James Braidwood

Who was James Braidwood?

James Braidwood founded the world's first municipal fire service in Edinburgh in 1824, and was the first director of the London Fire Engine Establishment. He is credited with the development of the modern municipal fire service.

He was born in Edinburgh the tenth child of Francis James Braidwood a cabinetmaker, and Janet Mitchell. He was educated at the Royal High School. He learned about the construction of buildings after joining his father's building firm as an apprentice, knowledge he was later to put to good use.

Appointed Master of Fire Engines at the age of twenty-four, just two months prior to the Great Fire of Edinburgh, Braidwood established principles of fire-fighting that are still applied today. His training as a surveyor gave him exceptional knowledge of the behaviour of building materials and housing conditions in the Old Town of Edinburgh. He recruited to the service expert tradesmen - slaters, carpenters, masons and plumbers - who could apply their various fields of expertise to fire fighting.