Panic on Gell Street Sheffield 1883 - An update

 Many years ago I posted an article to the site that related to a tragedy that occurred on Monday 2nd July 1883 at Gell Street in Sheffield. It resulted in the deaths of two children and several others were also injured. The tragedy and the aftermath were reported in detail in the local and national press. And it was unusual inasmuch as the Coroner and the jury at the inquest disagreed with each other. Feelings did run high!

Three months ago in June 2021 I received this information from a descendent of one of the victims

"I just wanted to drop you an email to say thank you for the informative page on your website in relation to an ancestor of mine.

The ‘Panic on Gell Street’ of 1883 resulted in the death of my 2 x Great Grand Uncle, John Charles Summers.

My father’s great grandfather, William Henry Summers (older brother of John Charles Summers) passed down a story through the family that his youngest brother died in some sort of accident when William was 16. I apparently it had a huge impact on the rest of the family and the local community due to the tragic nature of it.

Didn’t know what it was until we found this today Many thanks"

Pew Rents - St Thomas Church Crookes Sheffield - 1897

 I came across this slip of paper the other day dating from 1897

It is a receipt for the rent of pew no 26 in St Thomas Church Crookes Sheffield. It is for the period 1st April 1897 to 1st Ocober 1897. It is for the sum of one pound which equated to just over £130 GBP in today's money. The annual rent of the pew would be in today's terms £260 GBP, a sizeable sum.for the poor parshioners of Crookes parish. The only thing that is puzzling me is that I cannot make out the name of the person who is renting pew number 26

I was unaware of this practice but a search found that a John Charles Bennett. a PhD student at the University of Birmingham had actually done a thesis on the subject - The Anglican Practice of Pew Renting 1800 - 1960. There is an abstract from the thesis and a pdf. download for anyone who wishes to explore the subject further.

The Lookout - Saturday 30th September 1882 - Edition No2

A couple of months ago a reader of my website contacted me to ask if I knew of the above publication and if I did could I provide more information 

I replied that I have never heard or seen of the journal before. It states on the tiltle page that it is a critical and satirical journal for Sheffield and the North of England and so I speculated that it may be along the lines of today's Private Eye. But that is suposition on my part. If asny one can supply any further information please let me know