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Memories of Bristol England Forum

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thrown over the Bristol Suspension Bridge

Any information about Elsie and her 12-year-old sister Ruby Brown who were thrown over the Bristol Suspension Bridge but lived to tell the story.

Re: thrown over the Bristol Suspension Bridge

"The miracle fall"

The luckiest children alive. . . those were little Elsie Brown and her 12-year-old sister Ruby who survived a spectacular murder attempt by their father on the Clifton Suspension Bridge in September, 1896.

Charles Brown, a Birmingham grocer, was bankrupt and losing his mind. He had five children and could no longer support his family. In despair he took the two girls all the way to Bristol and to the Suspension Bridge.

The wretched children were forced to walk up and down in the darkness, howling winds and pouring rain for an hour until their maddened father suddenly seized first Ruby and then Elsie and hurled them over the parapet.

The girls’ guardian angels must have been on overtime that dreadful night.

For the winds were so violent that great up-currents of air somehow caught the falling bodies and cushioned their falls.

And a further chance in a million. The girls both splashed into the murky waters of the River Avon within a few feet of a passing pilot boat. It was the work of a moment to drag the terrified youngsters to safety.

Both Elsie and Ruby suffered nasty bruises and injuries and were kept in hospital. But both were back on their feet within days.