27th October 1887

Collapsing chimney kills a girl

The channel was struck by hurricane force winds at the end of October 1887. Boats broke free of their moorings in Cornwall and were washed out to sea, telegraph poles were blown down, trees uprooted, and homes flooded.

In Jersey, the hurricane reached its peak between one and three in the morning, at which point it blew down the chimney on a house in Bagot Road, which fell through the house to which it was attached and crushed Florence Ahier in her bed. She was killed instantly, and her two aunts, who were sleeping either side of her in the same bed, were seriously injured, according to reports in The Cornish Telegraph the following week.

That wasn’t the only chimney blown down. A schoolmaster was injured when buried beneath the rubble of his own stack, and several churches lost their roofs.

 

FREE Jersey history newsletter

Don't miss our weekly update on Jersey's fascinating history. We promise never to sell your data to anyone else, and there's a super-easy unsubscribe link on the bottom of each email so you can leave whenever you want.

 

 

Other events that occured in October

  • Footballer Greame Le Saux is born
  • Jersey-born Le Saux’s first professional signing was for London club Chelsea, for whom he played his first match aged 21. He stayed for four seasons, during which he made 90 appearances, scoring eight league goals.
  • Read more…