Cowdenbeath Colliery

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Allan, James, 03 Sep 1873, aged 40, Collier, Whilst ascending the shaft with two other men, the cage got out of the slides, and he fell out

Allan, James, 12 Sep 1881, aged 26, Brusher, Fall of roof ; while repairing a road within 30 yards of the shaft ; long wall

Anderson, George, 21 Jan 1908, aged 50, Miner, Deceased was beginning a new "slice" from a stoop. He had worked off some bottom coal and left the top coal overhanging, and while preparing a place for a sprag the overhanging part fell on him

Bain, Daniel, 21 May 1901, aged 23, Joiner, While engaged erecting a fence around a fan engine while it was in motion he was caught by the crank

Baxter, Charles, 18 Mar 1889, aged 64, Miner, Fall of coal

Beveridge, William, 19 Jun 1895, 8.30 a.m., aged 58, Reddsman, Fall of stone

Bisset, John, 24 Aug 1912, aged 42, Miner, They were engaged in driving through some old stoop and room workings. The face had approached a point where four roads met when a fall of roof occurred, which buried them both. The cavity left by the fall was 22 feet high and 20 feet long [More information ...]

Black, Alexander, 14 Jan 1878, aged 75, Truck greaser, Run over by waggons

Borthwick, James, 01 Sep 1882, aged 55, Labourer, Run over by waggons

Boyd, Charles, 20 Jan 1917, While operations were being conducted for the widening of a shaft a portion of the side of the shaft collapsed [More information ...]

Brown, Andrew, 01 May 1900, aged 32, Miner, The deceased were found under a stone, 30 ft. from the coal face, by the fireman while making his usual inspection ; the boy was quite dead, and the man died four hours later from his injuries. It is supposed that Glenny came inbye with an empty tub, and leaving it at the place of "coup," he went to the face for Brown to assist him to "coup" it up, and both were returning for that purpose when the roof fell [More information ...]

Brown, William, 03 Apr 1907, aged 70, Wood-cutter, Deceased was crossing the lines of rails of the sidings, when unobserved a train of waggons being pushed by a locomotive came upon him and he was run down

Bryden, James, 05 Oct 1897, aged 13, Pony driver, Deceased had apparently been standing up in a tub of an empty rake while rake was proceeding in-bye, and his head had come into contact with the roof gearing, whereby he was thrown back among the tubs and crushed

Carolan, Thomas, 04 Dec 1896, aged 23, Sinker, A loose plank fell down sinking pit, but where it had fallen from could not be ascertained

Carruthers, William, 22 Jun 1934, aged 23, Crushed by hutches

Carruthers, William, 22 Jun 1934, (accident: 26 Mar 1932), crushed by a rake of hutches

Condie, John, jun., 28 Aug 1908, aged 23, Miner, Deceased was holing his coal when the roof fell upon him injuring his spine, and death resulted a week after

Cree, John, 30 Jan 1899, aged 42, Miner, Deceased was working in a narrow place between two diverging hitches, when the roof suddenly fell, swinging out the timbers, and killing him instantly

Crighton, Robert, 23 Jan 1873, Joiner, Crushed by an engine-beam. He was about to do some work to a window, and forgot the beam was in motion

Curran, Robert, 17 Apr 1924, 1.40 a.m., 4th hour of shift, aged 33, Machineman, By electricity [More information ...]

Currie, Alex, 16 Sep 1904, aged 52, Deceased was the worse of drink and wandered on to the sidings, where he was run over by a waggon.

Currie, John, 02 Feb 1888, aged 51, Oversman, Went into old road, and was overcome by black damp

Dawson, Robert, 15 Oct 1893, aged 32, Miner, Jumped down pit. Suicide

Donaldson, John, 07 Apr 1922, 8.20 a.m., 3rd hour of shift, aged 40, Surface foreman, He was starting the screening plant engine which had centred.  After opening the throttle valve he was turning the fly wheel by hand, and when the engine got off the centre it ran faster than he expected.  He was pulled forward and pitched down through a hole in the floor on to the sidings, 12 ft below, alighting on his head, and sustaining a fracture of the skull and a fracture of the right arm.  He never regained consciousness and died about 12 hours later.

Dougray, James, 30 Oct 1907, aged 45, Miner, Deceased worked on the back shift, in a level of a seam being opened out mid-way in the shaft. There were no gates to fence the opening, but a bar was placed across during the fore shift, when no one was in the seam, and the bar was taken off when the back shift commenced and left off during the whole time the shift was at work. At stopping time deceased came from the face with a loaded tub, and evidently thinking the cage was there pushed it into the open shaft, and he and it were precipitated to the bottom a distance of 67 fathoms

Durham, George, 18 Mar 1898, aged 65, Labourer, Deceased was shifting a truck at a coal washing machine, and in running after it to reach the brake, crossed on to the adjoining engine road, immediately in front of a locomotive, which knocked him down and passed over his legs. He had previously been warned of the approach of the locomotive, but appeared to have forgotten it

Erskine, Thomas, 26 Sep 1876, aged 47, Collier, [Fall of coal] At face. Longwall

Ford, James, 04 Sep 1896, aged 62, Run over by waggons

Foulis, David, 17 Jul 1902, aged 42, Platelayer, Deceased and another were carrying timber through a gap in a train of empty trucks standing in a siding. A number of loaded trucks were shunted into the same siding, and on buffering against the standing trucks, closed the gap and crushed deceased between the buffers, causing injuries which terminated fatally two hours afterwards

Frail, Robert, 09 May 1907, aged 19, Drawer, The roof fell and threw out some timber, and deceased was injured and subsequently died. The timber was not properly set and roof would not in all likelihood have fallen if the timber had been put up as it ought to have been

Gavin, James, Junr, Jun 1909, (accident: 20 May 1909), aged 33, Manager, Deceased was driving a locomotive, when the motion suddenly reversed, and as it was going toward a dead end buffer with which it would collide, he jumped to the ground and fractured his left leg: he succumbed to his injury about a month later

Geddes, Henry, 29 Apr 1909, aged 52, Miner, Deceased was stripping coals in a machine wall, and had knocked out a prop, which was in his way. He had just got another, and intended setting it up, when a large stone fell and injured him so severely, that he died ten hours later

Glenny, Thomas, 01 May 1900, aged 14, Drawer, The deceased were found under a stone, 30 ft. from the coal face, by the fireman while making his usual inspection ; the boy was quite dead, and the man died four hours later from his injuries. It is supposed that Glenny came inbye with an empty tub, and leaving it at the place of "coup," he went to the face for Brown to assist him to "coup" it up, and both were returning for that purpose when the roof fell [More information ...]

Gold, William, 06 Apr 1876, aged 19, Brusher, [Fall of coal] At face, while putting in a building. Longwall

Gorman, John, 23 Oct 1904, (accident: 07 Oct 1904), aged 28, Drawer, As soon as the loaded tub had been pushed over the top of a short brae the chain broke and the tub ran down and struck the empty driving it against the side wall and crushed deceased, who died from his injuries 16 days afterwards

Hannah, John, 02 Oct 1922, 11.30 p.m., 2nd hour of shift, aged 37, Machineman, The face had "taken a weight" during the weekend and he was assisting the repairers to make it safe. WhiIst pulling down some broken roof he released a keystone  and caused a piece of rock weighing over a ton to fall upon him. His neck was dislocated.  The previous working of a seam about 12 ft. below had caused breaks in the roof

Hogg, Peter, 08 Nov 1923, aged 30, Electrocution

Hunter, A., 08 Sep 1869, aged 52, Collier, Fall of roof at face

Hunter, George, 22 Mar 1853, Fall of roof

Hunter, James, 31 Aug 1887, aged 59, Roadsman, Incline chain broke and tub came back and struck him

Hunter, Mary Ann, 30 Dec 1893, 1 p.m., aged 18, Pithead runner, Caught by cage

Inglis, James, 26 May 1885, aged 33, Collier, Fall of side. While filling coal. Long wall

Inglis, John, 24 Apr 1902, aged 20, Brusher, Deceased were brushing a level when a large fall of roof took place close to the face. There was a considerable quantity of timber set, which was swung by the fall [More information ...]

Japp, James, 16 Aug 1901, aged 65, Fireman, A miner was taking a cut off the inbye side of a stoop in a seam 5 ft. 10 in. in thickness. Hearing the roof working at the level road, he went out and set some timber, and while doing so deceased approached from the outbye side. The miner reported what had happened, and deceased passed inbye, tapping the roof with a hand hammer. He had only gone a few yards, when a triangular stone 5 ft. by 2 ft. 3 in. at extremes, and 9 in. in thickness, fell from a lype hitherto unseen, and killed him instantly

Kelly, William, 12 Jul 1924, (accident: 08 May 1924, 9.0 p.m., 7th hour of shift), aged 25, Fireman, He was travelling out along the endless haulage road at the end of his shift. The haulage road is almost level except at one part, where there is a stretch of 14 yards with a gradient of 1 in 18 in favour of the full rake. Kelly was either riding on the rake or hanging on to the side of it, as it ran down the inclined part of the road, and was caught between a low girder and a hutch. His injuries were not considered serious at the time, but he died 65 days later from a fractured spine

King, James, 29 Nov 1853, cage accident [More information ...]

Lindsay, Robert, 17 May 1892, 12.30 p.m., 7th hour of shift, aged 24, Locomotive shunter, Crushed by waggon

Lonie, John, 18 Nov 1910, aged 70, Waggon Builder, He was trying to open a shed door on a line of rails on which some waggons were being shunted, and before he could do so the end of the first waggon crashed into it and fatally injured him

Lumsden, George, 21 Jan 1887, aged 14, Driver, Fell in front of tubs

Lumsden, Richard, 14 Mar 1900, aged 29, Locomotive Driver, Deceased, who had had previous experience as a locomotive driver elsewhere, had only commenced work here on the morning of the accident, and was assisting the ordinary driver in order to "learn the road." When taking a train of twenty-nine loaded trucks down from the pit on a gradient falling 1 in 33, the driver lost control of the train, and finding that his locomotive wheels were "skidding," and that he was unable to pull up, he shouted to deceased to jump off, at the same time doing so himself. Deceased remained on the engine, which left the rails at a set of facing points, toppled over, and fell upon the weighing table, which was broken to pieces. Deceased was thrown into the weighing pit and killed instantly. The whole of the brakes were said to have been pinned down, but apparently they had not sufficient power to control the train

Macintyre, William, 24 Oct 1893, 12.5 p.m., aged 22, Loco. shunter, Run over by waggon

McCue, James, 23 Apr 1900, aged 32, Roadsman, Deceased and another workman were engaged taking a tub along an airway, from which the rails had been lifted, and while dragging it down it struck a prop, and knocking it out, released a stone, which fell and fatally crushed him

McFarlane, Michael, 03 Sep 1909, aged 42, Roadsman, Deceased was engaged with the overman and some others clearing a fall on a main incline. The overman had sounded the roof several times and was satisfied with it. When they were about finished a large stone fell from a height of about 10 feet, and injured McFarlane so badly that he died the same day

McGartland, Patrick, 22 Jul 1907, aged 34, Miner, Deceased and another man, were engaged making an airway, through waste ground, when a large fall occurred, displacing some timber which had been recently set, and burying the three men. Ostler with the assistance of the third man managed to get himself freed, and groped his way in the dark to where a pony stood, it led him to the shaft bottom, where he got help. McGartland died before being extricated, and Ostler died five days later. At the Fatal Accident Inquiry, subsequently held into the circumstances of the accident the jury, very properly, commended the plucky action of Ostler in going for help travelling a distance of 500 yards without a light, although himself fatally injured [More information ...]

McGill, Andrew, 02 Nov 1882, aged 42, Brusher, Fall of roof. While repairing level road, long wall

McKenlay, George, 13 Mar 1858, Drawer, By being crushed by a hutch on a self-acting incline

McLeod, Thomas, 24 Apr 1902, aged 34, Brusher, Deceased were brushing a level when a large fall of roof took place close to the face. There was a considerable quantity of timber set, which was swung by the fall [More information ...]

Michie, Alexander, 12 Feb 1906, aged 27, Shunter, Deceased had removed some empty waggons into a siding and fouled the crossing, and while riding down with a second train, on the brake of one of the waggons, he was thrown off and crushed between the buffers

Miller, David, 29 Nov 1853, cage accident [More information ...]

Mollison, William, 28 Oct 1884, aged 16, Loco. shunter, Run over by locomotive ; it was supposed he was blown off by a gust of wind

Morgan, John, 20 Feb 1880, aged 19, Locomotive brakesman, Crushed between buffers of locomotive and waggon

Muir, Robert, 29 Aug 1906, aged 33, Miner, Deceased drove a narrow place through on the waste to ascertain the thickness of coal and also to obtain from the waste material for which to build the places, and while engaged afterwards near the entrance to the opening the roof fell right along the narrow place, and he was killed instantaneously

Muirhead, Lenus, 24 Aug 1912, aged 19, Drawer, They were engaged in driving through some old stoop and room workings. The face had approached a point where four roads met when a fall of roof occurred, which buried them both. The cavity left by the fall was 22 feet high and 20 feet long [More information ...]

Murray, Mary, 26 Dec 1894, 10.45 a.m., aged 15, Pithead worker, Knocked down by waggons

Neilson, John, 22 Aug 1891, 8 a.m., aged 35, Collier, Fall of roof

Newton, James, 20 Jan 1917, While operations were being conducted for the widening of a shaft a portion of the side of the shaft collapsed [More information ...]

Noble, David, 06 Oct 1892, 2.30 a.m., 5th hour of shift, aged 58, Brusher, Crushed by hutch

Ostler, William, 27 Jul 1907, (accident: 22 Jul 1907), aged 18, Driver, Deceased and another man, were engaged making an airway, through waste ground, when a large fall occurred, displacing some timber which had been recently set, and burying the three men. Ostler with the assistance of the third man managed to get himself freed, and groped his way in the dark to where a pony stood, it led him to the shaft bottom, where he got help. McGartland died before being extricated, and Ostler died five days later. At the Fatal Accident Inquiry, subsequently held into the circumstances of the accident the jury, very properly, commended the plucky action of Ostler in going for help travelling a distance of 500 yards without a light, although himself fatally injured [More information ...]

Park, John, 12 Mar 1902, aged 55, Bencher, Deceased was bencher or hanger-on at the foot of a wheel brae 27 feet long and dipping 1 in 5. When about to couple on an empty tub, he shouted something which a drawer at braehead mistook for "shove over." The loaded tub was consequently sent away before the empty one was attached to the chain. It struck and drove the empty tub against deceased, fracturing a rib, which perforated his lung. He died about 12 hours afterwards

Paton, Robert, 03 Nov 1908, aged 19, Bencher, Deceased was bencher at the bottom of a short incline running single tubs. While a rake was running a link of the chain gave way and both tubs ran back, just then deceased was crossing when he was caught by the tubs and killed. He had been warned against the practice of crossing the bench while tubs were running the day previous. Notices warning persons not to cross incline foot while tubs are running are posted at all the inclines

Penman, Archibald, 11 Nov 1897, aged 35, Labourer, Deceased was engaged with others in putting a belt on a pulley in connection with a coal washing machine, and in returning he passed through another belt and, stumbling, he was caught and drawn into the pulley

Reilly, Michael, 25 Feb 1889, aged 53, Platelayer, Run over by waggons on private branch railway

Roney, George, 04 Aug 1862, Collier, Fall of head coal

Rowley, Michael, 26 Mar 1900, aged 50, Miner, Deceased and another worked in an upset near the face of a dook. The upset had been driven for a distance of about 20 feet, and had a rise of 1 in 2. Canvas was led to the mouth of the upset, but no provision was made to take air to the face. No one had worked in the upset for 40 hours prior to the accident. The fireman reported to deceased's fellow workman that he had found a small quantity of firedamp at the face of the upset, and had wafted it out, and permitted them to pass inbye, giving them an unlocked Davy lamp, with which they might examine the place if they entered it before he reached it again. On reaching the upset they entered it with open lights, and ignited some gas, which burned both men somewhat severely. Deceased succumbed to his injuries five days' later

Sharp, Joseph, 24 Jun 1897, aged 51, Miner, Deceased was holing the coal when it came over on him

Shearer, Joseph, 18 Apr 1907, aged 16, Drawer, Deceased hung an empty tub on the rope, and a miner at the top pushed over his loaded tub, and while tubs were in motion the wheel tree broke and loaded tub crashed into the empty tub at bottom of brae, which struck deceased and killed him

Shepherd, Edward, 29 Nov 1853, cage accident [More information ...]

Sheppard, Edward, 30 Nov 1853, Breakage of rope (5 killed) [More information ...]

Simpson, John, 26 Jan 1884, aged 25, Roadsman, Crushed by a runaway hutch while repairing a screen on an incline

Sinclair, George, 14 Apr 1877, aged 22, Brusher, Fall of roof. At face, Long wall

Smith, John, 16 Jan 1902, aged 35, Miner, Deceased had been redding and timbering a fallen road in a longwall working, when a large stone burst suddenly from the sandstone roof, killing him instantaneously

Smith, Richard, 07 Aug 1924, 5.0 p.m., 3rd hour of shift, aged 65, Miner, He was getting coal in a longwall face when a heavy fall of roof occurred, which killed him instantly. The fall measured 12 ft. along the line of face by 2¼ ft. thick by 4 ft. wide, and would weigh about 2½ tons. It came from between two slips, one of which was concealed by the coal face, one prop was displaced. There was no contravention

Suttie, John, 19 Nov 1870, Fall of coal

Swinton, William, 13 Nov 1893, 6 a.m., aged 28, Miner, Explosion of firedamp

Syme, James, 04 Jan 1904, (accident: 26 Nov 1903), aged 36, Fireman, Deceased placed a 10-ft. timber bar on the empty tubs of a rake running on a wheel brae to take it to a part where roof required repairing, and while the rake moved up he walked alongside to keep the bar in position ; at a low part of the roof the bar caught and it was thrown off the tubs on top of him. He died on 4th January, 1904

Watson, R., 31 Dec 1870, aged 40, Fall of roof

Watson, Robert, 29 Jun 1863, aged 55, Collier, A piece of top coal 4½' x 15' x '15' which he was trying to take down fell upon him

Westwood, David, 31 Jul 1897, aged 48, Miner, Fall of coal at face of heading

Woods, John, 04 May 1903, aged 21, Drawer, Deceased was riding on a train of empty waggons, and either fell off or was knocked off and run over