Hammond Fireworks: The Explosive Story
by How a Birmingham family almost successfully blew up the Cannongate, in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The fact that these tenements contained upwards of 70 people, it is astonishing that so few actually died or were injured. It appears that the residents were fortunate in the fact that this tenement happened to have thicker than usual walls (5 feet in places), and this meant there was very little structural damage to the building.
Amazingly, Sarah was completely unharmed, as Thomas managed to shout a warning to his daughter just before the gunpowder went up, but among the injured was Mary Ann, John, and Thomas himself. Mary Ann was pregnant at the time, and although she had received severe burns, her prognosis was good. Unfortunately, she succumbed to exhaustion and died a few days later. Sadly, her unborn child died with her.
After Thomas recovered, he carried on as a pyrotechnic artist, organising many displays throughout Scotland over the following years. It does appear though that the Edinburgh board in charge of licencing did start to introduce more stringent measures on the licensee, with demands that firework manufacture should occur at least 50 yards away from other properties.
He later re-married, to a Margaret Anderson, and had a further twelve children. Thomas’s business thrived, and fortunately, he moved to more safe (at least for the local people) premises, at Powderhall, and later still, opened a factory at Craigmillar.
Thomas did have a bit of a run in with the authorities in 1873, when he was fined £2 (yes, £2) for being in contravention of the Gunpowder Act, by not renewing his licence. The small fine, I do believe must reflect how well he was doing within the Edinburgh commerce class. The fine was paid, with half of this £2, with expenses being donated to the Royal Infirmary Hospital, Edinburgh.
Thomas lived a long life, considering his profession, dying at home in Edinburgh of bronchitis in 1895. What is more surprising about this tale, is that his descendants had no idea of this incident. All they knew was Great, Great, Grandad Thomas was as bald as a coot due to a firework accident.
Isn’t it strange how much is lost in the telling of a family tale.
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