On the 16th October, 1834, the old Houses of Parliament were completely burnt down by a huge fire. It took several days to extinguish an inferno that engulfed ancient medieval halls, Georgian houses and most of the palace of Westminster. Westminster Hall – a vast space dating back to the Norman period – was only saved because of the wind direction. But the House of Commons and House of Lords were no more. The centre of government was a smouldering ruin.
Although this has traditionally been blamed on a careless accident – journalists at the time wondered if there was something more sinister behind the terrible inferno that burnt the Houses of Parliament to the ground.
The reason for the fire was something typically archaic in such a venerable British institution. Incredibly, a primitive system of accounting was still being used by the Exchequer in the nineteenth century that involved digging notches into long pieces of wood called “tallies”. The author Charles Dickens mocked this ridiculous practice saying it was no better than the way Robinson Crusoe had “kept his calendar on the desert island”.
Even under George III (reigned from 1760 to 1820), somebody had asked whether it was time for the state’s finances to be kept using pen, paper, ink and pencils instead of pieces of wood. Finally, in 1826, the tallies were abolished. From now on, no more notches in sticks! However, that left a lot of bits of wood lying around – centuries of them in fact. They were of no use whatsoever and probably never had been. So it was decided to gradually burn the lot.
A blaze that got out of control
A stove was used in the House of Lords. A labourer, Joshua Cross, was hired to shovel the wood in though it turned out he wasn’t properly supervised in this task by the Clerk of Works. As a result, the raging fire in the stove extended to nearby wood panelling and in no time the whole House of Lords was on fire including a fine tapestry of the Spanish Armada being defeated.
Nearby was St Stephen’s chapel, which had been rebuilt between 1320 and 1352 and under Edward VI became the House of Commons. It was in this chamber that Oliver Cromwell had dismissed parliament. And now it was also consigned to the flames. Thousands watched in awe at the spreading orange glow. The very floorboards that had been trodden by great political figures such as Pitt, Fox, Burke and Canning were incinerated. And all because of a daft form of accounting that had never been of any real use.
Foul play?
As journalists and politicians surveyed the now burnt down Houses of Parliament, they wondered whether dark forces had been behind the inferno. Many had long felt that the ramshackle medieval palace was no longer fit for purpose. Could the accident have been arson? Not many seemed to mourn the passing of all that glorious history. Instead, they could hardly wait to get working on a much better seat of power for an expanding British Empire.
The origin of the fire was disputed from the outset. Some believed it started on the roof of Howard’s coffee house and others that it began in the middle of the House of Lords. Early reports suggested that even though the flames were clearly visible, action was not taken immediately. By the time it had taken hold, the blaze was visible from Hampstead, Highgate and Blackheath.
An employee of the House of Lords raised the alarm but it was too late – the inferno was out of control. In the following days, rumours circulated that arsonists had been spotted leaving flammable materials nearby in preparation for an attack on the palace. The Speaker of the House denied these stories vehemently.
