The next morning he received a telephone call telling him Gerry was dead. For some it was seen as a chance to lay to rest the ghosts of 439 New Cross Road. Frustrated by the polices inquests, on January 20, black Britons began organizing. I don't think so. When the illness was first recorded in detail, it was called ignis sacer (or, "holy fire,") and according to Lapham's Quarterly, that first in-depth mention came way back in 994. View Anthony Birbeck, MBE, FRSA'S professional profile on LinkedIn. The New Cross Fire (January 18, 1981) On Sunday, January 18, 1981, thirteen black youths attending a birthday party in Deptford, South London was killed in an alleged racially-motivated house fire. [9] This second inquest also resulted in an open verdict. Anthony Birbeck Please use the search above if you cannot find the record you require. Published: Feb. 22, 2023 at 7:59 AM PST. Join Facebook to connect with Anthony Birbeck and others you may know. Commander Graham Stockwell, head of south London CID . Through the occupation of urban space, the marchers filled the silence rendered by the states indifference to the loss of Black lives and proclaimed: Come what may, we are here to stay. But attempts to get a new inquest were twice rejected, until the High Court finally agreed to demands in 2002. 2021 Associated Newspapers Limited. Film director Steve McQueen, who made a BBC documentary on the tragedy earlier this year, said the blaze and its aftermath were 'momentous events in our nation's history'. The poet Nefertiti Gayle later memorialised the tragedy alongside acts of racist violence in London, the United States, and Apartheid South Africa.[1]. A new investigation into the blaze that killed 13 young black people at a London party 23 years ago suggests that a group of adults inside the house was to blame. About me. CROSS-FIRE & SECURITY CO.,INC. The New Cross Massacre Action Committee (NCMAC) was set up, chaired by John La Rose,[2] and organised weekly meetings in New Cross, which saw increasing participation as the police investigation announced that there was no evidence of arson and that the fire was believed to be accidental. The victims of the fire were all young Black, Mixed Race, British people between the ages of 14 and 22. He added: : The one thing that people cant seem to get into their heads is this: the fire started inside the party, not outside. 439, New Cross Road. It seeks to deepen understandings of the past, cast light on the present and agitate for change in the world we live in now. Do you find this information helpful? There was a significant amount of racial tension across London. Yvonne's brother Paul, aged 22, also perished. Nine people were killed and 20 injured in a blaze which engulfed a house early this morning in south London. We needed to give it the platform itdeserved.. My wife started screaming. This theory was corroborated by eyewitnesses who reported having seen a white man drive away from the house in a light-coloured Austin Princess moments after the fire had started. The New Cross house fire was a fire that occurred during a party at a house in New Cross, south-east London, in the early hours of Sunday, 18 January 1981.The blaze killed 13 young black people aged between 14 and 22, and one survivor killed himself two years later. Petition text. Forego a bottle of soda and donate its cost to us for the information you just learned, and feel good about helping to make it available to everyone. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in. View this record View. Two inquests into the victims' deaths gave an open verdict. Leverage your professional network, and get hired. Protesters travelled from across England to attend the eight-hour march, which set off from Fordham Park in New Cross a short walk from the scene of the fire. On 1 March, the Daily Mail falsely reported that several of the fire survivors were arrested and would face severe charges in what black Britons saw as an attempt to undermine the demonstration and the black communitys inquest into the house fire. No one has ever been charged in relation to the incident. Peter Bleksley, a police constable in Peckham in 1981, says his colleagues joked that New Cross should be renamed Blackfriars. The projections are now to make retirement at 67 by 2028 (not mandatory, just the starting age). . Moreover, local far-right extremism and the longer history of racist arson attacks in the area suggested that the fire was a deliberate attack. Cross Fire: With Han Lu, Lei Wu, Shuailiang Liu, Francis Wong. Peter Fryer, Staying Power: History of Black People in Britain. Lebanon police arrested 27-year-old Anthony Boisvert, of Lebanon, in connection with the incident. It led to 20,000 people taking part in a mass protest, and is seen as a catalyst for the notorious Brixton riots in April of the same year, 1981. Its a sentiment shared by Hassan Howe. Rumours spread it was a racist petrol bomb attack but the Metropolitan Police believed the fire started inside the property. In October 2002, Lewisham council installed a special stained-glass window at the church in their memory. Search by Name Search . When safety doesn't come first! He adds: There was no outpouring of sympathy. A source close to the inquiry said: 'Smithyman said he had a laugh with the arsonist while they were lying on a flat roof opposite the fire on the night. 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Biography. The loss of so many of his friends became intolerable for him and he died after falling from a block of flats. 1 He held the office of Deputy Lieutenant (D.L.) [40], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}512833N 00149W / 51.4757N 0.0304W / 51.4757; -0.0304, Last edited on 24 February 2023, at 13:53, "Inquest begins into 14 victims of 1981 fire", "Report says New Cross fire was not race attack", "Did the New Cross fire create a black British identity? [2] The coroner said that the fire was probably started deliberately by one of the guests, but as he could not be sure of this, he returned an open verdict.[10]. He had to pause our interview just to take a call from a well-wisher about this very topic. Initially. Witnesses stated that he threw a Molotov cocktail into the house party. The disaster claimed a 14th victim two years later when 20-year-old Anthony Berbeck took his own life in 1983 because of what an inquest judge called "trauma brought on by the fire". It featured contributions from Alex Pascall, Gus John, filmmaker Menelik Shabazz, novelist Courttia Newland and musicians Janet Kay and Carroll Thompson. Required fields are marked *. Before the New Cross Fire, black homes and community centers were targeted and burnt down. On March 2, an estimated 20,000 demonstrators including members of the Black Panther Party, Black Parents Movement, and Black Youth Movement, marched in one of the most massive demonstrations against racial injustice in British history. And he went and kissed his father and that was the last we saw of my son. For a generation of black Britons, the New Cross fire ranks alongside the Brixton riots and treatment of the Windrush migrants to Britain as a symbol of this country's troubled attitude towards race relations. But Ruddock says black people were united in an increasingly hostile environment. ", George Francis, Gerry's father and chair of the New Cross Parents' Committee, told BBC London: "Some people have gone mental through this fire. "There were no condolences from the government, there were no condolences from the palace," said Ms Ruddock. Another guest, Anthony Berbeck became the 14th victim two years later. He has published on inequality and the inner city in Britain, and his article Truth, Justice, and Expertise in 1980s Britain: the Cultural Politics of the New Cross Massacre appears inHistory Workshop Journal issue 91, where it is available on free access. In 2021after a year which saw Black Lives Matter protesters once again take to streets across the world in protest against racist violence, and people of colour disproportionately impacted by coronavirusthere has never been a more urgent moment to remember the victims of past racial violence, and, just as anti-racists in New Cross and beyond did forty years ago, to resist the racism endemic in modern British society. 1 . If you do the research, youll find out that this information came out before. Feelings of anger in the black community were compounded by the fact that neither the Queen nor the government of the day, under Margaret Thatcher, offered formal condolences to the families of the New Cross fire victims. True justice would look like 65 Black people, who were affected by the fire, being made multi millionaires by the Government where they havent received compensation, Mr Haynes said. A new investigation into the blaze that killed 13 young black people at a London party 23 years ago suggests that a group of adults inside the house was to blame. Our assessments, publications and research spread knowledge, spark enquiry and aid understanding around the world. Many of the victims' families and the survivors attended the event. ', A Met spokesman said: 'We thoroughly investigated the circumstances of the fire in 1981. Truth, Justice, and Expertise in 1980s Britain: the Cultural Politics of the New Cross Massacre. 23,831 brave WW2 seamen remembered on the monument at Tower Hill. Read More About Us. [12], The New Cross fire, described by Darcus Howe in 2011 as "the blaze we cannot forget", is significant as a turning point in the relationship between Black Britons, the police and the media, and marks an "intergenerational alliance to expose racism, injustices and the plight of black Britons". Linton Kwesi Johnson, the Jamaican-born Dub poet, describes the day of action as the most powerful expression of black political power this country has ever seen. A second Coroners inquest into the New Cross fire held in 2002 also returned an open verdictthough, crucially, the partygoers were fully cleared of any responsibility. The verdict was disputed by those who believed that the fire had been the result of a racist arson attack, and the conduct of the Inner South London Coroner, who oversaw the inquest, caused particular dismay, exposing systemic flaws in the investigation of controversial deaths. Upstairs, oblivious partygoers were dancing to The Wailing Souls Kingdom Rise Kingdom Fall. No one has ever been charged in connection with the fire, which forensic science subsequently established started inside the house. Dr. Gretchen L. Birbeck is a neurologist in Rochester, New York and is affiliated with Strong Memorial Hospital of the University of Rochester. 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