| Citation |
PP-P.773.010
25 Jan 1773:31 (2/66)
Liverpool, November 13. Extract of a letter from Chester,
Nov. 10.
On Thursday night last, the 5th instant, the inhabitants of
this city were thrown into the utmost consternation by the
violence of a shock, supposed at first to have been
occasioned by the violence of an earthquake, . . .
It was not long, however, before the real cause was known.
. . . The preceding day a quantity of gunpowder, upwards of
eight hundreds pound weight, had been deposited in a ware-
house in Watergate-Street, under a building, known by the
name of Eaton's Room, in which one Williams, the Master of a
Puppet Show, had for some time past exhibited his
performances. The company which these idle amusements had
drawn together was very great (may such another evening
never be known any where) and in the midst of their
merriment, the powder, by what accident is not known, took
fire, and in a moment most of the unhappy people were buried
under a prodigious heap of ruins;
. . . [28 lines on the effects of the blast]
Williams himself, and his wife, and three or four of the
same family, are of the numbers of the dead.
. . . [26 lines on accounts of the disaster]
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