Dalkeith Colliery

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Aitken, William, 31 Mar 1922, 3.30 a.m., 6th hour of shift, aged 27, Miner, He was getting coal on a stoop side when the whole of the waste, 500 square yards, fell without warning and he was killed.  As a rule plenty of warning was given before a waste fall.  It is estimated that over 50props were overridden and swept out and many hundreds of tons of rock fell.

Beveridge, Alexander, 26 Mar 1912, (accident: 13 Feb 1912), aged 25, Drawer, He was in a highly inclined seam, and shovelling coal down to the level road, when the head coal, left up to support the roof, broke, and reeling out six props, fell upon him, causing internal injuries, from which he died on the 26th March

Black, William, 19 Feb 1908, aged 28, Engine Attendant, Deceased stood on top of a tub to oil the gear wheels of a scraper conveyor while it was in motion, and his clothes became entangled in the unprotected wheels, and his left arm was drawn in and mangled

Brown, William, 24 Jun 1867, aged 28, Collier, Fall of roof in a long wall working

Combe, Edward, 15 Jul 1910, aged 56, Miner, Deceased was working in a place which was removing a stoop of coal, and was just starting a new cut next to the goaf ; the top coal, 12 inches thick, had been left up and was supported by trees, but the prop next to the waste was not set at the end of it, and the portion beyond it fell at a slip or lipe and the crushing of the roof. The piece of coal should have been taken down

Deniston, Joseph, 17 Nov 1854, Fell out of sinking kettle while ascending the pit

Duncan, Robert, 26 Dec 1924, 1.15 a.m., 4th hour of shift, aged 37, Miner, After firing a shot in the face he and another miner went back to examine. Whilst standing at the roadhead they were both knocked down by a fall of roof 8 ft. long, which displaced a bar. He was dead when extricated, but the other man was only bruised. The bar was set 6 ft. from the brushing face and there ought to have been another support in advance, but even if this had been set it might not have prevented the accident

Hope, -, 02 Oct 1868, aged 70, Engineman, He stepped on the connecting rod when the engine was in motion, and got his foot jammed between it and the wall. This man had worked the same engine for 30 years, and it is said had frequently been so reckless as to do what at last cost him his life

Jackson, William, 07 Apr 1906, aged 17, Trimmer, Deceased appeared to have been on the moving waggons, and in jumping down to regulate the speed by the brakes he stumbled and fell and waggon crushed him

Kay, James, 07 Aug 1865, Collier, Fell off cage while ascending pit

Murray, Peter, 27 Oct 1922, (accident: 26 Oct 1922, 12.45 p.m., 6th hour of shift), aged 36, Miner, He was about to set a prop to an overhanging length of mid stone when 19 ft. of it fell, swinging out five supporting props. He was pinned down by a large piece across the lower part of the body and sustained internal injuries from which he died next day.  The mid stone was probably broken by a shot in the bottom coal fired a few minutes before

Portious, John, 23 Feb 1859, Drawer, By overcome and crushed by a loaded hutch on incline

Pride, David, 10 May 1856, Weigher, Fell down pit whilst assisting pitheadman

Reid, John, 08 Oct 1914, (accident: 23 Sep 1914), aged 65, Miner, While taking some coal down, more came away than he expected, and he sustained a cut on the back of his hand. Blood-poisoning set in and he died on October 8th

Smith, George, 06 Mar 1924, (accident: 05 Mar 1924, 11.0 a.m., 4th hour of shift), aged 45, Miner, The seam has an inclination of about 1 in 3 and the face was being worked to the rise. The roof was of fakey sandstone with distinct bedding planes. A portion of the roof next the pack, about 2 ft. 6 ins. thick and 2 ft. 4 ins. wide, had fallen away. At the beginning of the shift Smith set two stells against the lip thus exposed, and broke into the coal below. For about 3 hours he had been hewing coal and was throwing out coal to the roadhead when a slab of roof, 2 ft. 6 ins. thick, 20 ins. wide and 6 ft. 4 ins. long, came over the stells or pushed them out, and crushed him to the pavement. He died the following day from his injuries

Steele, James, 05 Aug 1924, (accident: 04 Aug 1924, 1.15 p.m., 7th hour of shift), aged 30, Roadsman, Tubs of coal are brought up the mine to the surface by endless over rope haulage. Where the gradient changes from 1 in 2 to level at the mine mouth the rope bears very heavily on the tubs. A damaged tub was sent up with the back end partly out. The weight of the rope on the front end caused it to tip up at the back end and it could not have passed the brow. The haulage was stopped. Deceased was out on the surface and he commenced to knock out the front end of the tub so that it could run on its wheels again. Instead of the end alone coming out the side attached to it swung up and caught him on the head. Both the side irons had fractured and there was nothing holding the side to the bottom. He died next day from the injuries

Thomson, Thomas, 25 Jan 1858, Collier, By fall of roof at face of working

Watson, Robert, 03 Nov 1863, aged 13, Drawer, A piece of coal in the "Beefie" seam came over on this boy by the negligence of his uncle who was working with him