Nevertheless, the popular press focused overwhelmingly on the minor disturbances that occurred on an otherwise overwhelmingly peaceful demonstration. LinkedIn is the world's largest business network, helping professionals like Anthony Birbeck, MBE, FRSA discover inside connections to recommended job candidates, industry experts, and business partners. Yet the survivors and bereaved families are still here waiting for compensation.. Uprising connects three chapters in recent British history through powerful testimonials and archive footage: the New Cross fire and the Black Peoples Day of Action, when 20,000 people marched on central London to protest against the silence from the state. "I hope the people inside the house will be called to give evidence.". A new investigation into the blaze that killed 13 young black people at a London party 23 years ago suggests that a group of adults inside the house was to blame. The group also plan to launch a charity to support those affected by the tragedy and help forward the aspirations of young, Black people of Caribbean heritage. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Petition text. As the clock ticked past midnight on 18 January 1981, a house party in New Cross, south-east London, was just getting started. Meanwhile Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher failed to send condolences despite sending a similar letter to the Taoiseach following the Stardust nightclub fire in Dublin three weeks later. Published: Feb. 22, 2023 at 7:59 AM PST. Find 10 people named Stephen Birbeck along with free Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok profiles on PeekYou - true people search. Speaking exclusively to i, Ruddock says: The party was brilliant. The blaze killed 13 young black people aged between 14 and 22, and one survivor killed himself two years later.[1]. Initial rumours of a racist attack carried out by far right groups were too easily overlooked by police, it has been claimed. See full bio More at IMDbPro Contact Info: View agent, publicist, legal on IMDbPro Known For Cast Away Location Management (2000) Most Daring Producer (2007-2010) I Married a Murderer Producer (2017-2018) Coach Charming Producer (2015) In the immediate aftermath of the fire, a New Cross Massacre Action Committee (NCMAC) was set up, chaired by John La Rose, which organised a "Black People's Day of Action" on 2 March 1981, when some 20,000 people marched over a period of eight hours through London, carrying placards that bore statements including: "13 Dead, Nothing Said". Do you find this information helpful? The new police inquiry, involving fresh interviews with witnesses, has now formally established that the blaze started when a naked flame was applied to a foam-filled armchair in the living-room. When they arrived, heavy smoke and flames were coming from the home. Shepton Mallet, Somerset, BA4. Pedestrian, 49, who swore at 77-year-old cycling on the pavement who then veered into road and was struck by Are you allowing your bank to rip you off? Shepton Mallet, Somerset, BA4. But forensic evidence then suggested it began inside the house. By 2015, huge parts of the promenade collapsed during a storm and a fire set some of the buildings ablaze including the clock tower. It led to 20,000 people taking part in a mass protest, and is seen as a catalyst for the notorious Brixton riots in April of the same year, 1981. The first documented instances of St. Anthony's Fire. "There were no condolences from the government, there were no condolences from the palace," said Ms Ruddock. A new investigation into the blaze that killed 13 young black people at a London party 23 years ago suggests that a group of adults inside the house was to blame. 1 Child of Major Henry Anthony Birkbeck Major William Birkbeck+ 2 b. Peter Bleksley, a police constable in Peckham in 1981, says his colleagues joked that New Cross should be renamed Blackfriars. [40], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}512833N 00149W / 51.4757N 0.0304W / 51.4757; -0.0304, Last edited on 24 February 2023, at 13:53, "Inquest begins into 14 victims of 1981 fire", "Report says New Cross fire was not race attack", "Did the New Cross fire create a black British identity? Post Coronavirus lockdown I have returned to seeing clients face to face but am continuing to . The story of the New Cross house fire of 1981, in which 13 young black British people died, and how its aftermath ignited an uprising by the black British community. In 2021after a year which saw Black Lives Matter protesters once again take to streets across the world in protest against racist violence, and people of colour disproportionately impacted by coronavirusthere has never been a more urgent moment to remember the victims of past racial violence, and, just as anti-racists in New Cross and beyond did forty years ago, to resist the racism endemic in modern British society. He was 14 at the time and claims he had tried to gatecrash the party with another teenager. These were not just national events that got brushed under the carpet, these were personal events for me. 17,029 pages were read in the last minute. I recently learnt that Paul ran into the house several times. ', A Met spokesman said: 'We thoroughly investigated the circumstances of the fire in 1981. But Ruddock says black people were united in an increasingly hostile environment. ", George Francis, Gerry's father and chair of the New Cross Parents' Committee, told BBC London: "Some people have gone mental through this fire. Its a state ofbarbarism.. It seeks to deepen understandings of the past, cast light on the present and agitate for change in the world we live in now. I was told not to go and identify the body and I'm glad I did not.". Tony Birbeck Director at Centurion Financial Planning Durham, England, United Kingdom 72 followers 71 connections Join to connect Centurion Financial Planning Activity https://lnkd.in/dSyWCQM It. Would the same happen if it had been 13 young white children? LTO at Shaw Industries. And that was when I decided I've got to move, I've got to get out of here.". 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The event was hosted by Kwame Kwei-Armah and was an evening of spoken word, film, discussion and Lovers rock music. The final day of 47-year-old Lindsay's life, August 12, 2019, had begun with a shopping trip with her daughter Sarah, to buy a new school uniform. Username. View this record View. No one has ever been charged in relation to the incident. Despite this, it wasnt long before the police began to blame the victims. His other roles included the leads in HBO's first ever mini-series . Read More About Us. The party had started the night before on January 17, 1981 but the fire started around 5.40am the following morning.. England. Meet the Birkbeck family of Norfolk - prominent landowners, Barclay founders and rewilders Updated: Dec 28, 2022 Who Owns Norfolk's research recently identified that the bucolic and expansive ~9,000 acre West Acre Estate is one of the largest remaining country estates in Norfolk. They declared March 2, the Black Peoples Day of Action to demonstrate against the Mets mishandling of the teenagers deaths. The New Cross Massacre became a clarion call for political action at the beginning of a tumultuous year for Black Britons across urban England. She received her medical degree from University. (a) the closure of 10 London fire stations (reducing the number from 112 to 102); (b) the decommissioning of 14 fire appliances (in other words, reducing the number of fire engines from 169 to 155); (c) the reduction by 552 in the number of fire-fighters in London (a reduction of approximately 10% of the total fire- Hassan Howe tells i: It was drizzling and I wondered if people would come. Two inquests into the victims' deaths gave an open verdict. People listen to everything that comes out about the New Cross fire only to get [hopes] built up and then torn back down. New Zealand. And he went and kissed his father and that was the last we saw of my son. The New Cross Fire tragedy highlighted hostility between black Britons, the police and the media. Weeks after the demonstration, Swamp 81, a plainclothes police operation, was launched in Brixton, South London, the heart of the black Briton community. Tony Birbeck is on Facebook. 1 . On 18 January 1981 he was at a party held at 439 New Cross Road, London, SE14 6TA that claimed 13 lives as a result of a fire and subsequently became disturbed following the deaths of his best friends. Initially. He was one of more than 100 youngsters who had gathered at 439 New Cross Road to celebrate 16-year-old Yvonne Ruddock's birthday. Role Active Director Date of birth April 1956 . Anthony Cross is known for Cast Away (2000), Most Daring (2007) and I Married a Murderer (2017). [13], The Action Committee organised a "Black People's Day of Action" on 2 March, when 20,000 people marched over a period of eight hours from Fordham Park to Hyde Park carrying placards that bore statements including: "Thirteen Dead, Nothing Said", "No Police Cover-Up" and "Blood Aga Run If Justice Na Come". He is currently working with 20 other survivors to push for a third inquest in hopes to change the open verdicts, which were returned two times previously in 1981 and 2004, to one which reflects the fact that the victims were unlawfully killed. He was the baby of the family. The parents of the victims have fought tirelessly to discover the truth about why their children died. In the early morning on Sunday 18 January 1981, a fire broke out at 439 New Cross Road in the London Borough of Lewisham. The disaster claimed a 14th victim two years later when 20-year-old Anthony Berbeck took his own life in 1983 because of what an inquest judge called "trauma brought on by the fire". Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. When 48 people died in the Stardust disco fire in Dublin, Ireland, in the early hours of 14 February that year, the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the Queen offered their immediate condolences. Other occupants: Sylvia K Birbeck. There was no shock.. Save my name and email address in this browser for the next time I comment. (London and Sydney: Pluto Press, 1984); Darcus Howe, New Cross: the blaze we cannot forget. The Guardian, 17 Jan 2011. Lovers rock tracks pumped from a sound system as revellers jostled. CROSS for fire safety Region: CROSS-UK Published: 29 March 2021 Neil Gibbins discusses CROSS's expansion into fire safety and the benefits that this will bring to the fire safety sector. Since the article was published over the weekend, social media has been awash with speculation about the cause of the fire while Wayne continues to receive numerous phone calls from campaigners celebrating what has been regarded as a long-awaited uncovering of truth. Stephen Anthony Birbeck, American city official. England, 16 Feb 04 Today, the New Cross Fire remains unsolved. There are 5 ways to get from New Malden to Birkbeck by tram, bus, taxi or car. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); History Workshop is a digital magazine of radical history. (link opens a new window) Support links. Exclusive: A lot of people refuse to do their research because they want to believe that a white person did it; how did the alleged white arsonist get past the doors and into the party? Wayne Haynes told The Independent. From April to the end of the summer of 1981, several significant uprisings occurred in various British cities. The New Cross Fire was a significant turning point in Britain in terms of black Britons, the police and the medias relationship and intergenerational alliance to expose racism, injustices and the plight of black Britons. Your email address will not be published. Lindsay Birbeck (Image: Lancashire Police). The New Cross house fire was a fire that occurred during a party at a house in New Cross, south-east London, in the early hours of Sunday, 18 January 1981.The blaze killed 13 young black people aged between 14 and 22, and one survivor killed himself two years later. Our assessments, publications and research spread knowledge, spark enquiry and aid understanding around the world. [citation needed] Additionally, reggae producer Sir Collins, whose son Steve died in the fire, released a tribute album in memory of the victims. Your email address will not be published. ER 2002-05 Commander Stephen Allen, from the Metropolitan Police, said: "Part of the way we police now comes out of the terrible riots and disorders that we saw in the 1980's, where we came to an understanding that we had to relate differently to the people we work for.". Anthony Cross. [8] The inquest into the deaths of the 13 teenagers, began on 21 April 1981. The exhibition[28] shows photographs documenting the Black People's Day of Action, taken by Vron Ware, who had attended the march on 2 March 1981. Biography. Dr. Gretchen L. Birbeck is a neurologist in Rochester, New York and is affiliated with Strong Memorial Hospital of the University of Rochester. View the profiles of people named Anthony Cross. He had to pause our interview just to take a call from a well-wisher about this very topic. Protesters with Owen Thompson memorial poster, Black Peoples Day of Action, Fordham Park, New Cross, March 2, 1981. No one has ever been charged in connection with the fire, which forensic science subsequently established started inside the house. This Government doesnt care about the people of this country, whether theyre Black or white; theyre quite happy to have in-fighting in this country among the racists and religions in this country because it helps them to keep control, Mr Haynes said. By Andy Gardner and Jake Ryan For The Mail On Sunday, Published: 22:01 GMT, 30 October 2021 | Updated: 02:08 GMT, 31 October 2021, Michael Smithyman, who had been jailed for killing his pregnant girlfriend, was the subject of a police report submitted to the Home Office and was reinterviewed by an elite Scotland Yard unit in 1993. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the infamous New Cross fire in Lewisham, south London where 13 Black youth died at a birthday party in what many believed was an arson attack motivated by racism. The convicted killer, who now lives as a woman in prison, retracted the confessions and denies being present when the New Cross fire started. Before the New Cross Fire, black homes and community centers were targeted and burnt down. Contradictory claims and reports of a supposed fight in the living room complicatedmatters. A forensic report produced for the Met Police in 2011 ruled out a firebomb attack, concluding that the blaze started when someone in the house set an armchair alight. The smoke was jet black. The investigation and the inquiry was bungled. This week, a new inquest will be opened into all 14 deaths following an extensive forensic reinvestigation by police which includes an analysis of the movement of people at the house party. Jeselnik's punch lines are like Kyrie Irving's crossover dribbles: You know they're coming, have a good sense of the direction, and yet you're still surprised. The parents of 17-year-old Gerry Francis, one of the victims, have fought for an. Windows exploded and revellers fled the house. Warning chocolate lovers ultra-processed foods might make you depressed, study claims. Smithyman is now 56 and in jail at HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire. [This is a republication of an article originally published on HWO on 18 January 2021, the fortieth anniversary of the New Cross fire.]. Initially. In addition to the 13 who died in the fire, 27 were injured and a 14th took his own life two years later. He died, aged 20 years, on 9 July 1983, after falling from the balcony of a block of council flats in South London. A 14th victim, who had survived the. The parents of 17-year-old Gerry Francis, one of the victims, have fought for an explanation of what happened ever since. Yvonne loved soft, sweet girl music. The tragedy led to a huge protest march in London in March 1981 and tensions then erupted into ferocious violence when the capital witnessed its worst civil disorder of the 20th Century with the Brixton riots that April. Nearly 100 guests attended the joint birthday party for Yvonne Ruddock and Angela Jackson at Ruddocks three-storey home. Moreover, local far-right extremism and the longer history of racist arson attacks in the area suggested that the fire was a deliberate attack. He died, aged 20 years, on 9 July 1983,after falling from the balcony of a block of council flats in South London. It was a profoundly moving act of memorialisation and defiance. A memorial service which was originally planned to mark the 40th anniversary on Sunday, January . The Witch Trials of JK Rowling makes sensible points. Anthony Birbeck Please use the search above if you cannot find the record you require. | Barling's London", "Hideously diverse Britain: Memories of the New Cross tragedy never fade", "New Cross Fire Memorial Window at St. Andrew's Church, Brockley, London SE4 - detail", "New Cross fire: Memorial service and commemorative plaque unveiling", "New Cross Fire - New Cross Road, London, UK", "Memorial plaque for New Cross fire victims unveiled", "New Cross Fire Memorial in Fordham Park", "13 Dead, Nothing Said" exhibition at Goldsmiths, "13 Dead, Nothing Said" | 16 May 2017 27 May 2017" Exhibition notes, "Photographs uncover 1981 New Cross march for racial equality", "Blood Ah Go Run: New Cross Fire 1981 Documentary", "Linton Kwesi Johnson - New Crass Massahkah", https://www.discogs.com/release/4627678-Sir-Collins-New-Cross-Fire-Page-One, "Jay Bernard wins Ted Hughes new poetry award", "Jay Bernard's 'personal and brave' poetry wins Ted Hughes award", "British writer launches poetry show based on 'New Cross Massacre' which killed 13 Blacks", "Alex Wheatle on the Life Story That Inspired Steve McQueen's Latest Small Axe Film", "Steve McQueen To Co-Direct BBC Race Relations Documentary Series 'Uprising', "30 years after the New Cross fire: challenging racism today", Remembering the New Cross Fire 30 Years On - promotional video, "New Crass Massahkah: Remembering the fire at 439 New Cross Road", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=New_Cross_house_fire&oldid=1141325113, Glenton Powell, age 16 (died in hospital), Yvonne Ruddock, age 16 (died in hospital), This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 13:53. 1981 but the fire started around 5.40am the following morning.. 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