Aldridge Colliery

Current Status - Page under construction! and is far, far from complete!

Barrett, John Thomas, 02 May 1912, aged 34, Dataller, Deceased was engaged in getting off some side in a landing 9 feet high to make room for a wooden cog. A. few minutes before the accident, the fireman in passing noticed a portion of the side from the roof downwards was slightly overhanging, and told deceased to pull this down with a bar. Instead of doing this, deceased was using a dresser, either trying to pull the piece or to liberate the bottom of it, when the rock fell from the side and so severely injured him that he died a few hours later

Bounds, Henry, 18 Dec 1884, (accident: 05 Dec 1884), aged 22, Dataller, Died 18th December. Fatally crushed by a full tub which he was endeavouring to lower on a descent with his back to it

Bowers, Joseph, 28 Oct 1901, (accident: 05 Oct 1900), aged 42, On the 5th October, 1900, at Aldridge Colliery, South Staffordshire. Jos. Bowers, aged 42, a stallman, was severely injured by a fall of roof. He lingered until the 28th October, 1901, and, as death did not occur within a year and a day of the accident, the case is not included as a fatality [fatality reported during the year but not classified as a reportable accident]

Carroll, Edward, 29 Aug 1901, aged 30, Timberer, Fall of roof. Collapse of newly-set timber in a main road. Cause, heavy fall of rock from a cavity above the timber

Chance, Timothy, 01 Aug 1895, aged 27, Stallman, Explosion of firedamp which exuded from old workings [More information ...]

Chatwind, Thomas, 04 May 1881, aged 37, Stallman, Accidental fall of rock roof in yard coal seams at way-end which the deceaed was trying to pull down

Chatwood, T., 30 Nov 1880, aged 40, Stallman, Fall of rock roof at way end. Deceased was pulling this rock down to make the roadway higher, when it suddenly fell, and slipping forward he fell under it

Cooper, Stephen, 31 May 1907, 2.30 p.m., aged 26, Loader, Deceased was loading a tub of coal at longwall face while the stallman was wedging down some underholed coal only about 2 yards away from the tub. The coal in falling over crushed deceased against a prop, fracturing his skull. This accident should never have happened. The stallman should not have allowed deceased to work near the coal he was trying to get down

Devine, William, 27 Feb 1903, (accident: 24 Feb 1903, 10.30 p.m.), aged 34, Timberer, Explosion of fire-damp by naked light. Gas brought down by a fall while repairing intake air-road in 4 feet seam. Died 27th February [More information ...]

Dolman, Edward, 08 Mar 1924, (accident: 06 Jun 1923, 10.50 a.m., 4th hour of shift), aged 39, Stallman, Whilst he was preparing to set a tree a large piece of rock fell on him. He was getting some of the floor up to make a firm foundation for the tree when another stallman near by heard him shout, and on looking round saw the piece of rock on top of deceased. He was taken to hospital, where he died on 8th March, 1924

Evans, David, 14 Apr 1896, (accident: 08 Apr 1896), aged 45, Fireman, Died 14th Apr. Fall of roof while going his rounds

Evans, Richard, 22 Oct 1883, aged 19, Loader, Fall of roof, coal and rock. Cause, a previously unseen slip in the rock

Ferguson, Elijah, 01 Aug 1895, aged 44, Stallman, Explosion of firedamp which exuded from old workings [More information ...]

Griffiths, Alfred, 21 Mar 1903, 10.30 a.m., aged 46, Stallman, Fall of roof (stone) at working face in deep seam. He was getting a rate of coal off the face near a small fault, when the roof fell between the fault and a slip which was not visible. There should have been a post under the stone which fell, to comply with the timbering regulations

Griffiths, S., 13 Oct 1894, aged 69, Dataller, Fall of rock roof when repairing airway

Hammond, Silas, 21 Jun 1888, aged 16, Horse driver, Found dead under a full tub of rock which he had brought down an incline. He had probably lowered the tub with his back to it instead of holding on behind

Hampton, J., 03 May 1897, aged 38, Loader, Fall of roof and side displacing timber

Hatfield, James William, 20 Sep 1911, aged 31, Loader, This accident occurred in a district where the Deep and Shallow seams are close together, the Deep being taken out first and the Shallow face following 20 yards behind. The place of accident was the junction of a Deep stall road with the main slant, the line of Shallow face being across this junction at the time. Deceased had brought a tub out of the Deep road, and was waiting on the junction for another driver to pass, when a large fall of Shallow roof coal and dirt buried him and his horse. The horse was killed by the fall, and deceased, though got out alive, died in the hospital a little later. The fall was 15 ft. long, 6 ft. 8 in. to 3 ft. wide, and 4 ft. high, and came from three slips, one along each side and the other at the wide end. The slips were not noticed before the accident

Hawley, Thomas, 18 Nov 1889, aged 28, Loader, Full of roof in shallow coal face which broke down the timber

Haynes, Thomas, 01 Nov 1901, aged 23, Roadman, Fall of roof. Collapse of newly-set timber. Cause, heavy fall of rock from cavity above the timber [More information ...]

Heath, James, 08 May 1899, aged 20, Driver, Crushed between a cog and his empty tub through the pony bolting

Holloway, Cornelius, 17 Sep 1899, (accident: 29 Mar 1899), aged 35, Stallman, Fall of rock in a rock head. Cause, a slip joint. Died September 17th

Hood, George, 28 Oct 1901, (accident: 19 Oct 1901), aged 44, Coal-leader, He was bringing a railway truck down the siding to join another truck which was standing. The truck was running by its own gravitation and he was standing on the front buffer regulating the pace by putting on the brake with one foot. When the trucks bumped he was thrown off and his leg cut. Blood-poisoning supervened and he died on 28th October, 1901

Hordbin, George, 08 Nov 1905, 8.15 a.m., aged 39, Stallman, Fall of side (coal) at longwall face in Deep seam on the occurrence of a bump

Huslow, Thomas, 25 Jan 1903, (accident: 08 Jan 1903, 9.0 a.m.), aged 36, Truck loader, While loading a railway truck with coal at a wharf, he slipped on a lump of coal, fell off the truck to the ground and injured his spine. This resulted in paralysis, from which he died on 25th January. The truck was stationary

Jascoe, Charles, 09 Nov 1875, aged 30, Sinker, Bow of sinking "bowk" which was ascending whilst the two deceased were descending, snapped, and the bowk and its contents fell upon them [More information ...]

Johnson, James, 22 Jan 1899, (accident: 16 Jan 1899), aged 28, Driver, Crushed by a full tub in front of which he was walking. Died January 22nd

Jones, Thomas, 21 Sep 1899, (accident: 14 Sep 1899), aged 36, Dataller, Fall of roof whilst repairing. Died September 21st

Lester, William, 16 Jun 1892, 10.15 a.m., aged 14, Driver, Found dying with head crushed, in front of three full tubs

Lloyd, William, 01 Nov 1901, aged 41, Roadman, Fall of roof. Collapse of newly-set timber. Cause, heavy fall of rock from cavity above the timber [More information ...]

Maiden, W. J., 02 Jun 1904, 3.50 p.m., aged 14, Door-boy, Fall of side (fireclay). Two or three cwt. of fireclay fell on to deceased from side of road, which was 9 ft. high, and overhanging at the top

Male, Daniel, 06 Sep 1888, aged 15, Lamp cleaner, Crushed by a railway waggon

Male, Edward, 15 Jul 1907, (accident: 14 Jun 1907, 2 p.m.), aged 21, Horse Driver, Deceased was waiting at the coal face for a tub to be filled, and was between the tub and the "face," when a piece of the stone above the coal-"Bannocking dirt"-about 3 feet long by 1 foot 6 inches wide, which had been left overhanging, fell over on to him. This accident would have been prevented if the stallman, whose duty it was, had either taken down the overhanging dirt or set timber to support it. He stated that he had tried to get it down but failed, and therefore thought it unnecessary to set timber. Deceased's back was broken, and he succumbed on 15th July

Mansfield, William, 14 Jul 1907, 9 a.m., aged 31, Ostler, Underground fire

Marygold, Joseph, 03 May 1901, aged 42, Stallman, Fall of roof coal in a stall. The fall displaced two props 4 ft. apart. Cause, coal shaken by working another seam 13 ft. below

Riley, Joseph, 20 Mar 1887, (accident: 23 Feb 1887), aged 32, Stallman, Died 20th March. Explosion of firedamp

Rogers, John, 03 Nov 1910, aged 57, Cager, Deceased was assistant cager at the bottom of a shaft 400 yards deep. While he was running two full tubs on to the cage, something fell down the shaft, ricochetted off the cage cover and struck him on the head, cracking his skull. He died 17 days later from septic meningitis, the result of his injuries. The cages were double decked, with sparred sides and decks. When the accident happened, the banksmen were taking the last two tubs off the cage which had just ascended, and presumably a piece of coal had fallen off the cage bottom. At the inquest the cager stated that pieces of coal might be heard falling off the cage cover a dozen times in the day ; and when I visited the colliery after the accident I found the cage decks strewn with pieces of coal which had fallen off the tubs. The accident was chiefly attributed to carelessness on the part of the banksmen, in not keeping the decks clean. I suggested that the cage bottom and sides should be plated, or sparred so closely that coal could not fall through

Round, Daniel, 30 Jun 1911, aged 41, Stallman, Deceased worked in the Deep seam and had holed a face of coal, 5 ft. long, to a depth of 4 ft. next to a down throw fault. Several attempts had been made to bring the coal down, without success. Having reset a sprag at one end of the holing he went underneath and attempted to loosen the coal by driving a wedge into the lower part of the seam, when suddenly about 1 ton of coal fell and a portion of it struck him across the shoulders, fracturing his spine. Had an additional sprag been set, in all probability the accident would have been avoided

Sale, Bennett, 17 Mar 1903, (accident: 11 Mar 1902), aged 17, Collier, On the 11th March, a lad named Bennett Sale, aged 17, employed at No. 2 Leighswood pit, Aldridge Colliery, was stated to have fallen and injured his knee while running along the engine plane. The injury was not regarded as serious, but it led to a diseased bone in the leg, from which he died on the 17th March, 1903. No inquest was held, and as death did not occur within a year and a day of the accident it is not included in the list of fatal accidents [fatality reported during the year but not classified as a reportable accident]

Smart, W. B., 23 Aug 1900, aged 31, Stallman, Fall from working face when wedging the coal

Stanley, James, 19 Aug 1924, 12.30 p.m., 5th hour of shift, aged 17, Horse Driver, Deceased was pulling his loaded tub from the way end plate under the ripping brow to his horse when the ripping fell without warning and buried him. When he was released he was 3 yards from the tub and he was dead. The loader, who helped him to the way end with the tub, did not hear any warning before the fall occurred. The ground at this point is irregular, due to a roll in the strata, and probably the roof suddenly weighted

Stonehouse, T., 14 Jan 1876, (accident: 05 Jan 1876), aged 52, Pikeman, Fall of coal. Deceased after firing a shot incautiously went under the holing, when the whole mass fell upon him. Injured on the 5th instant. Died this day

Thompson, Alfred, 04 Jan 1884, (accident: 02 Jan 1884), aged 59, Stallman, Died 4th January. Explosion of firedamp

Titley, Arthur, 06 Nov 1914, aged 15, Snapper, Deceased was detaching full tubs from the endless rope at a curve on a main haulage road. The tubs were attached to the rope in sets of two by means of "Fisher" clips, these being released by knocking the hoop or box up by a blow with a short iron bar. At the time of accident, the end of six standing tubs was only 10 feet from where deceased knocked the clips off the rope, and failing to release the clip of the on-coming journey his head was crushed between this journey and the standing tubs. His skull was fractured and he died on the same day

Tranter, John, 10 Jul 1903, 2 p.m., aged 34, Repairer, Fall of roof (stone) at ripping brow in stall road. He had just drawn out the bar set under the brow, about 10 feet from the face, when there was a heavy bump and the roof fell and caught him

Tranter, Thomas, 04 Dec 1901, aged 30, Stallman, Fall of roof at working face in 7-ft. seam. He released a lump of coal with a crowbar, which was believed to have knocked a post out in falling, and so caused a large fall of roof

Ward, William, 16 Nov 1908, aged 30, Dirt-remover, Deceased and two other men were widening a main road. One was working at one end of a large overhanging piece of the side, and deceased was near him removing dirt, when suddenly the piece 9 ft. 6 ins. long by 4 ft. high by 15 ins. to 18 ins. thick, came off at two slips and buried deceased, who was dead when got out. The other man was also injured. The deputy had examined the place an hour before and advised a shot, and just before the accident one of the men knocked on the side and said he thought a shot would be necessary the piece was so hard. For this reason the men did not consider it necessary to have sprags under the piece

Wardle, John, 18 Oct 1890, (accident: 03 Oct 1890), aged 52, Repairer, Died October 18th. Fall of roof between timber when repairing a roadway

Whittaker, J. T., 15 Aug 1903, 8.45 a.m., aged 15, Rope snapper, Struck by tubs which ran loose down an endless rope engine dip to his place of work. The man at the bank head clipped the second of two tubs to the rope to go down the incline ; the tubs being uncoupled, the first one ran down loose. The tubs had been uncoupled by a boy, unknown to the man in charge

Willdig, Thomas, 14 Nov 1904, 9.45 p.m., aged 48, Stallman, Fall of roof (coal and shale) at longwall face in 4 ft. seam

Woolley, Samuel, 10 May 1904, 8.50 a.m., aged 21, Repairer, Fall of roof (fireclay). Two bars were suddenly reeled out at a junction on a main haulage road, and deceased, who was cleaning the road, was buried under the fall

Yates, Joseph, 09 Nov 1875, aged 25, Sinker, Bow of sinking "bowk" which was ascending whilst the two deceased were descending, snapped, and the bowk and its contents fell upon them [More information ...]