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The Gillingham Fair Disaster (Patreon)
Content
The inquest into this disaster was unable to determine what had caused the house to burn before it was scheduled to… but they weren’t totally without evidence. The testimony of 16-year-old dock worker Jack Richards sheds some light on what might have happened.
Jack testified that he entered the house before the demonstration, but quickly decided to leave as he didn't want to ruin his clothes. Before he went, he spotted fireman Francis Cokayne setting light to some wood shavings on the ground floor.
This sounds suspicious... but it was actually part of the show. Cokayne's job was to light small fires on each floor using wood shavings and paraffin to create some smoke and flickering light, giving the impression that the building was aflame. Once everyone was evacuated safely, he would then set the "real" fire, using a massive barrel of paraffin and wood shavings on the ground floor.
All the same, Jack was worried, and asked Cokayne if the shavings he’d lit might flare up. He was told they wouldn’t, but decided to get out of the house all the same… a decision that ended up saving his life.
Jack’s testimony wasn’t considered solid enough to pin the disaster on Francis Cokayne, but it’s certainly something to think about!
