What Was The Name Of The Policeman Killed By The First Traffic Light?

[AB Editor]

I'm trying to find the name of the policeman who operated the first traffic light in the UK, in 1868.

It was outside Parliament.

What would the best way of finding out his name be?

Here's an article about the first traffic light, where it says he was killed by the traffic light exploding (being gas powered at the time).

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/when-was-the-first-traffic-light-installed-google-doodle-honours-101st-anniversary-10438642.html

Any help appreciated.

[dannyk13]

Metropolitan Police Museum?

[Old_Geezer]

I don't know but I suspect your General Knowledge pub quiz is going to result in very low scores.

[hc4361]

Newspaper archives?

[Barmaid]

You could try the British Newspaper Archive at

http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/

The little googling I've done shows that he may not have been killed and only injured. It appears that this happened only a month after the system was installed - so around Jan/Feb 1869. However, this type of anecdotal stuff is desperately difficult to pin down to a precise time so you may want to widen your search times.

You could also try Coroners Inquests (just in case he was killed) at the London Metropolitan Archives.

[Barmaid]

I'd have a look at the Newspaper Archive at FMP if I could get on the wretched site. As usual I keep getting "Our search is unavailable due to a high level of demand".

[douglas9401]

I'll hazard a guess at Seymour Green.

[TheChair]

Interestingly, though no-one seems to know his name, Google says he was killed, the Beeb says he was badly burnt, and Wikipedia, that he was injured.

[hereIam]

PC Edwin Cousins aged 40 died on 5 May 1886 as a result of injuries sustained whilst on duty. Could it be him ?

[Barmaid]

I think probably not, HereIam. The explosion occurred in 1869, so unless he had a long and lingering death its probably unlikely.

[hereIam]

Ok.

[agchristie]

I have a book somewhere that referred to this but not sure from memory whether he was named. Will check it out....

[Barmaid]

Ed - download MEPO 4/2 from the National Archives (free). It gives all the causes of death of serving police officers in the Met. I cant see any that would match death by an explosion from the end of 1868 through to end of 1869. The only possibility is Charles Bentcliffe who died in June "suddenly", but given all the reports say this system was only in place for a month, it is unlikely to have been him.

[agchristie]

Drat! He is not named!

'The first traffic lights were at the corner of Bridge St and New Palace Yard and erected in 1868.They were lit by gas and the container blew up in 1969 injuring the policeman operating them.The lights were removed in 1872.'

[jno]

I also found a reference saying he was just injured; if so he won't be on a list of deaths.

[Barmaid]

Ahhh, ignore me. It would have been City of London police, not Met.

[hereIam]

It's annoying isn't it, I want to know who he was now .....

[agchristie]

The constable operating the system was badly burnt when it exploded in his face.Several sites refer to his death but I'm not so sure..

[wolf63]

Ed - why do you want to know?

If it just curiosity then the answer may not be on the webby thing.

If you were asked in a quiz type thing then the answer should be out there, somewhere.

[Barmaid]

I know agc. Some say one thing, some say another. The trouble is (as I have found over the years) if someone prints something and puts it on the internet and it is incorrect, it gets repeated over and over and over again.

[agchristie]

Very true Barmaid! Chinese whispers springs to mind!