THE APPALLING CRASH AT MOSCAR, SHEFFIELD - AUGUST 1907

"Pedestrians have a right to use the highway without feeling that they are in danger of losing their lives by the pace of these huge machines..."

Unlike a number of articles that appear on this site, I did know about this accident but did not understand its significance. The Sheffield Daily Independent dated Monday 26th August 1907 carried the headline

"APPALLING SMASH NEAR MOSCAR, MOTOR CHAR-A-BANC  DASHED INTO WALL. THREE KILLED, MANY OTHERS INJURED. SICKENING SCENES"

Under the headlines the paper revealed that the char-a-banc was proceeding past a carriage and a pair of horses when it hit a telegraph pole, causing it to skid and then crash into a stone wall. A man with a little boy, aged seven on his knees was killed instantly and another man was killed by being thrown from the vehicle. A person who was passing by on the road tried to run away but was caught by the crashing vehicle and pushed through a stone wall. He suffered a broken right leg and severe head injuries.

There is a graphic postcard which shows the aftermath of the tragedy

Moscar car crash - the ill fated car, Sheffield

The Inquest was held two days later on Wednesday, 28th August 1907 on the three fatalities - WILLIAM ERNEST HARRISON (5), BEN HANDLEY (30), bricklayer; and HUGH FEARN (37), auctioneers clerk, all of Sheffield.

The first person to address the Inquest was Mr Joseph Gibbons, managing director of Messrs Tomlinson, owners of the charabanc. He expressed deep sympathy with the relatives of the deceased and with the injured people.

There then came the evidence of formal identification and then the Coroner listened to the evidence of Mr. Frank Churchill, a motor car builder who had sold the char-a-banc to Messrs Tomlinson. Mr Churchill said that in his opinion the accident was not attributable to any breakage or dislocation of the char-a-banc. The width of the road where the accident took place was eighteen feet and there was a drop of one foot from the crown of the road to the gutter. Mr Churchill maintained that all four wheels would skid as soon as the wheels reached the gradient at the side of the road of 1 in 3.4. The accident would not have occurred if the telegraph pole had not been in the way.

J. Edward Vickers in his book A Popular History of Sheffield states that there were 29 people on the  char-a-banc who had been on a trip to the Hathersage area of Derbyshire and were making the return journey.

The Pub where the trip set off from -  Boston Street (formerly New George Street), at junction of Arley Street (formerly Cross George Street). George Hotel, No. 52, Boston Street. Demolition of back to back houses, Nos 54-60 Boston Street to the left of the George Hotel, on left. Photo taken circa 1930.

The trip had been organised by the innkeeper of The George Hotel, Boston Street, Sheffield, a Mr George Roberts.  He told the Inquest that the vehicle ran slowly - the estimate was seven miles per hour - and was more like a traction engine. Such was his concern he persuaded the chauffeur to stop at the Dore Moor Inn to examine the vehicle. The chauffeur said he could not understand why it was not running properly. Another witness stated that he saw the pole fifty yards ahead and motioned as well as shouted to the other passengers. But the vehicle seemed out of control. It just crashed into the pole and ran six yards. There was no side slip within thirty yards of the pole

The Coroner then adjourned the Inquest in order that plans of the accident spot could be prepared but intimated that the cause of the accident was either the wheels of the char-a-banc skidding into the gutter or whether the chauffeur drove into the gutter deliberately.

Unfortunately I do not know as yet the final conclusion of the inquest but there are a couple  of points that  J. Edward Vickers refers to. Mrs Fearn whose husband had died in the accident summoned a horse drawn hansom cab to take her home. On the journey home the horse slipped and fell, which in turn caused the shaft to break. The cab turned over and Mrs Fearn was thrown into the road.  The lady by all accounts was shocked!.

The other was that the accident aroused fierce controversy in the local press with many correspondents condemning these vehicles. J. Edward Vickers quotes a Mr Charles Price of Hathersage who concluded his letter by stating that "Pedestrians have a right to use the highway without feeling that they are in danger of losing their lives by the pace of these huge machines...". The editor concurred with he posed the rhetorical question 

"Can there be a future in Sheffield for these vehicles"

 The value of hindsight!!. However whilst I was aware that this fatal accident had occurred I did not know that this was not the first instance where a char-a-banc had crashed whilst on a day trip. The Scotsman on Friday 14th June 1907 reported that

 And so perhaps the local paper was right to be concerned about the future of such vehicles.

And as a final postscript to the tragedy, the people who lost their lives were buried in Sheffield's City Road Cemetery (Grave references 5545, 5548 and 5549 in section EE1 of the cemetery)  

Notes

A Popular History of Sheffield - J. Edward Vickers (p70)

The Sheffield Daily Independent dated Monday 26th August 1907

The Scotsman - Thursday, 29th August 1907

The Scotsman on Friday 14th June 1907

Ald Wycliffe-Wilson - John Wycliffe-Wilson was Lord Mayor of Sheffield 1902

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This page was last updated on 02/04/08 10:01