He was asleep beside his mother and little sister when the water came. By morning he was gone. In March 1864, a brand-new dam above Sheffield was filled for the first time. A workman found a crack; the company’s engineer said it would hold. Just before midnight it burst — 700 million gallons tore down the valley. Around 240 drowned, nearly half of them children. The inquiry called it unforeseeable, and no one was ever charged. #ForgottenHistory #BritishHistory #SocialHistory