This image is taken from a magic lantern slide. It shows Brighton Town Hall in about 1900.
Fire engine
Zoom in on the hand cart outside of the Town Hall and you can just make out a French name: ‘La Croix’.
You might easily assume that La Croix was a tradesman of some sort. But the cart probably belongs to Brighton’s fire brigade.
At this time, fire-fighting was managed by a specialist police fire-brigade based at Brighton Town Hall. It was run for several decades by Louis Victor La Croix, a popular local character who remained in charge until 1921.
