James Gill – The Extraordinary Tale of Newry’s Defiant Steeplejack
Newry’s Unlikely Hero
At the turn of 20th century an unlikely ‘hero’ emerged in the town of Newry. It seems that human nature, then as now, has a tendency to admire those who embarrass local law enforcement. James Gill did just that!
Gill, who resided at Boat Street, Newry, was a steeplejack by trade. In February 1881 he had married Margaret McCoy of Chapel Street, Newry. The couple had two sons James (1886) and Walter (1890).
Court Appearance
In May 1904 James Gill was fined at the Newry Petty Sessions for being ‘drunk and disorderly’. When he failed to pay the fine, a warrant was issued for his arrest and he was subsequently sentenced to one month in prison with hard labour. It is possible this was not Gill’s first offence.
James himself had recently won a contract for the dismantling of an unsafe chimney stack at the nearby Sugar Island Salt Works. This was lucrative employment paying £10.
James was desperate not to lose this profitable opportunity, which he would if incarcerated. He persuaded the local police to allow him to scale the chimney and remove a few bricks. This would ensure the job would remain his and he could finish the project once released from Dundalk Prison.
The authorities agreed, James entered the building and ascended the chimney. The chimney was a great height, reports vary from 60ft to over 100ft and in a dangerous condition. Once aloft however, James refused to come down!
Ensconced in his airy asylum, the audacious escapee challenged the policemen to come get him – none accepted the challenge!
Home from Home
Gill had installed a system of pulleys with buckets for the removal of bricks and he continued his demolition of the chimney, often working by lamplight through the night. However, the buckets now had an additional role – supplying the abscondee with provisions. The police plan to ‘starve’ James into submission was thwarted by local sympathisers who managed to smuggle food and drink, including bottles of stout, to the fugitive.
The chimney itself had a narrow low entranceway, which James boarded up from the inside. The interior was filled with scaffolding which Gill had “transformed into a comfortable suite of apartments” (Down Recorder 23rd June 1904). His ‘bedroom’ was on top of the stack and was lit by a naphtha flare which he kept burning. On top of the chimney James erected a flagpole and red flag which he waved to the appreciative onlookers.
Local Hero
From the start James became a local hero, with crowds flocking to the site every day to cheer him on and offer encouragement. Large numbers of visitors from towns such as Warrenpoint and Rostrevor (see post A Battle of Giants and Washington in Flames – Picturesque Rostrevor) came to see the intrepid Mr Gill.
Newspapers from throughout the land flocked to the scene to cover the unusual story.
“Jamie is as game as ever, and will never capitulate!”
Evening Irish Times 24th June 1904
James was bombarded with postcards and correspondence wishing him luck and admiration for his stance. These came from throughout Ireland and even further afield including London, Oxford, Glasgow, Wales and “the Continent and the Colonies”.
Some of these missives were published in the Newry Reporter
The newspaper even had their own postcards printed!
James was delighted with this supportive correspondence, but as was noted in the Dublin Evening Mail
“He regrets that, owing to their number and the great pressure upon his time at present, he is unable to acknowledge them individually, and hopes this collective expression of his thanks will be accepted by his well-wishers”
Apparently as well as being a local celebrity, James Gill did wonders for Newry’s tourist industry
“Photographs of the chimney are selling well, and many visitors are being attracted to the town”
Down Recorder 25th June 1904
James Gill was nothing if not audacious, aided by his ‘look-out’ son and a designated password for when the coast was clear, he would sometimes leave his eyrie for a wee break. However, this “agile little man” always managed to escape detection and scamper back up the chimney when the police appeared. Though he did have a number of ‘close shaves’.
Such was James’s bravado that on the evening of 23rd June, to the delight of the crowds, he gave a firework display from the top of his chimney!
Capture
After a fortnight evading the law James Gill’s luck seemed to have run out. He suffered a fall from 20ft which left him incapacitated. He was taken to his home in Boat Street to recover before starting his sentence. Here he was kept under “constabulary surveillance”.
However, the story did not end there. Gill somehow managed again to elude the authorities and within a few days was once again in his ‘fortress’ chimney!
Throughout James appeared cheerful and optimistic, waving and smiling at his audience on the ground. At one point he invited a pressman to view his quarters in the chimney. The reporter was admitted to Gill’s ‘fort’. A heavy plank was removed from the entrance and the door unlocked. The circular chamber, through rather sooty and dusty, contained some rudimentary furniture and the means of boiling water for tea. Scaffolding led to the top of the tower.
The reporter said the Gill was in good health but his face and arms were blackened with soot and his beard rather long. James admitted that he would be willing to pay his fine if the prison sentence was waived.
James’s notoriety obviously embarrassed the police force and it also came to the notice of the local judiciary. His exploits were referred to at the Newry Court House and the Resident Magistrate, Mr R G Bell, forwarded the matter to the Lord Lieutenant for consideration of a compromise. However, the sentence was upheld.
A Lucky Escape
James continued his defiant sojourn in the chimney stack. However, on one Sunday evening he was missing the comforts of home and quietly descended from his perch to visit his family. Initially the way was clear but as he made his way surreptitiously through the town he spotted two approaching policemen.
James knew that outrunning the officers of the law with his injured leg was an impossibility so he quickly ducked into an open doorway where two girls were chatting, . The girls spoke to the policemen but did not disclose James’s presence.
They then dressed him in a black skirt and shawl and, disguised as an old woman, he made his way to Boat Street. It is said that one of the constables even addressed him with ‘Hallo Molly’ as he passed by!
Public Support
It seems the local townsfolk were quite proud of James’s stance. Posted on the Town Hall was a flyer proclaiming
‘Let Russ and Jap their fight increase
And Newry lead in sport
Britain may rest in perfect peace
While Jimmy holds the fort!’
Fame – Remember His Name
The whole unusual episode brought James Gill a certain fame. He was even engaged to appear at the Palace Theatre (later the Grand Opera House) in Belfast! He managed again to escape the chimney undetected to make this public performance. and he performed as both a singer and a comedian, taking advantage of his new found celebrity.
Further shows were planned for Dublin and some of the major English cities.
After his appearance on stage in Belfast, Gill hid out at an undisclosed rural location. However, the authorities anticipated he would soon return to his hometown, especially as his son was likely to be in Newry since his regiment, the Louth Militia, had disbanded. Extra guards were stationed throughout the town.
At 8 o’clock on the evening of Saturday 30th July, James Gill was spotted in Mill Street. A chase ensued and the fugitive was finally apprehended. He was held in Hydemarket Police Barracks before being removed to Dundalk Gaol. This time there was no escape.
During WW1 James (then in his 50’s) joined the army and served with the Royal Engineers in gruelling Salonika campaign (1915-1918).
James Gill died on 14th August 1926 at his home Lower Water Street, Newry. A large crowd attended the funeral service and the interment at the Old Chapel Cemetery.
Remembering James Gill
James’s experiences in the summer of 1904 may have led to his fame, but as he recounted himself, they were not his first ‘brush with the law’. Indeed, James seems to have been a ‘bit of a lad’!
A few years previously, when he was living at Hyde Market, Newry the police arrived at his house to arrest him. Asking for a minute to fetch his coat and hat, he slammed the door in their faces and climbed through the attic onto the roof. The officers seem to have thought that he had escaped through the back door and mounted a search of the area. Gill remained on the roof undetected for 9 days, before he relented
“At last, seeing I was giving them too much trouble – for there are decent fellows on the police – I walked into the barrack-room and gave myself up. You see I would not satisfy them to arrest me”.
James Gill
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