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Inscription on a grave stone in the churchyard at Harrow on the Hill.
In 1838 the accident obviously happened on the London and Birmingham Railway, which runs about a mile away from Harrow on the Hill. The railway had only openned on the 20th July the previous year.
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TO THE MEMORY OF
THOMAS PORT
SON OF JOHN PORT OF BURTON UPON TRENT IN THE COUNTY OF STAFFORD, HAT MANUFACTURER, WHO NEAR THIS TOWN HAD BOTH LEGS SEVERED FROM HIS BODY BY THE RAILWAY TRAIN. WITH GREAT FORTITUDE HE BORE A SECOND AMPUTATION BY THE SURGEONS AND DIED FROM LOSS OF BLOOD AUGUST 7TH 1838 AGED 33 YEARS
Bright rose the morn and vigorous rose poor Port
Gay on the train he used his wonted sport
Ere noon arrived his mangled form they bore
With pain distorted and overwhelmed with gore
When evening came to close the fatal day
A mutilated corpse the sufferer lay
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Postscript.
A little while ago, Resco received a call from Roger Port Mew, a direct decendent of Thomas Port. Roger explained that Thomas was deeply involved with the canals which were under threat by the railways and passionately believed the ralways were fundamentally unsafe. On that fateful August day in 1838 Thomas was trying to derail the train to demonstrate their lack of safety. The train did not derail but ran over and fatally injured him.
Although there had been a number of railway fatalities before Thomas was killed (including the MP, William Huskisson, who was the very first person ever to be killed by a train on 15th September 1830), Thomas was the first person to be killed by a public service train.
With acknowledgements and thanks to the Mew family.
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