The Cambridge First All-Ladies Fire Brigade

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Why start a Fire Brigade?

Girton College Fire Brigade, 1880. Hertha is on the left, holding a bucket. (image via Physics World)

Towards the end of the October term of 1878, two Girton students watched a haystack burn to the ground in a nearby field. Together, they wondered what terrible price would be paid by the College and its students if the same thing happened closer to home… and resolved to found an all-women Fire Brigade at Girton College. Those two students were Gertrude Jackson and Sarah Marks, known to us today as Hertha Ayrton, the central character of our musical.

Girton College had been built two miles away from the centre of Cambridge, in part to protect its women students from the attentions and distractions of male students enrolled in the City colleges. But being so far away from Cambridge’s amenities did nothing to protect it from fire. In fact, it made Girton even more vulnerable to anything that required a coordinated emergency response.

The College had made some attempts to safeguard against fire before 1878, by installing three small fire engines on the three corridors, but these were not well-maintained and the students had not been trained to use them. At some point, attempts were made to practice with them but it:

“…ended in a wild frolic, and the drenching of some student’s rooms… and, naturally enough, had been put a stop to.”

But this 1878 Fire Brigade was different. Sarah, or Hertha as we will call her throughout our blog posts, worked hard to bring all parts of the college on board with her plan. Officers and members were recruited, money was raised to buy equipment and an action plan was formed, to be followed by the GCFB’s “men” – the name give to women recruits from across the College community – in the event of a fire.

Special permission was granted for Hertha and a friend to visit Captain Shaw of the London Fire Brigade, to ask for advice on their training programme. After a rocky start (Captain Shaw began with “To tell the truth, ladies are of no use in these cases”) the Girton “men” soon proved themselves by climbing a ladder just as well as any other fire fighter. Shaw and his officers gave their visitors the advice they sought, from best practice in fire drills to unravelling the mystery of rope knots which could be used to safely lower people from windows.

With regular weekly practice, rope-tying classes, surprise alarm drills and fines for members who failed to turn up to practice, Girton College Fire Brigade was a serious undertaking, and was taken seriously by its members too.

Not everyone was convinced, however. The official newspaper of Harvard University published one anonymous writer’s thoughts about the Girton crew in 1884:

“The truth is, the duties of a fireman and a lady are entirely incompatible, and it is not creditable that the Girton girls have resolved to imitate the typical fireman… They wear a pretty uniform, with feathers in their hats and flowing sashes of pink ribbon… They have signed a pledge never to go up a step ladder in public, no matter how confident any one of their number may be as to the shapeliness of her ankles… in case they cannot put out a fire in a ladylike way they will scream for the police, and select eligible officers with whom to faint away.”

Girton College Fire Brigade continued as an entity until 1932. Although they were only called upon once in 1918 to put out an actual fire in the nearby village, they continue as symbol that Girton students can meet any challenge that confronts them.

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