The Clerkenwell Explosion Relief Fund collection features material predominantly concerned with the administration and recording of the relief and compensation fund for the victims and families of the 'Clerkenwell Explosion', or popularly the 'Fenian Outrage', of 13 December 1867.
The fund was set up locally and administrated by Robert Paget and members of the Vestry of the Parish of St James, Clerkenwell, with significant input by the incumbant of St James Church, Clerkenwell, Revd Maguire, and other local individuals and organisations.
The ‘Clerkenwell Explosion’ at the Middlesex House of Detention prison in Clerkenwell was considered to be the first explosion caused by a politically-motivated nationalist organisation on the UK mainland, namely the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) or 'Fenians'. The explosion killed 12 people and wounded several others, many suffering from life-changing injuries.
Members of the IRB had planned the breakout from the prison of a high-ranking member, Colonel Ricard O’Sullivan-Burke, a 29-year-old Irishman and engineer and former soldier. Burke played an important role in the organisation and his freedom was integral to the IRB’s success. Using a large barrel of gunpowder, the rescuers blew a hole in the prison's north wall in Corporation Row, hoping that Burke and a colleague, Joseph Casey, would make their getaway. The escape attempt failed and, due to the huge amount of explosive used, resulted in the death of residents and workers of Corporation Row and other members of the public. Ultimately, one person was found guilty of the explosion, Michael Barrett, who was later hanged at Newgate Prison.
Although newspapers and the establishment made much of the causes of the atrocity, the organisers of the fund were much more concerned with helping the victims than with discussing the rights and wrongs of the Irish Question, or indeed the fate of the bombers.
The collection also contains contemporary accounts and illustrations of the event, as well as later secondary source material.
