the picture is definitely whetstone lane from where the original fire station was. I lived in Warwick st as a child from 1958-1970 .its quite a different place now.valli
It was reported in the Liverpool Echo, 14 May 1918, The Birkenhead Tram Fatality.
Wirral archives or Birkenhead library should have a copy of the Birkenhead News around that date, there will be a report in there. Hopefully its the same one.
Last edited by bert1; 26th Jan 20134:17pm.
God help us, Come yourself, Don't send Jesus, This is no place for children.
From the Liverpool Echo, 10th and 14th of May 1918 (edited)
Conductress Edith Jones, aged 21, of 64 Frodsham Street, Birkenhead, was readjusting her trolley pole after her tram arrived at the Woodside terminus when she became jammed between her own tram and the one behind, whose driver had just started to test his electric brakes. A verdict of accidental death was later reached by a jury, who expressed sympathy with driver William Glover, that this should be his first fatal accident in the 15 or 16 years he had worked as a driver. (It’s not clear from the report if Glover was driver of Edith’s tram or the tram that killed her).
I think you are quite right marzie. The decorative brickwork on the LH corner house is the clue. Have a look on Google Map Streetview for a comparison. (Sorry can't get the link to work)
This tragic accident took place just after 5:40 pm on Wednesday 8th May, 1918, shortly after Edith’s tram had reached the terminus at Woodside. The initial reports in the local papers contain little detail, but more can be gleaned from the account of the inquest which concluded on the 14th May.
When the tram arrived at Woodside, Edith’s driver, William Glover, removed the control handles from his position at the front of the car in order to fit them to the controller at the rear, which would become the front of the vehicle for the return journey. Edith, meanwhile, had got off the tram to swing the trolley pole on the roof around for the return trip, which was part of her duties. It appears that Glover fitted the handles to the controller at the other end of the tram and then immediately decided to test the emergency brake, which was “the correct thing to do”, upon which the tram lurched backwards, trapping his conductress against the tram parked behind. She was immediately rushed to the Borough Hospital, where her left thigh was found to be so badly smashed her leg had to be amputated. Sadly, she subsequently died from shock and haemorrhage at 12:30am the following morning. Much was made at the inquest of whether there was any possibility of a mechanical problem with the tram’s controller that might have caused the accident; oddly, no consideration at all seems to have been given as to whether the driver, knowing that it was the conductress’ job to swing the trolley pole round, should have checked that she was not in the way before applying any power! So much for “duty of care” in 1918…
Edith Jones was buried at Flaybrick Cemetery on the morning of 15th May. The cortege, seen in the photo, included 60 conductresses and employees from the tram depot, 24 tram drivers, and 50 wounded soldiers, together with nurses, from Temple Road, Mersey Park and Tranmere military hospitals, who all walked to the cemetery from Frodsham Street. Sadly, her husband, Sgt John H Jones, to whom she had been married for not much over a year, was unable to attend, as he was on active service with the Royal Engineers.
