NO INCENDIARISM HERE!
The Birmingham Fire Office plaque which
would be fixed to any property insured
by the company. Note how Mr. Hester,
the company’s Northampton agent,
used this fire to draw attention to his
company in the local press.
Northampton Mercury 3 November 1849
INCENDIARY FIRE
On the evening of the 30th October a fire broke out in Burton Lattimer, by which barley and oats, the produce of 17 acres of land, were consumed. The grain belonged to a person of Northampton, in the name of Houghton, and no doubt is entertained respecting the fire having been the act of an incendiary.
Northampton Mercury 10 November 1848
THE BURTON LATTIMER FIRE
To the Editor of the Northampton Mercury. In reference to the paragraph in last week’s Paper relative to the fire at Burton Lattimer, allow me to state that the Secretary of the Birmingham Fire Office, in which the property was insured, personally investigated the affair on the spot, and has fully satisfied himself that the fire was accidental, and occasioned by the rick being made up before the barley was thoroughly dry.
Trusting this statement may allay any apprehension that incendiarism has appeared in the neighbourhood,
I am, respectfully, G. HESTER, Agent to the Birmingham Fire Office.
Northampton, 11th mo., 8th, 1849
