DEVASTATING fires throughout history was the topic of Warwickshire Local History Society’s (WLHS) latest offering.
Professor Jonathan Reinarz presented ‘Forged by Fire: Burns Injury and British Identity in Warwickshire’ to an online audience earlier this week.
The talk covered fires from the Great Fire of Warwick of 1694 to the Grenfell Tower Fire of 2017. It also touched on events including the Baxterley Colliery Disaster of May 1882 and the Exhall Colliery disaster of 1915.
Using sources including newspaper articles and inquest reports, Jonathan explained how casualties from the fire were treated and how investigations into causes led to new health and safety legislation in transport, industry and domestic life.
WLHS’s next online talk, given by Jim Ranahan, will be ‘The Photographer’s Gaze: Viewing Warwickshire since 1839’, on January 16.
Visit www.warwickshirehistory.org.uk/member.php for details on events and membership.
