| As well as his duties with the police, WMG was also very active in fire prevention. He assisted the Hastings Volunteer Fire Brigade, which was said to be first regularly organised and fully equipped fire brigade in the country, and served as a model for the fire brigades as we know them today. When the full time fire brigade was formed in May 1861, WMG was elected as the first captain, and, in a torchlight parade held to mark the event, escorted the Prince and Princess of Wales who were visiting Hastings.
In 1861 WMG and a Mr Merryweather co-patented the very first twin hand pump action fire tricycle (the forerunner of modern fire engines). WMG and his fire tricycle, with the name Glenister-Merryweather emblazoned on the side, took a prominent part in the Oxford demonstration in 1887. WMG gave advice throughout the UK on the formation, organisation, and equipment of fire brigades.
On his resignation due to ill health in 1889, WMG was presented by the members of the fire brigade with an address and a portrait of himself, and was elected Honorary Captain, a post he held up to the time of his death. The Merryweather factory moved to Greenwich, South London around 1890-1910, and continued to produce fire engines until it closed in 1954. |
