Date

19 February 1849

Theatre Royal, Dunlop Street, Glasgow

70 people

dozens

The Building[edit]

Glasgow's Theatre Royal was located on Dunlop Street, in a building owned and leased by John Henry Alexander.[4] There was a standard theatre inside with an upper gallery, boxes, orchestra pit, and lower gallery. Before the disaster, hundreds of patrons had gathered to watch an evening performance of Surrender at Calais.[2]

Incident[edit]

At around 8 o'clock someone in the upper gallery dropped a lighted paper, causing a small flame. "Fire!" was shouted and attention in the theatre quickly focused to the quickly extinguished flame. Members of the cast and audience implored spectators not to panic and to keep their seats.[2] The victims were largely local residents of the working class neighborhoods surrounding Dunlop Street.[5]

Crowd collapses and crushes#Crowd "stampedes"

Ordnance Survey (1860). (Map). 25 inch to the mile, 1st edition, 1855-1882. 1:2,500. Ordnance Survey – via National Library of Scotland. (1860 map showing the Glasgow's original Theatre Royal building)

"Lanarkshire VI.11 (City of Glasgow)"

55°51′22″N 4°15′06″W / 55.8560°N 4.2518°W / 55.8560; -4.2518