A ceremony will take place this weekend to remember the Southport Express Disaster, one of the worst train crashes in British history.
A total of 21 people including six children – the youngest victims were just 6 years old – died when the 4.30pm Liverpool to Southport Express Train collided with an empty stationary train parked on a siding near Blundellsands on Thursday 27th July 1905.
This Sunday (27th July 2025) a special service will take place to remember all those who died.
They included 11 people from Southport, seven from Formby and three from Liverpool.
They include a 27-year-old Southport woman who was looking forward to her wedding the following week.
Esther Alice Parr was interred in the dress she was to be married in, along with her engagement ring and a brooch, a gift from the bridegroom.Sefton Library Service has been looking into the tragedy with the support of local historian Peter McGoldrick.
According to the official report, the points failed to close properly leading the express to collide with an empty local train that had been shunted into a siding to allow the express to pass.
Both drivers survived
Twenty people in the first coach of the express were killed and a further 47 passengers were injured. Both drivers survived, having jumped clear prior to the impact. Another passenger, Henry Potter, was severely injured in the crash and died three months later, bringing the total killed to 21.
Ceremony
At a ceremony at the station on Sunday at 1pm, Lord-Lieutenant of Merseyside, Mr. Mark Blundell will unveil a plaque to commemorate the 120th anniversary of the accident.
Invited guests will include Sefton Central MP Bill Esterson, Cllr June Burns, Mayor of Sefton, Sefton Council Leader Marion Atkinson, Bernard Nevins of the Crosby & District Historical Society and local historian Peter McGoldrick. They will be welcomed by Merseyrail’s Laura Turnbull and station manager Paul Draper.
Fateful day
Blundellsands ward councillor and Sefton Council cabinet member Diane Roscoe said: “Although now forgotten by many, this was a terrible accident 120 years ago and I am pleased the Council has been able to work with local historians and Merseyrail to put this permanent memorial in place to remember those so sadly killed on that fateful day.”
The Hall Road Rail Disaster was the second train crash in the area to happen in the space of two years.
In 1903, a train crashed at Waterloo Train Station killing eight passengers.
That’s not the end of the drama at Hall Road. Another train crash happened at Hall Road Station on Monday 9th October 1961, in very similar circumstances. Fortunately, no-one was killed, although over 40 people were injured.
In Remembrance
Cullen, Mary Anne
Mary Cullen, of 175 Bispham Road, Southport. She was returning from a weeks holiday at Glyn Neath, South Wales. A widow of 43 years of age, she left three daughters.
Buried in Duke St Cemetery, Southport.
Curphey, Arthur and Jennie
Arthur Richard Curphey (43) and Sarah Jane Curphey (24), of Stanley Villa, Ravenmeols Lane, Formby. They were siblings, and both worked in the shipping business in Liverpool. They were the breadwinners for their invalided mother and sister.
Arthur and Jennie are buried together in St Peter’s Graveyard, Formby.
Ellis, Sydney
A Solicitor’s clerk, from ‘Ivydene’, Talbot St, Southport; he was 20 years old.
The funeral service was held at Trinity Wesleyan Church.
Sydney is buried in Duke St Cemetery, Southport.
Hawkes, Charles Edward
Charles was 29 years old, with a 3-year-old son. He lived at 12, Aughton Road, Birkdale and worked at Hawkes, Summerville and Co, (Shipbrokers), Water St, Liverpool.
Buried in Toxteth Park Cemetery.
Howard, Thomas
Aged 15, only son of Peter and Elizabeth Howard, of 9 Willow Grove, Formby.
Buried in St Peter’s Graveyard, Formby.
Insch, John Reginald
Aged 20, of 138, Eastbourne Road, Birkdale. He was a clerk at the Bank of Liverpool, and secretary of Birkdale Hockey Club. The family had lost another son some years before.
Buried in Duke St Cemetery, Southport
Lewis, Ernest
The son of George and Elizabeth Lewis, 130 Liverpool Road, Birkdale. He was 16 years old.
Buried in Birkdale Cemetery, Southport.
Moir, Rosa Isabel Tole
Rosa (35) lived at 27 Balfour Road, Southport; her husband was a merchant. At the time of her death she had two sons, aged 6 and 7. One of her sons, John Andrew Alexander Moir, was killed in action in France on 16 June 1915. Her other son, Kenneth Tole Moir, became a noted Doctor in West Africa and is credited with inventing the intra-venous drip. Buried in Duke St Cemetery, Southport.
Musham, Nora Louise
A ladies’ outfitter, Nora was 27 years old at the time of her death. She lived at 28 Kent Road, Birkdale.
Buried in Duke St Cemetery, Southport.
Newall, Annie Smith
Annie (aged 44) was married to Edward Newall, a galvanised iron manufacturer. They lived at ‘Penalverne’, Crescent Road, Formby.
Buried in Sefton Church Cemetery, Sefton.
Parr, Esther Alice
Aged 27 years. Esther (also known as Hester or Hettie), of 46 Hall St, Southport. Engaged to be married the following week, she was interred in the dress she was to be married in; with her engagement ring and a brooch, a gift from the bridegroom.
Her grave lies broken in pieces, in Duke Street Cemetery, Southport.
Peet, Richard
From Banks Road, Crossens, aged 48. He was a green-grocer and general merchant. Some two thousand people attended his funeral. According to the Formby Times “A number of members of the Banks Primitive Methodist Choir were also present, as well as many members of the Banks Prosperity Tent of Rechabites, of which the deceased was a member.”
He is buried in St John’s Church Graveyard, Crossens, Southport.
Potter, Henry Edward
A coach trimmer, from 59 Poulton Road, Southport; Henry was 50 years old when he died. He had been travelling with his wife and 18-year-old son. Severely injured, he was cared for in Bootle Hospital until his death 3 months later in October 1905.
Buried in Duke St Cemetery, Southport.
Stringer, Margaret May
Aged 6 years, she lived at 22 Sykes St, Everton. She was accompanying Jane and Annie Wright to Formby for a holiday.
Buried in Kirkdale Cemetery. Her grave is unmarked.
Sykes, Benjamin and James
Benjamin (aged 60) was a Corn Merchant and Miller with premises on Brownlow Hill. He lived in the ‘Manor House’, Freshfield Rd, Formby. His brother James (aged 56) was an accountant, from 33 Fern Grove, Toxteth.
Benjamin is buried in St Luke’s Churchyard, Formby; James lies in Toxteth Park Cemetery.
Vickary, Alfred Joseph
Aged 43, he was a ‘Fancy Goods’ Manufacturer and Importer from 46, Lidderdale Rd, Sefton Park. He left a wife and two children.
He is buried in Toxteth Park Cemetery.
Waugh, Stanley Taylor
Stanley was the 17-year-old son of the Rev. Thomas Waugh, of 71 Avondale Rd, Southport. Thomas Waugh was a famous Wesleyan Connexional Evangelist Minister who preached at Leyland Road West Church; and he wrote to the signalman held responsible for the accident, forgiving him for his actions that day.
Stanley is buried in Duke St Cemetery, Southport.
Wright, Jane and Annie
Jane Lovelady Wright (aged 17) and Annie Wright (aged 6). Jane was a ‘lady clerk’, from Halsall Lane, Formby. Annie was her niece, of Chapel Lane, Formby.
Jane and Annie are buried together in Our Lady of Compassion Graveyard, Formby.
Biographies researched by local historian Peter McGoldrick.
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