Crushed by a Steam Roller

An epidemic of grisly flattenings; PLUS Putin's kill list and a great-grandmother's guide to murder

The Illustrated Police News was a lurid Victorian-era weekly tabloid that presented gleefully illustrated accounts of grisly crimes and tragic accidents, like this one from December 1894, titled “Crushed by a Steam Roller”:

“A shocking fatality has occurred in Reading, a young man named Simmonds being crushed to death by a steam roller. Simmonds was employed to walk by the side of the roller with a view to notifying the driver to stop when necessary. He is supposed to have become giddy, and to have fallen under the roller, which passed over him and completely flattened him, the body presenting a frightful spectacle.”

A trawl through the archives uncovers further details about Thomas Simmons, who was an 18-year-old flagman (tasked with controlling passing traffic), and reveals a startling epidemic of similar incidents. In 1894 alone, there were at least five incidents of individuals being crushed by steam rollers in England, including labourer William Coles in Ilminster, flagman James Barratt in Stafford, William Gilbey in Kensington, London, and Simeon Holmes in Yeadon, West Yorkshire. A search beyond that year reveals many others.

In February 1874, on Baker Street in London, Charles Herbert stumbled and fell under a steam roller that was reversing along the road. “His arms and legs and his whole body were completely crushed,” said one newspaper, adding needlessly, “He was dead.” It was suspected that the death might have been a suicide, but an inquest found no evidence to corroborate this.

In 1877, 12-year-old William McSweeney, despite being warned away by workers, fell under a roller at Paddington, London. An inquest expressed the hope that his death might act as a warning to other boys. It did not.

In May 1895, a group of young boys took a ride on the back of a steam roller as it drove through Gawcott, near Birmingham. One of the boys, an eight-year-old named Richardson, lost his footing, fell under the roller, and was crushed. “The noise of the roller on the road drowned the cries of the other boys,” said one report. “Death was, of course, instantaneous.”

In 1889, 22-year-old Frederick Perrons, a clerk employed at a lace curtain factory, committed suicide in the most horrendous manner by deliberately lying down in front of a steam roller that was repairing a road in Hyson Green, Nottingham.

In the same year, Augustus Warren stumbled and fell under a steam roller in Cork, Ireland. The hind wheel ran over him, “completely severing the head from the body.” “The sight was a ghastly one, the brains being scattered and smeared all over the crossing,” reported the Weekly Irish Times.

The archives contain many further incidents, stretching into the early 20th century, perhaps reflecting the increase in road building during this period. Other flattened victims included John Banner in Bishop Auckland in 1904, George Tyler in Gloucester in 1908, Frank Todd at Broadwater in 1910, Charles Miller at Easteron near Devizes in 1914, and dozens or perhaps scores more.

A postscript to this story concerns an article that appeared in the Spiritualist magazine in 1874. On the evening of Saturday, 21 February 1874, a group of six friends met at the home of Mrs Makdougall Gregory in Grosvenor Square, London. In the middle of dinner, one of the guests, who claimed to be a medium, suddenly announced that he felt a spirit standing near him. The spirit was apparently in a state of great distress.

The medium went to the drawing room, where he was given a pencil and paper. He proceeded to draw an object that resembled “a kind of cart or truck” and wrote the message, “I killed myself. I killed myself today. Baker Street.” The medium then rose from his seat in a state of trance and announced, “Yes! Yes! Killed myself today under a steam roller. Yes! Yes! Killed myself. Blood, blood, blood!”

Saturday, 21 February 1874, was the same day that Charles Herbert was crushed by a steam roller in Baker Street. According to the Spiritualist article, neither the medium nor any of the other guests could have been aware of this terrible incident, and this was conclusive proof of spiritualism. Whether or not that was true, it was certainly a conclusive warning to keep well away from steam rollers.◆

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Note: I’ve used “steam roller” rather than “steamroller” in this post, as that was the usual historical term for a roller powered by steam.

Main sources: Illustrated Police News, 8 December 1894; Morning Advertiser, 24 February 1874; The Echo, 2 July 1877; Waterford Standard, 15 May 1895; Weekly Irish Times, 23 November 1895; Spiritualist, March 1874.