A Good Friday sacrifice

If you are ever walking along Rochester’s Esplanade below the Castle, look up at the outer wall where there is a striking Edwardian bronze plaque fixed at about 3m (9ft) from the ground. 

The plaque features two rather melodramatic angels in high relief below the Rochester City Crest and bears the following words:

TO THE GLORY OF GOD
THIS TABLET WAS ERECTED BY
LOCAL PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION TO RECORD THE HEROISM OF
PERCY HENRY GORDON
OF BERMONDSEY, LONDON, WHO WHILE VISITING THIS
CITY ON GOOD FRIDAY APRIL 5th 1912 LOST HIS LIFE
IN BRAVELY RESCUING A LITTLE GIRL FROM DROWNING

GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS

This is a memorial to the events of Good Friday, 1912, when Percy Henry Gordon, a 26-year-old warehouseman from Bermondsey, and his friend Charles May from Clapham were visiting Rochester to enjoy a day out away from the bustle and grime of London.

Percy and Charles had set off on a walking tour early that morning, starting by travelling to Kent by train and tram. They had walked about 15 miles before planning to return to London by train from Strood.  However, fate intervened when they missed their intended train.  With some time to spare before the next one, they decided to walk back over Rochester Bridge to look around the Esplanade and Castle.  Charles later recounted how, upon reaching Rochester Pier, they sat down to rest.  After a while, Charles suggested they move on, but Percy insisted, ‘No, not just yet.  Let’s rest here.  This is one of the finest views I have ever seen in my life’.[i]

Percy, a quiet and studious chap, who lived with his aunt in St James Road, Bermondsey, was a strong young man, standing over 6ft tall, and was very fond of cricket and football.  He was also deeply engaged in religious activities and known as one of the keenest workers amongst the congregation of the Central Hall, Tower Bridge Road, London[ii].

Percy and Charles were sitting on the Esplanade enjoying the fine spring weather, whilst eight-year-old Dorothy Foster was playing nearby with her friends.  Dorothy was practising balancing like a tight-rope walker on the girders of the pier over the river when suddenly she lost her footing and fell into the fast-flowing water[iii].

Percy heard the other children’s screams and immediately threw off his overcoat, jacket, and cap, and plunged into the water to try and rescue the little girl.  The currents runs very strongly around Rochester Bridge, but Percy managed to reach the terrified child and hold her head above the water[iv].

Meanwhile, on the riverbank, Charles had raised the alarm and alerted a couple of boatmen aboard the motor-yacht Iris near the pier who immediately put off a small dinghy to the rescue.  They managed to reach the couple, grab hold of the little girl and haul her into the boat but, just as they arrived, Percy was seized with cramp and suddenly sank[v].  Tragically, all efforts to save him failed and his lifeless body was recovered about half an hour later[vi].

‘He died the death of a hero’ pronounced the coroner at the inquest the following Saturday, and the jury conveyed their sympathy to Percy’s relatives.  Returning a verdict of ‘accidentally drowned while attempting to save another’s life’, they also expressed their admiration for the young man’s gallantry[vii].

The memorial tablet on the Esplanade opposite where the tragedy took place was unveiled by the Countess of Darnley in November 1912 in the presence of about 15,000 people. 

The ceremony, attended by the Rochester Fire Brigade, local postmen, the full force of police, and several companies of Boy Scouts, all in uniform, together with three brass bands and hundreds of school children, began with the singing of the hymn ‘Jesu, Lover of my soul’ followed by prayers[ix]. 

Little Dorothy Foster, dressed in deep mourning with her hair styled in long ringlets, the child whose life was saved by Percy, presented a framed photograph of the plaque to the Countess[x].  Subsequently, the Countess was invited to unveil the plaque, which had been shrouded by the City of Rochester flag, then, in a deeply poignant moment that moved many of the crowd to tears, the Countess plucked a posy of violets from her own dress and pinned it upon the child’s jacket before hugging her closely[xi].

Percy’s father was later presented with a certificate by the Royal Humane Society, and he also received the Carnegie Medal in honour of his son’s courageous sacrifice[xii].

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