilst another turned the angle into
Worship-street, and the whole stretched backwards
between 200 and 300 feet into Gillard's-fields. The
premises were divided into sundry warehouses for
depositing the various articles in the trade according
to their respective classifications. Those compart-
ments at the rear were termed the mattress and flock
depots ; the whole of the buildings on the ground-
floor were used as show-rooms, and contained a
most costly stock of furniture, cabinets, &c. The
upper floors of the corner house in Worship-
street were occupied as the feather stores, whilst the
one adjoining, in the Curtain-road, was set apart as
the ironmongery and bright steel departments. The
other warehouses contained the usual stocks of beds,
mattresses, &c. Owing to the highly inflammable
character of the goods in the various warehouses, it
Soon became apparent to the inhabitants that unless
the fire could be immediately checked a fearful con-
flagration would ensue. Consequently every endea-
vdouurrinwgatshe cutmmtaideetlosotin off the. information
extensionofthete fir
flamees
senng to h
stations. Unfortunately,th however, and in a space of
time incredibly brief, huge sheets of flame could be
seen rolling from
windows of the !warehouses in
Gillard's-fields, which o
teatniretoauiusl.yro:tcit, haendwhole
of
frunicated almost simul-
taneously
under the direction
of
with the premises upper warehouses in the
Worship-street. T fire-escapes
belonginga to the Royal Society,ddeley, quickly arrived, and as no one
could at that time be seen,
con-
nected Mr. B
it was feared that a great loss of life had ensued, and
many of the spectators would not be convinced to the con-
trary until the conductors of the escapes had entered
B ra
every room not on fire, when they found out from
Brigade,
and parish attended with all possible expe-
tTh
he
egeeungeirnael contentssuftheLondon
that no oneig lived the premises.
Company,
dition, when the firemen found the flames ascending
some dozen feet above the surrounding houses • they
therefore directed the water from the different
engines in such directions as to cut off the further
spread of the fearful element. During that time a
number of persons were engaged in removing the
furniture, &c., from the show-rooms on the ground
floor. During the progress of the conflagration a
waggon filled with beds or mattresses was drawn
out from the gateway, but the contents were blazing
most furiously, and it was not until a great part of
the freight was destroyed that the fire could be extin-
guished. The firemen, under the direction of their
superior officers, laboured without the least intermis-
sion until past midnight, when they succeeded in get-
ting the mastery to some extent over the fire, hut it
was then far from being extinguished, although no
danger existed of any further extension. The damage
done, the foreman of the premises informed our re-
porter, would amount to some thousands of pounds, to
say nothing of the injury to the premises. The whole
of the extensive premises at the rear are gutted, and
the entire length of buildings in front as far as the
ground floors burnt. How the fire originated is a
mystery. The men had left off work, and the pre-
mises had not been closed more than 20 minuteswhen
the unwelcome discovery was made. it is to be re-
gretted that the firm was only partially insured.
LI