The Death of Leonard Tingle (Sheffield) - Ascot July 1955
Whilst I was researching the life and death of the former Sheffield Wednesday player WALTER HOLBEM, I came across an incident that occurred 25 years later at the same venue, Ascot racecourse. A total co-incidence?
In July 1955 at a Thursday race meeting at Ascot, there was a violent thunderstorm. The rain started at around the time of the 3.45 race, the Gold Vase, and was torrential. The ferocity of the rain was soon accompanied by the deafening roar of thunder. Suddenly there were three flashes of lightning which went to ground on a metal fence near to where the bulk of the crowd were sheltering. Race-goers dropped to the ground with many experiencing temporary blackouts. Witnesses later used phrases like "as if mown down", "toppled like dominoes" and "like a pack of cards" to describe the chaotic scenes in the enclosure. 42 people were injured with 18 being detained in hospital at Windsor. But the even greater tragedy was that two people died of the injuries they sustained in the storm. One was the wife of an electrical engineer from Reading who was pregnant with their first child AND an evangelist from the London Open Air Mission who was believe it or not was from SHEFFIELD.
The tragedy of the events was compounded by the fact that the meeting was moved to July from its customary mid-June dates due to a rail strike. The two days prior the storm were "insufferable" due to the heat and when the storm broke the rain was absolutely torrential - a deluge. It is interesting to note that the lightening struck the wire fence surrounding the cheap course enclosure and not the Royal Enclosure. Who said "God protects the toffs!" Funnily enough racing continued until is was found that a female race-goer (Mrs, Barbara Batt) had died and then the meeting was abandoned.
For quite sometime I had no idea who the person from Sheffield was. However I eventually found a brief report in the Times dated 19th July 1955 of the subsequent Inquest
Another report in the Times gave the following information
"SECOND ASCOT DEATH Mr. Leonard Tingle, of Barncliffe Crescent, Sheffield, one of the 46 people struck by lightning at Ascot on Thursday, died in hospital yesterday. It is hoped that most of the other 17 people who were detained in hospital will be discharged within a week. Mr. J. R. Batt, of Reading, whose wife was killed. was discharged yesterday"
The Sheffield Star dated Monday July 18th 1955 added some information that was not available in the national press
The Manchester Evening News dated 18th July 1955 also carried a report.
In October 2018 I was able to obtain this information that appeared in The Daily Telegraph dated 19th July 1955
In January 2026 I received an email from a reader of this site. Her late mother was actually at the races that day and was witness to the actual lightening strikes
"My mum has recently passed, and before doing so (with the normal protracted decline of an 88 year old), she talked about how many times she should have died (aneurism in the early 90s and given a life expectancy of 2 days in March 2025 - she died 4th December 2025). But she mentioned 3 occasions, so I questioned her. She lived in Ascot at the time, attending Windsor Grammar school. Because the race meets went across the road into the town/village, she and her friends were dropped outside the racecourse. They went to watch and were holding onto the railings in the rain. waiting for the race to begin. Just before the lightning struck they moved away from the railings and she recalled the lightning hitting the railings before traveling around the track and moving underneath the grass to strike those in the tea tent. I have no idea how truthful this account is and I didn't really believe her until I looked it up.
She was born in Welling, Kent, but spent her early years living on the outskirts of Sheffield, firstly as an evacuee and later with her parents and siblings, before moving back down South."
Her mothers recollections tie in with a report in the Weather Eye section of The Times newspaper
"In the UK, one of the worst lightning strikes in a sports arena was at Royal Ascot on July 14, 1955. On a hot and muggy day, a thunderstorm broke during the afternoon and sent crowds rushing for shelter as rain pelted down. Soon afterwards lightning struck a metal fence and, even though no one was struck, the voltage gradient from the lightning ripped through the ground and scythed down crowds packed in and around a nearby marquee. The aftermath looked like a battlefield, as the injured lay on the ground and others wandered around dazed and shocked. Two spectators died and 48 others were injured."
Five to ten people a year are killed by lightning in the UK each year - it is a random event. Would anyone like to calculate the odds of two people from Sheffield being killed by lightening at the same venue 25 years apart.
Leonard is buried with his brother William in Sheffield's Shiregreen Cemetery
TINGLE, Leonard (Lay Preacher, age 51). Died at Windsor Hospital; Buried on July 20, 1955 in Unconsecrated ground; Grave Number 4342, Section D of Shiregreen Cemetery, Sheffield.
TINGLE, William (Steel Melter, age 65). Died at 24 Clarkegrove Road; Buried on May 22, 1950 in Unconsecrated ground; Grave Number 4342, Section D of Shiregreen Cemetery, Sheffield.
His wife Kathleen lived to be 90 years of age. She died in November 1994 in East Retford Nottinghamshire,
Notes
Birth Record
Name Leonard Tingle
Volume 9C
Birth registration year 1904
Page 672
Registration quarter 1
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records District Sheffield County Yorkshire
Collections from Great Britain, England
From the 1911 Census
Name Leonard Tingle
Relationship to Head of Household Stepson
Gender Male Age 7
Estimated Year of Birth 1904
Occupation School Employed No Working at Home No
Place of Birth Yorkshire Sheffield
Enumerator Information Address 75 Popple St Sheffield Parish Sheffield Town
Sheffield
Type of Building Private House Number of Rooms 5 Inhabited Yes
Reference RG14PN27954 RG78PN1598 RD510 SD5 ED31 SN53 Administrative County
Yorkshire (West Riding)
Registration District Sheffield Registration Sub District West Brightside
Enumeration District 31
From the 1921 Census
First name(s) Last name Relationship to head Sex Birth year Age in years Birth place Occupation Employer
Thomas Barker Head Male 1874 46 Lowdham, Nottinghamshire, England Furnace Man Out Of Work Cammells Ld Steel Mnfrs
Mary Barker Wife Female 1862 59 Lincolnshire, England Home Duties -
Horace Barker Son Male 1907 14 Grimethorpe, Yorkshire, England Farmers Boy (Farmer)
William Tingle Step-son Male 1885 36 Grimethorpe, Yorkshire, England Furnace Man Cammells Ld (Steel Mfrs) Out Of Work
Ernest Tingle Step-son Male 1892 28 Grimethorpe, Yorkshire, England Iron Moulder Vickers Ltd (Steel & Co Mfrs) Out Of Work
Arnold Tingle Step-son Male 1897 23 Grimethorpe, Yorkshire, England General Lbr Out Of Work Wilkinson & Co (Chemicals Manfrs)
Leonard Tingle Step-son Male 1902 18 Grimethorpe, Yorkshire, England Electrical Engineer Out Of Work Vickers Ld (Steel & C Mfrs)
Transcript of Leonard's record
First name Leonard Last name Tingle
Full address as transcribed 75 Popple St, Sheffield
Sex Male Marital status Single
Parish Sheffield
Birth year 1902
Registration district Sheffield Census date 19 June 1921
Registration district number 510 Enumeration district number 32
Age as transcribed 18 y 12 m
Relationship to head Step-son
Birth place Grimethorpe, Yorkshire, England
Ward of borough or urban district Brightside Parliamentary borough or division Sheffield PB, Brightside Div.Birth county Yorkshire
Archive series RG 15 Piece number 23078 Schedule number 235
Occupation Electrical Engineer District reference RD 510 RS 5 ED 32 Occupation code 305
Employer Out Of Work Vickers Ld (Steel & C Mfrs)
Other household member's first name(s) Thomas, Mary, Horace, William, Ernest, Arnold
Employer code 112
Other household member's last name Barker, Tingle
Place of work Ricor Don Wks, Sheffield
Record set 1921 Census Of England & Wales
From the 1939 National Register
Household members (5 people)
First name Last name Birth Sex Occupation Marital status Schedule Schedule sub
number
Leonard Tingle 20 Dec 1903 Male Machine Tool Planer Married 57 1
Kathleen Tingle 07 Mar 1904 Female Unpaid Domestic Duties Married 57 2
Brian L Tingle 21 Jul 1929 Male At School Single 57 3
Stephen Tingle 28 Jun 1932 Male At School Single 57 4
Transcript of Leonard's record
Name Leonard Tingle
County Yorkshire (West Riding) Country England
Birth date 20 Dec 1903
E. D. letter code KIDW Schedule 57 Schedule sub number 1Archive reference RG101/3514F/005/29 Sex Male
Marital status Married
Occupation Machine Tool Planer
Address 67 Harcourt Road, Sheffield
Place Sheffield C.B.Category Census, land & surveys Borough / district Sheffield C.B.
Sources:
Daily Herald dated 15th July 1955
The Times dated 19th July 1955
The Sheffield Star dated Monday July 18th 1955
The Daily Telegraph dated 19th July 1955
Manchester Evening News dated 18th July 1955
Sheffield Indexers
UK Census
This page was last updated on 31/01/26 08:02