On 16 June, 1883, Victoria Hall, Sunderland was visited by a Mr Fay who would entertain between 1500 and 2000 of the town's children with conjuring tricks, ventriloquism, puppetry and various illusions. One of his tricks involved large amounts of smoke, and several children were sick as a result. However, having promised a present for each and every child after the show, he was probably forgiven for this, temporarily at least.

At the end of the show, as Mr Fay and his assistants began throwing small treats to eagerly waiting children, those in the gallery, realising they were missing out, headed for the stairs.

As the children reached the bottom of the staircase they were faced with a narrow doorway which opened towards them¹. The pressure from behind made it impossible to open, and those at the top of the staircase, unaware of the worsening crush below, kept pushing forward to get to the freebies. By the time assistance arrived the bodies lay 20 deep.

183 children - 114 boys and 69 girls - mostly between the ages of seven and ten but some as young as three died, while a further 100 were seriously injured.

On hearing about the disaster, Queen Victoria wrote in a letter of condolence which was read out at some of the funeral services that followed, 'Suffer little children to come unto me, for of such is the Kingdom of God.'²

Though vandalised, moved, and for a long time forgotten, a memorial statue of a grieving mother holding her dead child has been restored, has been given a protective canopy and was put back in Mowbray Park, Sunderland.

The Victims³

Although only listing 181 of those who died, this list serves to illustrate how several families lost two, three and in the case of the Mills family of Ann Street, four children in this one disaster.

• Margaret G Adams, 10 years old, Parade
• Charles John Algren, 8 years old, Parade
• Michael Allan, 5 years old, North Bridge Street
• Margaret Cook Allan, 7 years old, North Bridge Street
• George F Anderson, 7 years old, Brougham Street
• Jane Athey, 9 years old, Wayman Street
• Ruth Athey, 11 years old, Wayman Street
• Thomas Bailey, 8 years old, East Street
• James Beale, 8 years old, Ford Street
• Isabella Bell, 7 years old, Norman Street
• James Bell, 6 years old, Pemberton Street
• William George Bell, 8 years old, Bridge Street
• Barbara Blakey, 10 years old, Page Street
• William Bland, 10 years old, Hedley Street
• Robert W Booth, 9 years old, St Lukes Terrace
• Newrick Briggs, 4 years old, Blandford Street
• William James Briggs, 9 years old, Blandford Street
• John William Brodie, 8 years old, Buxton Street
• Emily Browell, 9 years old, Gilsland Street
• Margaret Ellen Brown, 12 years old, D'Arcy Street
• Margaret Brown, 4 years old, Lisburne Terrace
• Dorothy B Buglass, 3 years old, Thornton Place
• Thomas Butler, 9 years old, Thompson Street
• Charles Henry Carr, 8 years old, Trinity Place
• Sarah Jane Chandler, 7 years old, Wilson Street
• Thomas H Chandler, 10 years old, Wilson Street
• Barker Ramsay Cogdon, 8 years old, Flag Lane
• Mary Jane Conlin, 10 years old, Burleigh Street
• George H Coulson, 8 years old, Watson Lane
• Andrew Coupland, 10 years old, Queen Street
• John Curry, 8 years old, Back Whitburn Street
• Alfred David Curtin, 5 years old, Clanney Street
• James Fred Curtin, 9 years old, Clanney Street
• John C Davison, 6 years old, High Street
• Martin H Davison, 8 years old, Tweed Street
• Rosanna Davison, 6 years old, Thomas Street
• Charles Dixon, 7 years old, Willow Pond Terrace
• John Edward Dixon, 7 years old, Howick Street
• Charles Foster Dodds, 6 years old, Victor Street
• Mary Downey, 7 years old, Back Sussex Street
• Charles Dring, 8 years old, Roker Avenue
• John Robert Dring, 11 years old, Dock Street East
• Elva Dumble, 7 years old, St Mark's Road
• Mary Ann Duncan, 11 years old, William Street
• Thomas H Dunn, 9 years old, Colliery Row
• Elizabeth Watt Elliott, 8 years old, Burleigh Street
• James Oliver Elliott, 10 years old, Burleigh Street
• Charles Evans, 9 years old, Thompson Street
• John George Evans, 11 years old, Thompson Street
• James Fairgreave, 10 years old, Brougham Street
• Peter Fairgreave, 7 years old, Brougham Street
• Kate Falley, 9 years old, Cornhill Road
• Cuthbert M Fenwick, 6 years old, High Street West
• John Fenwick, 7 years old, Wear Street
• Thomas W Fleming, 8 years old, Vine Street
• George Fox, 6½ years old, Gilsland Street N
• Robert Fox, 9½ years old, Gilsland Street N
• William Fox, 4 years old, Chester Terrace North
• John G Gibson, 11 years old, Tower Street
• John R Gillies, 5 years old, Dame Dorothy Street
• Fred W Graham, 11 years old, Bramwell Street
• Thomas Graham, 7 years old, New Grey Street
• John Thomas Greener, 7 years old, Eglinton Street
• Robert Henry Grey, 7 years old, Hawthorn Street
• Mary Ann Hall, 8 years old, Deptford Road
• Thomas Hall, 8 years old, Alexandra Terrace
• Eliza Halliman, 8 years old, Grey's Buildings
• Thomas Harrison, 9 years old, Abbs Street
• James Hayhurst, 7 years old, High Street West
• Cicely Henderson, 11½ years old, Hopper Street
• James Henderson, 10 years old, Hopper Street
• Joseph Henderson, 9 years old, Nicholson Street
• Margaret Henderson, Jane, 7 years old, Hopper Street
• Richard Henderson, 7 years old, Nicholson Street
• Robert P Hilton, 6 years old, Emma Street
• Eveline Hines, 6½ years old, Booth Street
• William Arthur Hines, 8 years old, Booth Street
• Robert Hall Hogg, 8 years old, Harrison Street East
• John Howard, 7 years old, Pemberton Street
• Thomas Edward Hughes, 5 years old, Swinbank Street
• Thomas Hughes, 7 years old, Clanney Street
• Laura V Hutchinson, 6 years old, Hendon Road
• Thomas Jefferson, 9 years old, Gosforth Street
• R Jewitt, 10 years old, Foyle Street
• William Johnson, 10 years old, Pickard Street
• William Kelty, 10 years old, Dock Street East
• William Kemp, 7 years old, Henry Street East
• A Edward Kirby, 10 years old, D'Arcy Terrace
• Elizabeth Kirton, 9 years old, Carr's Yard
• George W Knox, 9 years old, Brougham Street
• Johnson Lackenby, 4½ years old, Queen Street
• Charles H Lane, 10 years old, Clanney Street
• James W Lane, 6 years old, Clanney Street
• Isabella Lawrence, 7 years old, Addison Street
• John Lawrence, 5 years old, Addison Street
• Edward Liddle, 8 years old, Burlington Road
• William S Longstaff, 7 years old, Coatesworth Street
• Kate McCann, 8 years old, Silver Street
• John William McKeever, 5 years old, Society Lane
• Nellie Maconkie, 10 years old, Christopher Street
• Fred Maddison, 5 years old, Kingsley Street
• Sarah Maddison, 5 years old, Kingsley Street
• John Marley, 5 years old, Tees Street
• James Meek, 8 years old, Villiers Street
• Hannah I Milburn, 9 years old, Alderson Street
• Charles Miles, 9 years old, Catherine Street
• Emily Miller, 9 years old, Gilsland Street
• William Miller, 8 years old, Burlington Road
• Alice P Mills, 10 years old, Ann Street
• Elizabeth A Mills, 12 years old, Ann Street
• Frederick Mills, 8 years old, Ann Street
• Richard Mills, 6 years old, Ann Street
• Emily Morris, 7 years old, Glebe Cleft Villas
• John Morrison, 7 years old, Richmond Street
• Jane Muse, 6 years old, Biss Street
• Catherine Newton, 9½ years old, Carter Street
• George Stokeld Nipper, 9 years old, Howick Square
• John Waller Noble, 11 years old, Winchester Terrace
• Margaret Orrock, 12 years old, Covent Garden Street
• Mary Paget, 10 years old, Lisburn Terrace
• Edward Paley, 6 years old, Garden Place
• Alfred Patterson, 7 years old, Matlock Street
• Louis A Paxton, 8 years old, Dunning Street
• Ann Marie Peace, 7 years old, West Stanley Street
• William Pearey, 9 years old, Bright Street
• Mary Eleanor Pescod, 8 years old, Burleigh Street
• William Henry Pescod, 10 years old, Burleigh Street
• Emmerson Phillipson, 11 years old, Dame Dorothy Street
• Ann M Pringle, 9 years old, Southwick Road
• Maggie Pringle, 7 years old, Southwick Road
• George Prior, 12 years old, Kingsley Street
• John T Proudfoot, 8 years old, Burleigh Street
• Robert Ramsey, 11 years old, Covent Garden Street
• Annie Redmond, 14 years old, Booth Street
• Catherine Richmond, 7 years old, Grey's Buildings
• Thomas C Ritson, 9 years old, Mordey Street
• Annie Patteson Robertson, 10 years old, High Street East
• Ethel Robertson, 7 years old, High Street East
• Eleanor Robson, 6 years old, Tyne Street
• Margaret Roper 8 years old, East Cross Street
• Elizabeth Rowell, 7 years old, Gladstone Street
• Mary Helen Russell, 6 years old, Lawrence Street
• William Rutherford, 8 years old, John Candlish Road
• James H Scott, 10 years old, Vine Street
• Eugenie Scrafton, 8 years old, Handel Street
• Walter G Shipley, 10 years old, Griffin's Buildings
• Abraham Simey, 8 years old, Silver Street
• William Simpson, 7 years old, Sans Close
• George Sleightam, 8 years old, Hendon Street
• William Sleightam, 6 years old, Hendon Street
• Carrie Smith, 5 years old, Northumberland Street
• Elizabeth Snaith, 8 years old, Fowler Terrace
• George Snaith, 8 years old, East Street
• Tiney Solomon, 9 years old, Henry Street
• Thomas Southern, 8 years old, Catherine Street
• Joseph Spence, 10 years old, Howick Street
• John Thomas Swinney, 6 years old, George Street
• John James Taylor, 6 years old, Coatesworth Street
• Margaret Ann Thompson, 6 years old, Norman Street
• Margaret Thompson, 3 years old, Palmer Street
• Mary Ann Thompson, 11 years old, Palmer Street
• Annie M Tomlinson, 4 years old, South Durham Street
• Ada Ann Topin, 11 years old, Emma Street
• Nora Topin, 6 years old, Emma Street
• Thomas Toward, 9 years old, Coatesworth Street
• Margaret A Turnbull, 8 years old, Norman Street
• John George Thomas Venus, 7 years old, Eglinton Street
• Grace Newton Vowell, 8 years old, Norfolk Street
• Lilly Vowell, 4 years old, Norfolk Street
• Elizabeth Wanless, 7 years old, Dock Street
• Florence Edith Ward, 6 years old, Back Charles Street
• Amy C L Watson, 13 years old, Wayman Street
• Annie Emily C Watson, 10 years old, Wayman Street
• R C Watson, 12 years old, Wayman Street
• William R Weighill, 8 years old, Vine Cottage
• Robert Wilkinson, 7 years old, Addison Street
• John Henry Willan, 11 years old, Zetland Street
• John Robert Williamson, 11 years old, Johnson Street
• John James Wise, 10 years old, Moor Street
• Andrew Wright, 7 years old, Bright Street
• Mary Wright, 5 years old, Willow Pond Inn

See Wearside Online for further info including images of the ticket for the show and of the memorial statue.