The North of England Match Factory Fire, 1954

Guest Post by Museum of Hartlepool volunteer David Nicholson whose father, Edwin Derrick Nicholson, had been employed at the Match Factory at the time.  Davids article reflects the events of the North of England Match Factory Fire which took place on the 30^th August 1954 and the effect it had on Hartlepool docks and the employees who worked at the factory.

A sample of the safety matches produced by the North of England Match Company.

The North of England Match Factory was situated in Swainson Dock.  The Company was established in 1932 and produced over thirty two million matches per week by 1954. One early sales ploy was the insertion of five shilling gift vouchers in selected boxes.

The fire started shortly after 4pm when a spark from one of the machines ignited. In a very short space of time the fire gutted the whole of one of the great warehouses which were an imposing feature of Hartlepool’s waterfront.

Due to the nature of the factory the Durham County Fire Brigade were called in and initially provided 10 fire appliances. Huge crowds gathered in Church Street to watch the blaze with some people buying platform tickets at the station to get a better view.

North Eastern Railway (NER) tugs attempting to extinguish the flames

Firemen attempting to extinguish the flames from floating platforms on the water

The cost of the damage was estimated to be around half a million pounds.

Doreen was one of the employees working inside the factory when the fire started. The workers were told to evacuate the building until the smoke cleared but then the fire took hold and they were told to return the next day. They came back to find that the fire had destroyed the building and they never returned to work there again. Doreen remembers that everyone was able to claim for anything that they lost in the fire, including coats. According to Doreen, fires were a regular occurrence at the factory when matches in the machines rubbed together.

The burnt-out shell of the factory was considered unsafe by docks officials after receiving reports from their experts. Demolition workers were employed to carry out the work. The foreman Mr William Brown of Glasgow and his fellow workers were engaged in clearing the interior of the building and salvaged everything possible.

Match Factory ablaze

Match Factory collapsing

About 100 Women were left jobless by the blaze. Many colliery area women and girls as well as those who lived locally worked in the match factory but quite a number of younger girls quickly found employment.

The Directors of the Company thought long and hard about rebuilding, however due to the cost and competition from home and abroad this was considered unviable. The question of alternative employment was considered at the time and one of the suggestions was the introduction of an industry connected with aircraft and its components.

Firemen at Match Factory Fire

All photographs copyright to the Museum of Hartlepool

Please see our Flickr page for more photographs of the Match Factory Fire in Hartlepool