Tributes to the victims of tragedy that rocked world
delighted to see the handful gathered there.”
Many people held a private remembrance at home, with candles lit at 11am, including artist Lyn Killeen who displayed 183 jars in her garden, from a joint project she did with Living History Northeast to remember the tragedy.
Victoria Hall once stood in Toward Road and, on a fateful day on June 16, 1883, hosted a children’s entertainment show which hundreds of local children attended.
At the end of the show, an announcement was made that children with certain numbered tickets would get a prize.
Worried about missing out, many of the estimated 1,100 children in the gallery stampeded toward the staircase leading downstairs.
At the bottom of the staircase, the door opened inward and had been bolted so as to leave a gap only wide enough for one child to pass at a time. Those at the front became trapped and were crushed to death by the weight of the crowd.
It was a horrific accident which wiped out a generation of children in the then town, with some families losing two or more children. At the time, Queen Victoria sent a message of condolence to the grieving families and contributed to a disaster fund, which was used to help build the memorial in Mowbray Park.
The devastating incident led to safety measures which are still in place today.
Following the tragedy, a Sunderland trainee architect, Robert Alexander Briggs, patented the new push bar release that we see on fire exits now and the accident prompted the passing of legislation to provide doors which opened outwards at all places of public entertainment.
It remains the worst incident of its kind in British history. The Victoria Hall remained in use until 1941 when it was destroyed by a German parachute bomb.