The collapse

Abstract

Shortly before eight o'clock on the morning of Thursday, 8th September 1853, James Henderson, Photographic Artist, was walking along the fashionable thoroughfare of the Strand, London towards his studio. As he approached within a few yards of the premises, at No. 184 (Figure 1), he saw the whole of the building collapse into a pile of rubble. This part of the south side of the Strand, between Norfolk Street and Arundel Street, had been undergoing redevelopment and the houses extending from No. 185 to No. 187 had been pulled down and the site let to Messrs. W. H. Smith & Son, the wellknown newsagent and stationer. The removal of these houses had left No. 184 in a precarious position, and being deprived of all protection from the buildings formerly adjoining, it had been found necessary to support the end-wall by shoring. It appears that excavations recently carried out on the vacant ground for the purpose of laying the foundations for the new property, had to some extent undermined the walls of No. 184, and this had led to the tragedy — which involved the death of four people, including a tailor, Robert Thompson, and his wife, who had shared the premises with James Henderson¹.