A late night by the fire
Caroline Arnold was just 12 when she burnt to death at home on May 11th, 1857, the whole event being witnessed by her elder sister, Ann. An intelligent girl of 14, Ann was a key witness at the inquest. She gave the Birmingham coroner, Dr John Birt Davies, a clear description of the terrible event.
The girls’ mother, who had recently given birth, had gone to bed early feeling unwell. Later, their father joined his wife upstairs, telling his daughters to bolt the door and follow him up. But Ann, concerned about her mother, decided to stay up in case she needed a cup of tea in the night. She persuaded Caroline to stay downstairs to keep her company.
The two girls settled down to sew by the fireside. The room was lit by a single candle placed on a chair. At about half past four in the morning, Ann felt unable to stay awake any longer. She put out the candle, laid her head on the chair and fell asleep. Meanwhile Caroline, still awake, crept closer to the dying embers of the fire to keep warm.
Half an hour later Ann was woken by screams. Caroline’s clothes were ablaze. Ann scrambled to douse the flames, but to no avail. Caroline, in a panic, rushed to get outside, causing the flames to burn stronger and in the process setting the curtains alight. Burning fragments covered her body. Their father, wakened by the girls’ screams, leapt out of bed, grabbing a sack to smother the flames. He then picked up Caroline and ran with her in his arms to the local hospital. She was immediately treated by a surgeon, but his efforts were in vain, and she died a few hours later.
The coroner’s recommendation
Since his election as Birmingham’s borough coroner in 1839, Birt Davies had been very concerned about the high rate of child deaths. Meticulous in his record-keeping, he looked for patterns in the deaths he had investigated to identify causes and preventive strategies. In his first year in office, more than one-third of the cases involved deaths from severe burns. His analysis showed that these deaths occurred most often in families where the main breadwinner was employed in a ‘humble’ or artisan job, so death by burning was closely linked to poverty. Almost all the deaths occurred when no adult was present. The household fire was often the origin of the blaze but burns caused by candles were also common. But he noticed another significant fact – girls were more likely to die from burns than boys.
A typical back-to-back house had one fireplace in the small living room, where most activities took place. Clothes dried by the fire, and valuables were placed on the mantelpiece. Children were particularly vulnerable when reaching for an article, risking their clothes igniting. The coroner noticed that more often than not the offending garment was the pinafore or apron that many girls wore over their dresses.
In his annual report to the borough council, Birt Davies recommended taking measures to mitigate the risks faced by girls. He suggested the council should subsidise the cost of less flammable woollen materials to make safer pinafores accessible for low-income families. A year later, he reiterated this recommendation, expressing his dissatisfaction that no action had yet been taken to address this tragic, preventable loss of life.
Birt Davies served as coroner for 36 years, overseeing 30,000 inquests. He advocated for Birmingham’s poor and fearlessly confronted injustices during the whole of his long career, often challenging bureaucracy. This earned him some enemies among the wealthy and powerful, but he also gained many admirers.