Death of William Huskisson Opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway

1 death of william huskisson

1.1 inquest
1.2 funeral
1.3 controversy

death of william huskisson

as evening progressed huskisson continued weaken. doctors had concluded without amputation continue deteriorate, had no realistic chance of surviving major surgery, , broke news huskissons. william huskisson believed dying , had resigned himself fate; emily huskisson @ first caused dreadful scene ... @ last calmed herself , during rest of time sat weeping couch . huskisson told brandreth see shall never live make return kindness. have done possible, in vain. after further laudanum, complained why endeavour support strength? must die, prolonging sufferings.

at 11.00 pm night william wainewright sat down in blackburne s study @ eccles vicarage write brief letter mayor of liverpool.

sir,

with deepest grief, have acquaint you, information of yourself, , of community on preside, mr huskisson breathed last @ 9 o clock evening. attended moment of accident, indefatigable assiduity, dr brandreth of liverpool, dr hunter of edinburgh, , mr ransome, mr whatton, mr garside , mr white, of manchester.

his last moments soothed devoted attentions of distracted widow, , presence of of distinguished , faithful friends.

i have honour be, sir

your obedient humble servant.

at 7:30 am next morning, duke of wellington wrote mayor of liverpool lodgings in nearby roby. had been due receive freedom of city, felt under circumstances kind of celebration inappropriate, , said not attending of planned events in city day. planned parades , ceremonial dinner cancelled, in absence of rapid transit or mass communication there no way notify of city s population. while shops had heard news , remained shuttered, ships in liverpool s docks remained festooned brightly coloured streamers, , sounded horns @ time duke expected passing.

inquest

given huskisson s importance, , potential impact on future of liverpool , manchester s industries , on embryonic railway industry of findings of liability on part of railway, swift determination of causes of accident considered essential. 9.00 am on morning after accident, hastily convened coroner s jury assembled in grapes public house in eccles. coroner himself, mr milne, arrived @ 10.00 am , in hurry proceed had inquest scheduled afternoon, proceedings unable begin lord wilton, sworn witness scheduled attend inquest, not found. in meantime, milne sent jury vicarage view huskisson s body.

after death huskisson s body had been moved sofa on had died upstairs bedroom. on arrival @ vicarage emily huskisson refused allow jury view body, insisting on being allowed remain alone husband. had forcibly removed room, , jury went bedroom in small groups view body. did not think necessary @ injured parts @ , took brief glance @ body, , afterwards returned grapes.

rocket appeared before alterations in 1834.

eventually little after noon wilton arrived @ inquest, , gave full account of incident. lord granville (half-brother of marquess of stafford) told jury huskisson had been suffering numbness in leg previous operation, , may have caused apparent problems movement. no witnesses recollected seeing signal flags raised of locomotives involved, including rocket, although system of warning flags supposed have been in place.

although eyewitnesses expressed view joseph locke, driving rocket, @ fault, following few words coroner jury returned verdict of accidental death. directors , engineers of l&m explicitly absolved of blame, , no deodand attached locomotive or railway.

after inquest over, emily huskisson found 2 speeches in william huskisson s jacket pocket, had been planning deliver following inaugural journey. first brief tribute james watt, inventor of condensing steam engine, , invention had made possible. second longer speech. marked burnt @ death , 1 of last things husband had written emily huskisson felt herself unable so.

... from first warm disinterested advocate present great experiment. has been made, , difficulties of no ordinary nature overcome, may permitted satisfaction on humble zealous part took in first promoting attempt ... felt application parliament railway, though technically private petition, involved great public interests—those interests special duty of board of trade countenance , encourage, , avowedly on ground not consider inconsistent character of minister ... need in present state of commerce of country, specify these interests are? of hear me know difficulties have struggle in maintaining successful competition foreign rivals. know can maintained incessant industry, unwearied diligence, increasing skill in our manufacturing population; know efforts unavailing without greatest economy not of money of time, in operations of trade ... in short, principle of railway of commerce itself—it multiplies enjoyment of mankind increasing facilities , diminishing labour [goods] produced , distributed throughout world.

huskisson s death major incident, , reported worldwide. (william huskisson reported first railway fatality, including in ordinarily reliable sources. untrue; @ least 2 people killed on liverpool , manchester railway prior opening public. earliest recorded fatality caused steam locomotive unnamed woman, described blind american beggar , fatally injured train on stockton , darlington railway on 5 march 1827. high-profile figure killed @ high-profile event, huskisson first railway fatality reported.) news of incident gradually spread across country, railways , steam power, matters had been of interest involved in industries directly affected them, became major topic discussion across britain. first time, population whole became aware cheap, rapid travel possible, , journey had been extremely expensive , taken better part of day affordable , took less 2 hours. in afternoon of 16 september, day after inauguration of line, liverpool , manchester railway began operating regular scheduled service. first train carried 130 passengers (mainly members of society of friends attending meeting in manchester), tickets liverpool manchester costing 7s (about £29 in 2017 terms) apiece. end of first week of operation, 6,104 passengers had travelled on railway.

funeral


the times on william huskisson s funeral, 27 sep 1830

emily huskisson planned william huskisson buried near family home in eartham in small service. on 17 september, 3 days after huskisson s death, lord granville , delegation of liverpool clergymen visited eccles vicarage present emily huskisson petition, signed 264 liverpool dignitaries, requesting remains may interred within precincts of town, in distinguished public worth , private virtue secured him respect , esteem of whole community , , agreed burial in liverpool instead. refused allow form of parade or pageantry, or suggested gun salute.

on 18 september huskisson s body placed in coffin , covered black silk. shortly before midnight team of men prepared move coffin hearse had been parked outside since afternoon, emily huskisson refused allow them take body. instead, spent night in vicarage coffin. next morning left in horse-drawn carriage windows covered. coffin, meanwhile, set off in hearse liverpool. although funeral party changed horses @ remote , quiet coaching inns avoid attention, gathered followers progressed; time reached liverpool town hall late evening, hearse followed @ least 10 carriages , more 500 mourners on foot.

for william huskisson s funeral on friday 24 september, every business in liverpool closed. huskisson had been popular figure in liverpool, , authorities expected large numbers of people wishing attend. in effort control numbers announced wishing join cortège submit written request in writing town hall. proved impractical, , authorities put posters around town advising in mourning dress allowed join procession. colour coded tickets issued wishing attend burial, each colour representing different section of cemetery, in effort control crowd numbers @ burial service; total of 3,000 tickets issued.

although emily huskisson had wanted keep service small-scale , free pageantry, william huskisson had been instrumental figure in development of liverpool , there huge amount of sympathy , respect him. city s inhabitants in position attend funeral lined route; estimated 69,000 people, half city s population, attended. reports spoke of available space @ every window being packed onlookers, other house in duke street in huskisson had stayed 10 days before journey, , of people climbing trees , crowding onto roofs better view, despite rain , hail.

huskisson s coffin placed on trestle table in town hall, draped black velvet , covered feathered plumes. between 9.00 , 10.00 am stream of mourners guided coffin group of truncheon men. @ 10.00 2 mutes guided mourners out of town hall , mounted horses; rain , hail had eased. mutes led procession, followed mourners town hall , around 1,100 other mourners had waited outside. these mourners marched 6 abreast, , followed funeral committee, 28 local clergymen , 2 more mutes. behind group marched joseph brandreth , rev blackburne, , behind them came carriages carrying pall-bearers, group of local dignitaries had known , worked huskisson, followed 2 more mutes. behind pair of mutes hearse carrying coffin, followed huskisson s colleagues , surviving brothers thomas , samuel. these in turn followed around 900 locals in mourning dress had decided join procession, bringing cortège around half mile (0.8 km) in length. duke of wellington, pleading prior commitment attend dinner in birmingham, did not attend.

the procession left town hall , went 2,000 yards (1,800 m) via hope street iron-lined grave in st james cemetery, accompanied muffled church bells. iron rails erected along length of funeral procession hold crowd of around 50,000 people lined route. emily huskisson, devastated grief, did not attend funeral. despite objection gun salutes 32-pounder cannon fired mark departure of coffin town hall , 6-pounder fired mark body s arrival @ cemetery, , smaller guns fired procession passed. on arrival @ cemetery short 15 minute service held, after huskisson s close mourners moved graveside , huskisson placed in grave, accompaniment of weeping brothers. shortly before 1.00 pm cannon shot marked end of service, , crowd dispersed; pubs , restaurants throughout liverpool remained shut rest of day.

controversy

twelve days after opening of l&m, liverpool surgeon thomas weatherill wrote lancet questioning official version of huskisson s death , calling behaviour of doctors had attended eccles vicarage unscientific, inefficient , imbecilic . had spoken eyewitnesses, , concluded huskisson s weakness , spasms following accident caused blood loss, not internal injury, , amputation have stemmed blood loss , saved huskisson s life. went on claim eyewitnesses had spoken had seen huskisson bleeding heavily, no effort had been made stem bleeding other lord wilton s makeshift tourniquet of handkerchiefs. argued doctors attending should @ least have made attempt @ amputation when became clear other measures not working.

two weeks later william whatton replied. disputed weatherill s claim action taken staunch blood flow had been handkerchief, , pointed out first action on arrival @ eccles vicarage had been seal huskisson s femoral artery. stated had great experience similar injuries time army doctor during peninsular war, , none of them [military surgeons] have ventured upon operation chances decidedly against success . pointed out survival rate amputations among soldiers similar injuries—considerably healthier elderly huskisson—was no better 15% when attempted after injury. instead, cited advice of leading surgeon george james guthrie amputation not survivable until patient s pulse had stabilised , initial shock settled. whatton pointed out huskisson s pulse did not stabilise , in convulsions entire time whatton attended him.

weatherill did not accept whatton s defence. continued maintain delays in staunching blood flow unforgivable , , huskisson dying there had been nothing lose attempting surgery. pointed out if huskisson had been fit enough dictate will, may have been fit enough withstand operation.

cite error: there <ref group=note> tags on page, references not show without {{reflist|group=note}} template (see page).