First person to raise alarm over Great Fire of London identified 357 years later

The first person to raise the alarm about a blaze that became the Great Fire of London has been revealed 357 years after the inferno.

It is widely known the fire began at Thomas Farriner’s bakery in Pudding Lane on 2 September 1666 and burned down four-fifths of the city in four days.

The identity of the person who first witnessed the blaze has now emerged following new research – his name was Thomas Dagger.

Mr Dagger was a baker in Mr Farriner’s bakery. A letter from MP Sir Edward Harley is the most detailed account of other people in the building at the time, revealing Mr Dagger “discovered” the Great Fire.

The letter read Mr Farriner’s “man” – meaning his servant or journeyman – was woken after 1am “with the choke of the smoke”.

This was concluded to be Mr Dagger.

He, along with Mr Farriner and his daughter, escaped out of an upper window although sources dispute whether a maid perished inside or was present at all.

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Kate Loveman is behind the research that identified Mr Dagger for the first time.

The University of Leicester professor used letters, pamphlets, and legal and guild records as part of her research, saying Mr Dagger’s role “has gone unrecognised” during that infamous night.

Ms Loveman said: “Although most of the evidence about the Farriners is well known to historians, Thomas Dagger’s role has gone unrecognised.

“Unlike the Farriners, his name didn’t become associated with the fire at the time.

“Soon after the disaster, he merges back into the usual records of restoration life, having children and setting up his own bakery. His is a story about the fire, but also about how Londoners recovered.”

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How the fire spread

The inferno rapidly consumed the city spreading from one timber house to another and ravaged warehouses which contained combustible goods, like oil and tallow.

Owing to a 1633 fire which destroyed a water wheel at London Bridge, water could not be pumped through the city, so basic buckets were used to try and extinguish the flames.

To stop the Great Fire, a firebreak was created using gunpowder to blow up houses in the path of the blaze.

A total of 13,200 houses were destroyed in the inferno, along with numerous parish churches, and other sites around London were damaged like The Guildhall and The Royal Exchange.

Just six people were officially recorded to have lost their lives, but the Great Fire meant almost 85% of London’s population was homeless. Also, the number of deaths is thought to be much higher.

It cost £10m to rebuild the capital using stone and brick, when its annual income was only £12,000 a year. And it took 30 years to complete the work.

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