The Day Parliament Burned Down

by Caroline Shenton

In the early evening of 16 October 1834, to the horror of bystanders, a huge ball of fire exploded through the roof of the Houses of Parliament, creating a blaze so enormous that it could be seen by the King and Queen at Windsor, and from stagecoaches on top of the South Downs. In front of hundreds of thousands of witnesses the great conflagration destroyed Parliament's glorious old buildings and their contents. No one who witnessed the disaster would ever forget it.

The events of that October day in 1834 were as shocking and significant to contemporaries as the death of Princess Diana was to us at the end of the 20th century - yet today this national catastrophe is a forgotten disaster, not least because Barry and Pugin's monumental new Palace of Westminster has obliterated all memory of its 800 year-old predecessor. Rumours as to the fire's cause were rife. Was it arson, terrorism, the work of foreign operatives, a kitchen accident, careless builders, or even divine judgement on politicians?

In this, the first full-length book on the subject, Parliamentary Archivist Caroline Shenton unfolds the gripping story of the fire over the course of that fateful day and night. In the process, she paints a skillful portrait of the political and social context of the time, including details of the slums of Westminster and the frenzied expansion of the West End; the plight of the London Irish; child labour, sinecures and corruption in high places; fire-fighting techniques and floating engines; the Great Reform Act and the new Poor Law; Captain Swing and arson at York Minster; the parlous state of public buildings and records in the Georgian period; and above all the symbolism which many contemporaries saw in the spectacular fall of a national icon.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, London

366 pages, Paperback

First published June 13, 2012

About the author

Caroline is Director of the Parliamentary Archives in London, and author of The Day Parliament Burned Down (OUP, 2012).

Reviews

[Gerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

'The Day Parliament Burned Down' covers just a two-day period, 16 and 17 October 1834, but in doing so it records the loss of 800 year-old buildings, including that which had become known as the Houses of Parliament, that had long been an important centre for the nation's policy making.

Ironically, there were those who thought that the Palace of Westminster, to give it, with all its associated outbuildings, its generic name, was outdated and needed replacing. Indeed, MP WIlliam Cobbett, commented 'Why are we squeezed into so small a space that it is absolutely impossible that there should be calm and regular discussion, even from the circumstance alone? Why do we live in this hubbub? Why are we exposed to all these inconveniences? Why are 658 of us crammed into a space that allows each of us no more than a foot and a half square while at the same time, each of the servants of the King, whom we pay, has a palace to live in, and more unoccupied space in that palace than the little hold into which we are crammed to make the laws by which great kingdom is governed?'

And MP John Wilson Croker commented, '... the accommodations about the House are notoriously imperfect, very crazy as buildings, and extremely incommodious in their local distribution ... They are not well disposed for the transaction of business, they are not symmetrical with the House of Lords, they are not symmetrical with Westminster Hall; there is no proper access for the Members...'.

These comments, and many more, led the radical MP Joseph Hume to form a committee in September 1831 that considered what could be done to improve matters. The initial official answer was 'nothing', even though three well-known architects of the day, Benjamin Wyatt, Sir Jeffry Wyatville and Robert Smirke, offered sound advice on how to improve the situation. Then in March 1833, after Hume had commented that Members were 'wedged in, almost like herrings in a barrel', he formed another committee that was to look afresh at what could be done and at the same time further examine and take forward the recommendations of the 1831 report.

The new proposals received strong opposition and with it being a time of economic crisis (so what's new?) with savings being sought from all government departments and with the Whig Chancellor of the Exchequer Lord Althorp stating that he did not think there was anything particularly unwholesome about sitting in the Chamber, nothing looked like happening once more. So Hume moved two resolutions on 2 July 1833: 'First, that the present House of Commons did not afford adequate accommodation ... Secondly, that an humble address be presented to His Majesty, praying that his [sic] Majesty would be graciously pleased to direct a new House of Commons to be erected ...'. Needless to say with what opposition he had previously encountered, Hume's proposals were defeated by 154 votes to 70 and the plans were shelved once again.

So that was the background to the disastrous night of 16 October 1834. During that day tally burning was taking place, tallies being pieces of wood scored across with notches for the items of an account and then split into halves, each party to a transaction keeping one. A large stock of old tallies had built up so it was decided to burn many of the older ones in the furnace below the House. And, despite a worker by the name of John Jukes and assistant housekeeper Jane Wright, the latter living inside the Palace, expressing concern about the heat, and occasionally smoke, that was seeping through the floor of the Commons, the tally burning continued into the evening and nobody acted on the couple's warnings.

It was Mrs Wright who gave the alarm as night fell; spotting the flames, she screamed out, 'Oh, good God! The House of Lords is on fire!' And that put into action the chain of events that followed as firefighters from all over London tried to arrest the blaze with a variety of equipment, some of which was on the water and was said to have been 'emptying the Thames'.

Firemen, soldiers, civil servants and members of the public all worked tirelessly to put out the fire and to save what artefacts and public records that they could. It took all their efforts to stop the fire reaching Westminster Hall and it was almost two days before they finally put out the blaze. All the while the public were gathering in great numbers to witness what was happening and artists, most notably Turner and Constable, were present to later record their memories of the conflagration.

Ironically, also watching was Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin who was said to have been 'delighted' and he apparently gleefully declared, '[T]here is nothing much to regret and a great deal to rejoice in. A vast quantity of Soane's mixtures and Wyatt's heresies have been effectually confined to oblivion. Oh it was a glorious sight to see his composition mullions and cement pinnacles and battlements flying and cracking while his 2.6 turrets were smoking like so many manufacturing chimneys until the heat shivered them into a thousand pieces - the old walls stood triumphantly amidst this scene of ruin while brick walls and frames, sashes slate roofs etc fell faster than a pack of cards.' Pugin was later to be heavily involved in the design of a new Palace of Westminster on the site!

The events of that October day in 1834 were shocking yet today this national catastrophe is practically a forgotten disaster, mainly because Barry and Pugin's monumental new Palace of Westminster has obliterated all memory its predecessor. But in this revealing and meticulously researched book, Parliamentary Archivist Caroline Shenton tells the gripping story of the fire over the course of that fateful day and night. She adds to it plenty of historical background, as well as painting a striking portrait of the political and social events of the times and it all makes for a riveting, almost un-put-downable, read.

[Damaskcat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating and fantastically detailed hour by hour and minute by minute account of when the Houses of Parliament burned down on the night of October 16/17 1834. It is an almost forgotten event now partly because of the glorious building designed by Pugin which replaced it. If anything the book is almost too detailed and I found myself quite bogged down in it at times. The book is well written and meticulously researched.

The author involves the reader in the lives of the ordinary people employed to keep the Palace of Westminster running and shows how a chain of small events led to the bigger one of the historic conflagration.

There is a useful list of Dramatis Personae at the end of the book together with copious notes on the text and an index. The book is illustrated with black and white photographs and maps. The hardback edition of the book is well produced by Oxford University Press.

[David Bisset · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredibly detailed history of the conflagration. It covers the fire itself, but also deals with political and architectural history. The present Palace of Westminster is a masterpiece, but much, of course, did not survive. Now Parliament is to be restored at enormous expense.

[Éowyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now somewhere in the back of my mind I did know that the current Houses of Parliament weren't quite the same thing as the ancient Palace of Westminster, I just really didn't know what happened and when. Caroline Shenton's first book gives us a blow by blow account of that October day in 1834 when fire managed to take hold of the building and reduce much of it to ashes.

I admit that I actually found it more interesting than I had expected. It's quite unusual have have a whole book on a single, short event (the sinking of the Titanic would be one example I have seen) where events are laid out hour by hour. The quote on the cover from Mary Beard says that it is "Micro-history at its absolute best" and I have to agree. I'm only surprised that such a major event - the burning of both houses of Parliament and the destruction of many public records - isn't more well known!

Shenton has obviously done her homework and uncovered a wealth of detail about the events and the people involved. It's a story of what happened to a majorly important building, but it's also the story of the people involved, some of them very ordinary - right down to Chance, the mascot dog of the London firemen!

[Martin Mostek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well researched and very well written history of fatefull day in autum 1834 when most of Houses of Parliament in London burned down. Lively account of series of neglect and omission which led to devasting fire and chaotic yet determined effort to fight fire and rescue public records and others treasures. Author also provides much of interesing context of both buildig history of Palaces of Westminster and defining political struggles of that time i.e. passing of Great Reform Act. Recommended read for all interested in Englad, her history, parliamentarism, birth of modern era and even begining of modern firefighting forces.

[!Tæmbuŝu]

KOBOBOOKS

Reviewed by The Guardian (5 Oct 2012)

[Stuart]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12500915

[David G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent historical work on the history of the fire. Wonderfully interesting side stories of the Great Reform Act, the history of the London Fire Brigade, social commentary on the time, and origins of the House of Commons. Highly recommended to any with a serious interest in any of these topics.