A Miscellany of 'Firsts' on the London Underground
First crash | First poem | First pickpocket | First jokes
Welcome to Londonist: Time Machine’s Friday newsletter for paying subscribers, with a bumper teaser for everyone else.
We’re heading beneath the city today, back to the early years of the London Underground. I’m digging deep into the archives to find a few notable (or unusual) ‘firsts’. Who was the first subterranean pickpocket, graffiti writer, or crash victim? What was the first poem about the Underground? And who was the first to be stabbed in the eye with an umbrella?
That’s for the main section. First, the History Radar…
History Radar
Upcoming events for fans of London history.
⛪️ MUSIC IN CHURCHES: From 18 June, 12 concerts of classical, choral, chamber and jazz music take place at historic churches around the Square Mile, including St Giles Cripplegate and St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate. This year's Summer Music in City Churches has a theme of Eternal Light, and some of the concerts take place at lunchtime, so worth bookmarking if you work in the area. Begins tonight with a performance of Fauré Requiem at St Giles Cripplegate.
🏢 TALKING BUILDINGS: The work of late architect Richard Rogers is the subject of the latest exhibition at Sir John Soane's Museum. Talking Buildings showcases him as a thinker, campaigner, humanist and activist, as well as the designer of iconic buildings including Lloyd's of London, the O2 dome, and Paris's Pompidou Centre. That’s on 18 June.
🎶 MUSIC LATE: Strawberry Hill House in Twickenham stays open late on 19 June for a summer live music evening. Apollo’s Cabinet perform the music of 18th-century singer and comedienne Kitty Clive, who was a friend of Strawberry Hill owner Horace Walpole. Performances begin in the garden and continue through the evening in the historic rooms, which you're free to explore at your own pace. Picnics in the garden are welcome.
🇯🇲 WINDRUSH DAY: The National Maritime Museum marks Windrush Day 2025 with a day of creative workshops, talks and discussions, about the legacy and significance of the Windrush generation. The Caribbean Social Forum leads board games, the Migration Museum pops up to collect and share people's stories, and a model of the Almanzora, which travelled from Caribbean to Southampton in 1947, before the Empire Windrush, is on display. This one’s on 21 June.
🙋🏽♀️ A WOMAN'S WORLD: Women’s history is highlighted through an afternoon of talks at Conway Hall, spanning topics including murderous early modern women, traitorous wives, greedy mistresses and spiteful witches. Paula Akpan discusses the queens and warriors who ruled vast swathes of the African continent, Blessin Adams talks about female killers in early modern Britain, and Sarah Lonsdale delves into how women reclaimed their place on expeditions to remote parts of the planet. Also on 21 June.
🚌 BUS MUSEUM FESTIVAL: On 22 June, venture a smidge beyond the London border into Surrey for Summer Festival at the London Bus Museum. View a range of heritage vehicles, take tours of the local area in a 1950s/1960s RT or Routemaster bus, and shop for books, models, old uniforms, badges and memorabilia.
🚃 VINTAGE TRAM POSTERS: Time's running out to see London's Tramway Posters, a free exhibition of 40 vintage London tram posters on show at the London Archives, dating from 1922-1933. The designs encouraged Londoners of a century ago to use the tram network for leisure purposes, including days out at Hampstead Heath and the British Museum. It ends on 26 June.
🗣️ I’M DOING A TALK: It’s a couple of week’s away, but only a few tickets remain for the London Salon (26 June) on the theme of ‘Lost London’. My friend and historian Vic Keegan will talk about the lost buildings and structures of London. My remit is to explore the idea of ‘Lost Londoners’ — people who made an important contribution to the capital, but have been largely forgotten. But, knowing me, I’ll anecdote off into other Londony matters, too. It’s at the Horse Hospital in Bloomsbury. Hope to see a few of you there.
A Miscellany of ‘Firsts’ on the London Underground
It all began on 10 January 1863. The world’s first underground passenger railway opened to the public. The origins of the Metropolitan Railway, from Paddington to Farringdon, are well documented. So instead of rehashing that, I’d instead like to dig into some notable and unusual ‘firsts’ on the railway. We’ll start with the more serious stuff, then get gradually more lighthearted.
The first accident on the underground railway
Farringdon station was the scene of the very first crash on the running railway. The collision happened on Friday 27 February 1863, just seven weeks after the line opened. A departing train struck another coming in from Paddington, after an error by a pointsman had sent it down the wrong track. We learn from news reports that around 25 people were injured, often with cuts to the head and face. Mr James Best and Mrs Charlotte Shortland received the most serious injuries, and we may consider them to be the first passengers to be harmed while riding the London Underground.
The line was cleared and reopened within half an hour. Today, it would (rightly) have been declared a major incident with serious ramifications, but the Victorians just got on with things.
First fatal accident on the railway
It would be almost four years before the first fatal accident on the Metropolitan Railway. The location was again just outside Farringdon, but this time in the opposite direction at Barbican station, then called Aldersgate Street.
The tragedy occurred on 19 December 1866. The fatal blow came from above rather than from another train. A four-ton girder fell from the construction site of Smithfield Market, just over the tracks. It smashed through the roof of a second-class carriage with devastating results. One lady, 68-year-old Sarah Johnson, was killed immediately, "her skull having been frightfully fractured and her neck broken". Two other passengers in the car (Henry Lukey and Charles Passmore) and the guardsman (Charles Dant) were thrown onto the tracks. They were found still alive beneath the girder, but "crushed by its superincumbent weight... fearfully mutilated". St Bartholomew's Hospital was mercifully close to the site but the three could not be saved.
Once again, the line was up and running within half an hour.
The first subterranean pickpocket
Crowds of people huddled together on dimly lit platforms made for a pickpocket’s paradise. Petty theft was rife. As far as I can tell, the earliest trial for pickpocketing occurred on 28 January, just 18 days after the line opened. The alleged malefactor was John Rice, a “stylishly dressed” 17-year-old. He was accused of lifting a purse from a Mrs Clementson, who was awaiting a train at Gower Street (now Euston Square) station. He seems to have been acquitted, for he appeared again in court later that year on similar charges (which he again overcame).
The first fatal umbrella attack
Gower Street was also the scene of the network’s first known death by umbrella. While riding the Metropolitan Railway, Mr Frederick Klein got into a heated argument with James Vaughan, who had squeezed into the already overcrowded carriage. “I’m a first-class passenger,” claimed Vaughan, as if that should merit him a place. “If you are, then you have not a first-class tongue,” countered Klein. After much exchange of insults, Klein alighted at Gower Street. He was followed onto the platform by Vaughan who proceeded to ram the point of his umbrella into his opponent’s eye. The injury proved fatal, but only after a few days of agony. The delay meant that Vaughan could only be charged with manslaughter rather than murder. Bizarrely, he received only a 12-month sentence for the appalling attack.
The first person to ride on the London Underground
Now this would be quite a claim to fame, wouldn’t it? Sadly, the names of the first passengers are lost to history (or hidden in an archive somewhere). We do know that the first trial with passengers who weren’t railway men occurred on 28 November 1861.
A group of journalists boarded a train at Great Western (Paddington) and took a short run to Chapel Street (Edgware Road). They then strolled through the tunnels to Euston Square, where another train took them to King's Cross. Said one adjective-spewing reporter: "The tunnels, instead of being close, dark, damp, and ill-smelling passages, are wide, spacious, clean, and excellently well lit, resembling more a well-kept street by night than a subterranean passage through the very heart of the metropolis".
The names of the journalists are not recorded, but we do know that the journey included railway bigwigs John Fowler (chief engineer) and WH Wilkinson (Chair), and a secretary by the curious name of Mr Henchman. These, then, are the first named individuals ever to ride on London Underground. I’ve told the story in more depth in a previous article.
In case you’re wondering, the famous image of William Gladstone riding in an open-topped wagon (see below) occurred almost half a year later. This was the first train to run the full length of the line with passengers:
First poetry on the Underground
According to a contemporary Punch magazine, the following stanza was pinned to the insides of carriages in January 1864.