that it is going to get very cold,
maybe not as cold for the River Thames to freeze over, as it has done from the 1300's at least 23 times, but it might be cold enough to skate on the lake in Regent’s Park in London, as many did on the 16th of January 1867, on that fateful day the greatest ice-skating tragedy in British history took place, in the Luton
Times & Advertiser, 19 January 1867, the following
is described:
at about a quarter-past four, when a large
number of persons were skating and sliding on the western side of the lake upon
an area of water probably of six acres, the ice suddenly, and without the least
warning, gave way and broke into thousands of pieces. From one to two hundred
persons were immersed,
above from the Illustrated
London News |
26 January 1867 this ‘dreadful skating accident at Regent’s Park,’ which saw
41 people lose their lives, from all walks of life, is best described by those
who experienced it themselves. One of the survivors was a Mr Dunton, of
Frederick Street, who narrates
his experiences in the Oxford
Chronicle & Reading Gazette, 26 January 1867. He was on the lake with
his two children, when ‘without a second’s warning the ice seemed to glide from
under us, leaving us in water quite five feet deep.’ He goes on to describe the harrowing experience in the
following terms:
'Such a sight I hope never to see again. Quite
150 persons were struggling for life. Heads and arms were to be seen all around
amongst the broken masses of ice. Two yards from me a little boy was drowning…I
stood in this position for nearly half an hour, sinking down in the mud deeper
every minute, until the water reached my chin. I held my children as high as
possible above water until I felt my legs being cramped with the cold. I said
to the eldest, ‘Is there any help coming, Fred? Wave my walking-stick, for I am
sinking down in the mud.’ Presently the boy said, ‘Father, a man is swimming to
us, and we shall be saved.’ On looking round I saw a brave young fellow
plunging through the ice towards me',
above from the Penny
Illustrated Paper |
26 January 1867 the Glasgow
Evening Post observes:
every grade of society was represented by the mourners for the lost ones.
Ladies of station were sorrowfully looking after sons who had not returned last
night to the homes they had left yesterday morning full of life…Poor Irish
women who earn an honest penny by the sale of oranges were ‘keening’ at the
gate, and wildly calling upon the name of the husband who brought his hot
chestnuts yesterday among the skaters at the park, and ventured his life and
lost it in selling them, The list of victims,
printed in the Waterford Mirror & Tramore
Visitor, shows the varying classes of people on the lake that
day. Listed as among the deceased is H Woodhouse Esquire, of Tavistock Square,
and an officer, Lieutenant R Edwin Scott. Alongside them were many working men,
just trying to earn a living from the skaters at the park.
One of the dead was James Griffin, aged 29, of Drury Lane,
who was selling oranges to the skaters. He was in the midst of the melee when
the ice broke, and lost his life. Meanwhile, John Bryan was selling roast
chestnuts when the ice broke up. His portable stove was later surfaced with his
body, so if it gets cold enough to freeze Regent’s Park this year, or any other for that matter take care if you go on the ice!
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