?Pr 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1794. 



liciously occasioned, upon the most 

 minute inquiiy it isclearly ascertain- 

 ed it was intirely accidental, from 

 the. cauRc above mentioned, ft ra- 

 ged with so much violence, that it 

 was with the greatest difficulty Mr. 

 Cloves and his servants escaped, one 

 of whom was terribly burnt, and is 

 row in the London- hos-ital 5 and 

 ^r. Cloves himself had. unfortunate- 

 ly, his arm broke, and is otherwise 

 much hurt. That some idea may 

 be formed of the ver^' great loss sus- 

 tained by this unfortunate event, the 

 varehouses of Mr.Whitinjj, contain- 

 ed sugars to the.amount ofupwards of 

 40,0001. which were intirelydt-st rov- 

 ed. The distress of the mir.era;blc in- 

 habitantsexceeded alldescription. In 

 the surrounding fields were depof ir- 

 ed the few goods, consisting chiefly 

 of bedding, they v/ere able to save. 

 Stepney church was opened for their 

 reception) and above a thousand 

 people were obliged to remain all 

 night in the fields watch infr the 

 remnant of their property. Chi!, -fen 

 crying for their lost parents, ai.u pa- 

 rents lamenting the fate of their 

 children, added to the horrors o*" a 

 scene notequallcdduring the present 

 century. At least 1400 people arc 

 thrown on the public benevolence. 

 By the humanity of goverr.mcnt, 

 there were about 150 tents pitched 

 in an inclosed piece of ground ad- 

 joining to Stepney chnrchyitrd, for 

 the reception of the poor suflVrcrs, 

 and bread was distributed from the 

 vestry for their relief. The tents 

 being fotmd insufficient to contain 

 all those who had been thui so sud* 

 denly deprived of their habitations, 

 a uumber of covered waggons were 

 sent from the Tower, to accommo- 

 date the remainderof these distressed 

 objects. The number of spectators 

 to view the^ruins of the lire, and the 



encampment of the poor inhabitant* 

 whom this unusual conflasfratfon had 



• • • « 



driven to livcin tthts, waswonc^frful. 



£6fch, A meeting of the affluent 

 iiiliabitants of the city was held at 

 the court-house, Wellclose-f.qiiare, 

 this day, to take into consideration 

 the most effect ualmeans of alleviating 

 the distress occasioned by the late 

 fire, when a sum very little short or 

 lOOOl. was immediately subscribed ; 

 the East-India company gave 2iOL 

 On the same day the subject was 

 taken into consideration at Lloyd's, 

 and about /OOOl. collected.- Several 

 humane gentlemen, vvho were at the 

 Wcl'close-square meeting, pttendcd 

 si' ce at the different avenues lead- 

 ing to the desolated scene, for the 

 purpose of soliciting the benevolence 

 of those persons whose curiosity led 

 them to witness the distresses of 

 their fellow creatures. 



The subscription, for the unfor.- 

 tunate suflerers by fire at this dread- 

 ful conflagration, discovers portraits 

 of universal charity, peculiar to En- 

 glishmen; but the following, though 

 of the humbler kind, deserves to be 

 recorded : on one Sunday collection 

 of the visitants who thronged to see 

 .this encampment of the wretched, 

 8001- was received ; 4261. odd of 

 this sum was collected in copper j 

 and SSl. I4s. of it bestowed in far- 

 things. 



28th. As some workmen were 

 undermining a lime-pit, in the liber- 

 ty of Staunton Hajoid, a large stoney 

 which was forced to a great height 

 in the air, in descending, unfortu- 

 nately fell upon William Smith, a 

 young man who was passing along 

 the top of the pit with a bundle of 

 hay <m his arm, and killed him in-* 

 stantly. 



3lst. Afire happendedatNassing-' 

 ton, Norlhamptoushire, by wliidi 



thirtees 



