8 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1815. 
could have stated that they had 
all been saved; but the eldest son 
above-mentioned, and his sister 
between three and four years old, 
perished in the flames; nor was 
it in the power of any one to pre- 
vent it; they lodged, it appears, 
in a room above their brothers, 
to which those who first got into 
the house could not reach, and to 
which the servants who escaped 
by the roof durst not venture; 
indeed, the situation of this fa- 
mily, will be better understood by 
stating, that the fire was not dis- 
covered until a quarter-past six, 
and the house was down to the 
ground before seven o’clock. The 
two other children of Mrs. Biggs 
escaped, no one can tell how, but 
they happily did escape, though 
one of them was not discovered 
until 11 o’clock yesterday morn- 
ing, in St. Martin’s-le-Grand ; it 
was taken to Mr. Butler’s, where 
it remained last night with its 
sister. This fire entirely con- 
sumed the two houses abovemen- 
tioned, and damaged the top of 
the house of Mr. Hall to the right, 
and scorched a little the house of 
Mr. Dolland, the optician, to the 
left. To add to the misfortune to 
Mr. and Mrs. Biggs, the former 
of whom is on a journey on busi- 
ness, not a sixpence of their stock 
in trade was insured, and we hear 
they were only beginning. the 
world, not having been long in 
business. To the credit of. the 
inhabitants of the neighbourhood, 
it ought to be mentioned, that the 
ladies were all day yesterday send- 
ing in articles of dress for the 
children ; and yesterday evening 
a meeting was held at the insti- 
gation of Messrs. Pearsell, But- 
Jer, Daw, Kinder, Bunn, and 
Dunnett, six of the principal inz 
habitants, when it was resolved 
to bring forward a subscription 
for the benefit of Mr. and Mrs. 
Biggs and family, who have not 
saved a farthing of their property, 
either in stock, furniture, or 
wearing apparel. 
The following more exact ac- 
count of this melancholy catas- 
trophe was published by the gen- 
tlemen above-mentioned ;— 
It appears, that Mr. Biggs had 
resided for several years in St. 
Paul’s Church-yard, within a few 
doors of the premises now burnt 
down, and had been regularly in 
the habit of insuring his property; 
that in the course of last year he 
disposed of his lease, and pur- 
chased that of the.premises de- 
stroyed, and that till Christmas 
last, he had only partially oceu- 
pied them, not having before re- 
moved his family or furniture ; it 
was then his intention to insure 
the whole of his property as usual, 
but by a fatal neglect, which can- 
not be accounted for, he omitted 
doing it, and went off on a jour- 
ney the morning preceding the 
fire. 
In the evening of that day it 
appears, that on Mrs. Biggs re- 
tirmg to bed with her infant 
child, about six months old, and 
a young lady who slept with her 
on account of Mr. Biggs’s ab- 
sence, every precaution was taken 
by them to examine the house, 
and ascertain that all was safe. 
Nothing occurred till about six 
o'clock in the morning, when 
they were alarmed by the cry of 
fire! Mrs. B. immediately ran up 
stairs, and called to the servants to 
bring down the children, five in 
number, who slept in the upper 
