When scrolling through endless newspapers and online articles dating  back to the 1800s, I’m amazed at how many stories I come across on a  daily basis where a child has died in an unfortunate accident or has  been murdered by either their own parents or by some assailant whom they  may never have seen before. And on each occasion, I think of a famous  quote made by American playright – Stephen Adly Guirgis; “No parent  should have to bury a child … No mother should have to bury a son.  Mothers are not meant to bury sons. It is not in the natural order of  things.”

It goes without saying that he is absolutely correct and yet the stories are never ending.

And with that being said, today’s story does contain upsetting  material involving many children that found themselves in a truly  frightening situation back on Friday the 1st March 1867 in the small  town of Accrington.

Now Accrington, is situated within approximately 4 miles east of  Blackburn, 6 miles west of Burnley and 13 miles of Preston in the North  West of England.

With the introduction of the Industrial Revolution  in the mid-eighteenth century, the population within the town rocketed  and by the 19th century it was reported that around 43,000 people  resided in the town. Being mainly known for its textiles and coal mining  activities, people flooded into the area all looking for work which  brought with it many issues such as poor living conditions, poor  education and poor hygiene and of course crime.

Our story today takes place during 1867 when Accrington was facing one of its toughest periods as the Lancashire Cotton Famine that occurred between 1861 and 1865 had badly affected the town. Some  factories had over produced but had nowhere to sell it too, whilst many  more had an overabundance of raw cotton that filled their entire  warehouses. This resulted in mass unemployment leaving almost half of  the town’s population without work. From what was once one of Britain’s  most prosperous places to live and work, the area had quickly become one  of the most impoverished.