John Ballance
Police Constable

John Ballance

Accident
End of Watch May 5, 1855
Age 48
The Vigil Panel 214 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Died while on duty at the Midland Counties Concert Hall when a fire broke out and during the ensuing melee he was swept down a staircase with others.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-GB-BCP-7CB2DA51
Stewardship
Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw
April 8, 2026
Last updated
July 23, 2026

Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.

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Tributes

171 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Police Constable Ballance served with the Birmingham City Police.
Thank you for your service. Gone but never to be forgotten.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Location ENG
Platform Identity bpd.bir.eng.gb.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch May 5, 1855
Age 48
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident
Cause Detail Fire

Police Constable John Ballance is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In ENG, 1,349 of 2,827 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 47.7% of this state's fallen. That is 16.7 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.

At Birmingham City Police, 16 of 61 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 26.2% of this agency's fallen.

Birmingham City Police
16
of 61 officers
26.2% Accident
ENG — Statewide
1,349
of 2,827 officers
47.7% Accident
Nationwide
10,088
of 32,508 officers
31% Accident

National Cause Distribution

How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John Ballance's cause is highlighted.

Felonious
17,623 (54.2%)
Accident
10,088 (31%)
Illness
2,974 (9.1%)
Cardiac
1,306 (4%)
Undetermined
260 (0.8%)
Suicide
256 (0.8%)
vehicular
1 (0%)

How John Ballance Compares

Age at End of Watch
48
This officer
Avg for Accident: 38.1 years

When Accident Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. John Ballance is highlighted in May.

Jan
820
Feb
730
Mar
748
Apr
707
May
847
Jun
795
Jul
897
Aug
937
Sep
913
Oct
925
Nov
872
Dec
897