An eventual fatal casualty of the 1876 accident at Three Counties Railway Station - and a survivor

Image: © John Lucas Taken: 13 Jul 2010

Nigel Cox has already recounted the event of the 1876 accident at the former Three Counties Station Image (then called Arlesey Sidings) on the Great Northern Railway, the site of which is in this view. The accident occurred on the 23rd of December. There were five immediate deaths (including the driver and fireman of the northbound express) and amongst the seriously injured were Mr. and Mrs. Burbidge who were travelling to spend Christmas with relatives in Nottingham. Mr. Burbidge was taken to the Three Counties Asylum (which later became Fairfield Hospital and is now converted to flats and called Fairfield Hall) where he died on the 18th of January 1877. Several doctors prognosed that Mrs. Burbidge would not survive and she was taken to the nearby Lamb Inn (now long-gone) but she laid there for three years. It was then decided that she should be taken to Nottingham but she was so ill and weak that the journey was abandoned. A house was acquired for her in Walsworth Road Hitchin, where she stayed in continuous pain until her death in 1909, nearly 33 years after the accident, never again having left the house or, indeed, her bed. Another more fortunate casualty of the accident was Mr. J. F. Welsh who was seriously injured and laid in Hitchin Hospital for two years. He did eventually recover and resumed his studies at Oxford. He was ordained and became Bishop of Trinidad in 1905. Information Source: Lawson Thompson Scrapbooks, Hitchin Museum.

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