Suffer Little Children

The Victoria Hall Disaster 1883

On 16th June 1883, Victoria Hall, Sunderland was visited by a Mr Fay who would entertain between 1500 and 2000 of the towns 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 assitance arrived the bodies lay twenty 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'

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

The Victims ²

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.

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

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