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At
the time the brigade was formed, and up until the Second World War,
it was the practise for fire brigade officers to be addressed, in
decending order of rank, as Superintendent, Deputy Superintendent,
Foreman and Engineer, or alternatively in the military style, as
Captain, First Lieutenant, Second Lieutenant and Sergeant. The lowest
rank was Fireman in both cases.
The first captain of the Broadway Fire Brigade was Robert Cordell, aged 53, the proprietor of the Lygon Arms Hotel. He was the natural choice as he was a Parish Councilor and the chairman of the Lighting & Watching Committee, the body which had set up, and had responsibility for running the brigade. He served as captain for about four years until April 1901 when he tendered his resignation from the brigade. |
 Upper High Street Broadway c.1910 |
James Martin, an ex military man aged 45, was a Cornishman by birth but his wife, Sarah Ann, was a Broadway woman. He had been a sergeant in the Royal Artillery Regiment, and during the previous ten years had moved his family around the British Isles, presumably following his Regiment. They had lived in Weymouth, and had spent at least two years in Douglas, Ireland. James Martin accepted the position, and became Broadway Fire Brigade's new captain.
During his time with the Brigade he seems to have been quite an enthusiastic captain, and submitted many written reports to keep the Committee informed of what was happening. However he seemed frustrated when, his requests for additional equipment to improve the efficiency of the Brigade were met with negative responses from the Council.
In fact, that was the reason he gave when he finally tendered his resignation in December 1905, after four and a half years as captain.
He wrote"....as the Council cannot see their way clear to provide the equipment which I have asked for and consider absolutely necessary for the efficient working of the brigade, I have no option but to resign".
He remained as captain until August 1920, having completed twenty five years service with the brigade. As stated in an earlier chapter, for fifteen of those years he provided horses for hauling the engine.
 Charles Steward captain of the Broadway Fire Brigade |
After
considering who should replace John Cotterell, the committee compiled
a shortlist of candidates. They agreed to ask Don Russell, of the
Lygon Arms Hotel, to be captain, "or failing him, Sidney Fosse
[the chemist], then Major Wood". It is not clear whether members
of the brigade were consulted prior to the list being drawn up.
No appointment had been made by the end of October 1920. But shortly afterwards their third choice, Major Wood, was made captain of the brigade, only to resign, five months later, in March of the following year. The
members of the brigade were then asked if they could suggest someone
to be their captain. They proposed Charles Steward, a local builder.
It is certain that Charles Steward was not already a member of the
brigade, because when he was approached with regard to the post,
it was necessary to advise him that brigade members were paid, and
that two practices were held each year. Obviously this is something
he would have known if he had already been in the brigade. The fact
that a captain was once again being sought from outside the brigade
is not particularly surprising. At that time it would be assumed
that natural leaders would not have been found amongst the ranks
of firemen, who for the most part, were manual workers. All previous
captains, and those who had been proposed for the position, whether
already brigade members or not, were trades people or in the case
of Major Wood, a retired army officer. Even if there was a fireman
who was willing to be promoted to captain, it is probable that he
would not have been considered suitable, given the attitude to authority
and the class distinction which prevailed at that time. An attitude,
it must be said, that would have been shared by most of the general
population, including the firemen themselves. |
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Harold Keyte stayed in the post for only eight months until May 1924 before he too tendered his resignation. William Stanley, another of the firemen, seems to have then taken charge, but it is not clear whether he was officially promoted to captain. Two and a half years later, in September 1926, Charles Steward was re-appointed captain, a position he held for about fifteen years until the early part of the Second World War.