In 1936 Edgar McWilliam was living at 35 Sydenham Park Road, and was on his way to a dinner party on the night of the fire. Writing to his mother on 1 December, Edgar quoted from an earlier letter to his son, in which he vividly describes the events of that fateful night. (I am grateful to Mary Melling of Rancho Palos Verdes, California, for making her great-uncle's letter available for this site.)

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