‘The whole accident has upset us’: Tragedy strikes at Osborne House

Quite unusually for the time of year, on 10^th March 1847 a snowstorm struck Queen Victoria’s Isle of Wight home, Osborne House. In her journal the Queen writes that it had ‘began snowing early & continued all the morning, the ground and trees being covered in snow, which I tried to make a sketch of’ (1). As the storm came to an end at midday, the royal family, who had a particular fondness for snow-based activities, went out with their household and guests for a walk of the glorious, snow-covered grounds; where Albert and others took the liberty of building a snow man! However, as Victoria later confided, ‘a sad accident threw a gloom’ (2) over their festivities.

 Victoria and Albert had purchased Osborne House in 1845 and soon began building a new, much larger house to accommodate their growing family and large household. While the Pavilion Wing of the house had already been completed by 1846, the rest of the house and stables, were still under construction. Despite the freezing snowy conditions on 10^th March 1847, work continued, and ultimately ended in one of Osborne’s greatest accidents.

 

While she was out walking with her children and the other ladies, at about half past four ‘a dreadful crash, like the loudest clap of thunder’ (3) echoed amongst the peaceful scenery. Concerned over the cause, the group returned to the house, where they found everyone walking over to the developing stables. Upon arriving at the building site, it was immediately obvious what had happened. A team of workmen had been removing a centre under one of the new arched passages, when the scaffolding ‘had given way & fallen right through the house’ (4).

At first it was unclear if anyone had been injured, but then it became evident that three men had been involved. The first described by the Queen was a man named Gale, who looked ‘very white’ (5) due to the pain of a broken leg. While her position as monarch meant that she was unable to help, Victoria supervised as the man was brought down to safety before returning home. The second man discovered, named Norris, had also fractured two of his ribs. However the worst to be injured was a third man named Blake. Described as ‘a very sober, good man and excellent worker’ (10), Blake was discovered with a broken arm and ‘fearful injuries to his head.’ (6)

Having been alerted of the accident, the man’s wife hurried to his side, along with a physician named Mr Weedon from East Cowes and West Cowes surgeon, Dr Cass. Upon inspection, the doctors instantly knew that the man would not survive his injuries, which not only involved a broken arm, but also three fractures to his skull.

Understandably the Queen was shocked by the dreadful tragedy that had befallen her home of paradise, with the added guilt that ‘the poor man had met with such an accident doing work for us’ (7). Like any kind-hearted citizen, Victoria ‘could think of nothing else’ (8) for the remainder of the day and regularly enquired ‘after the poor sufferer.’ (9)

 

It had initially been expected that Blake would pass away within an hour of receiving his injuries, however he restlessly survived the night and appeared to be in a stable condition. Throughout that cold, frosty March day, the Queen received a total of three accounts on the man, which remained unchanged.

However, by the 12^th March his condition began getting worse and his strength had almost completely faded. That evening Victoria writes of how grieved and upset she was to hear the news that Blake had passed away. As a mother, Victoria’s sympathies immediately turned to his wife and four daughters, the youngest of which was just six weeks old and would now grow up never knowing her father.

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