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Friday 12 Dec 2025

London's Charing Cross station remembers 120 years since tragic roof collapse

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Southern

| Southern: Kent

The lives of six people have been remembered at Charing Cross station, 120 years to the day since part of the station’s roof collapsed, as Network Rail unveiled a commemorative plaque.

London’s Charing Cross station has marked the moment 120 years ago when part of the station’s roof collapsed, killing six people, shortly before 4:00pm on Tuesday 5th December 1905.

The tragedy, in which 30 people were also injured, was remembered in a short and dignified ceremony attended by members of the public and station staff.

Newspapers of the time reported on the death of Alfred Birch, 37 a painter who lived in Fulham; Willie Adams Coates, aged 38, an assistant advertisement inspector who worked for W.H. Smith and Sons; William Blackwell, 24, a plasterer from Battersea; George Austen, aged 24, an engineer’s labourer from Catford; Thomas Richards, aged 39, a carpenter living near Euston station; and Alfred Francis Ferguson Jones, aged 38, a painter from Bermondsey.

Reports suggested that some 300 men were engaged in the operation to clear away the debris and find survivors, with the work proceeding throughout the night with the aid of searchlights.

The inquest into the disaster was opened by Mr J. Troutbeck, the coroner for the Westminster district. Such was the public concern at the time that the Queen, the wife of then-monarch King Edward VII, had telegraphed to the Charing Cross Hospital asking to be informed of the condition of those injured.

Graham Jones, Alfred Jones’ great-grandson, has been working to research the incident on the 120^th anniversary in order to remember what happened. It is hoped this will spur interest in trying to find other descendants of those who lost their lives. Graham contacted staff at the station to see if a memorial plaque could be placed at the station, remembering the six people who died.

Graham, who lives in Kent, visited Charing Cross on Friday 5^th December with his family.

Graham said: “I am delighted that this plaque is being unveiled to commemorate those who died in this dreadful disaster 120 years ago today, including my great-grandfather Alfred Jones who was working on the roof when it collapsed.

“This plaque will serve as a lasting tribute to them not just for us but also for future generations. I would like to thank Network Rail for making this happen and for marking this anniversary in this way today.”

Alwayne Carty, Network Rail’s station manager at Charing Cross, said: “At Charing Cross station our focus is putting the safety of our passengers and colleagues first, and everyone getting home safely, every single day. Nothing is more important to people who work at Network Rail and across the South Eastern Railway, and there has been a considerable change in safety culture and practice across the whole railway in the last 120 years.

“As we mark 200 years since the birth of the modern railway in 2025, we thought it only right that significant occasions in the history our station are marked properly, and I want to thank my colleagues who have worked to make that happen, and to Graham Jones and his family for agreeing to take part in this event honouring Alfred, and the other five men who either lost their lives or were injured.”

Since 1905, Charing Cross has been rebuilt or extensively modified several times, and the current building shows no signs of the accident.

Notes to editors

Main picture credit: Graham Jones was joined at Charing Cross on Friday by Kevin Jones, another of Alfred’s great-grandsons; Samuel, Alex and Elliot Jones, Alfred’s great, great grandsons; and Graham’s wife, Stella Jones.