Photograph by J.C. Brown, published as a postcard by G.H. Stonebridge of Midland Road, Bedford, showing the destruction by fire of the premises of Longhurst and Skinner on Midland Road in January 1912.
Longhurst and Skinner was a department store specialising in furniture. Although the building was entirely destroyed by the fire, the shop was subsequently rebuilt and remained in business under its original ownership until 1978.
Augustus Hill
At about 3.00 a.m. on 11 January 1912, a fire had broken out in the rug department on the first floor of Longhurst & Skinners, the building burnt to the ground. Four firemen received burns, including Captain Augustus Hill.
Augustus Hill was born in Bedford in 1850 and served with the Bedford organisation for forty-two years from its foundation in 1870 and had been Captain since 1889. He saw the brigade develop from the days of the ‘manual’ to those of the steam fire engine. He was one of the pioneers of the National Fire Brigades’ Union - for some years, serving as Hon. Secretary of the South Midlands branch of that Union.
Captain Augustus Hill was in command at the 1912 fire and was injured about the hands and face. He died on 19 March 1912 aged sixty-two-years, after a sudden seizure.