Florence Colliery

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Adams, George, 06 Mar 1924, 2.15 p.m., 8th hour of shift, aged 45, Platelayer, Deceased and four others were taking a bogey loaded with sleepers along the railway. Deceased was at the front "off" corner of the sleepers on the bogey, one of his mates was at the "near" front comer, and the others were behind. They had got up a good walking pace when deceased slipped and fell head first under the sleepers, which were overhanging the front of the bogey. His head caught a "chair" and one arm was across the rail and before his mates knew what had happened they had pushed the bogey over him

Adams, Herbert, 03 Jun 1904, 10.55 a.m., aged 20, Hooker at shaft, Crushed by cage through cage slipping off snaps while he was taking tub out

Arrowsmith, Harry, 05 Jul 1910, aged 23, Roadsman, The accident occurred near the lower end of a self-acting incline. A wooden bar had become depressed under roof pressure. Deceased, under the immediate supervision of the overman, was engaged in stamping a foot hole for a post under the bar which broke suddenly, and about 20 tons of roof fell killing deceased

Bereton, A., 25 Jan 1989, aged 47, Electrician, Crushed by wagons

Blundred, Thomas, 11 Feb 1960, aged 57, Surface worker, Crushed by Wagons

Blurton, William, 16 May 1903, 4.10 a.m., aged 22, Assistant Dataller, The cage in which he was ascending the shaft got out of the wood guides, and collided with the descending cage. The "tacklers" or cage chains of the ascending cage broke, and it fell with the men to the bottom of the shaft [More information ...]

Bowen, W. J., 26 Nov 1892, (accident: 02 Sep 1892), aged 25, Dataler, Caught by jig rope and thrown against side of road; tuns ran amain. Died 26th November

Bowler, A., 24 Feb 1891, (accident: 11 Feb 1891), aged 57, Holer, Fall of coal from working face in Ash seam. Died 24th February

Brian, Arthur, 28 Feb 1908, (accident: 13 Jan 1908), aged 31, Loader, A slab of coal, 6 ft. 9 ins. long, 3 ft. 6 ins. deep, and 1 ft. 6 ins. thick, fell off the face of the breasting in the Main Coal on to a heap of coals on the floor, from which deceased had been loading. The fall caused a lump, weighing 4 or 5 cwt., which lay on the top of the heap, to slip down, and it caught deceased and crushed him against a prop. The buttocker had previously attempted, without success, to get down the coal which caused the accident, and had decided that a shot would be necessary to blow it down. Deceased was severely crushed about the lower parts of the body, and died from the injuries on February 28th

Brian, J., 08 Oct 1937, aged 27, Pipe Fitter

Brian, John, 25 Jul 1980, aged 44, Electrician, Killed by fall of rock

Burton, S., 24 Sep 1891, aged 35, Loader, Fall of roof at working face in the Moss Seam

Buxton, Lawrence, 19 Aug 1952, aged 22, Trainee worker, Killed by a fall of roof

Carr, James, 26 Aug 1947, aged 44, Packer, Buried in fall, Moss face

Cooper, Arthur, 16 May 1903, 4.10 a.m., aged 24, Shaft Signaller, The cage in which he was ascending the shaft got out of the wood guides, and collided with the descending cage. The "tacklers" or cage chains of the ascending cage broke, and it fell with the men to the bottom of the shaft [More information ...]

Deramo, Vincento, 28 Aug 1957, aged 34, Face worker, Crushed by a fall of dirt

Derrington, Thomas, 18 Nov 1902, 7.30 a.m., aged 32, Platelayer, Crushed between the buffers of railway trucks during shunting operations on the colliery sidings

Durne, William Henry, 25 Jul 1914, aged 27, Collier, Deceased was engaged with two other men in the operation of "shifting the jig-up." The roof of the jig road had been ripped on the preceding night shift by means of explosives. The line of ripping extended across the road from the end of the left side pack and about 8 feet in advance of the right side pack, and a slip in the roof was visible. The final timbering was being done, and the last bar was being fixed when the roof suddenly collapsed and knocked down the bar which they were setting. Two of the men succeeded in getting clear uninjured, but deceased was struck on the head and crushed by a stone 7 feet by 3 feet by 1½ feet, death being instantaneous. A second slip, approximately parallel to the first one, was exposed in the roof cavity after the occurrence, the two slips converging upwards. The roof had probably been affected by the blasting operations carried out on the previous shift, and particularly owing to the ripping having been done in advance of the side packing. Special attention will be given in this direction in future so as to insure the packing being kept in advance of the ripping

Edwards, Albert, 20 Aug 1906, 8.30 a.m., aged 18, Scraper-out, Deceased was a scraper-out on a face, cut under by a holing machine. He was killed by a piece of coal weighing three or four cwt. which fell off the face while he was scraping slack from the cut immediately beneath. Loose coal on the face had been noticed early in the shift, and stretchers set had been taken out, the face brushed and fresh timber set. At the back of the lump was a slip parallel to the face. It is probable that the slack removed by scraping released the coal at the back of the cut, and it dropped sufficiently to loose hold of the stretcher supporting it and then rolled over outwards on to deceased

Edwards, Joseph, 10 Jan 1879, aged 30, Sinker, Fell down shaft while putting in rods

Forrester, Stanley, 09 Jun 1960, aged 40, Face worker, Killed by a fall of coal

Galloway, James, 11 Oct 1957, aged 40, Coalface Packer, Killed by a fall of roof

Garner, Samuel, 03 Aug 1889, aged 42, Undermanager, Fell into fan race while repairing fan

Hackett, Thomas, 25 Oct 1880, Collier, By slipping off ladder

Hall, Orlander, 27 Jun 1906, 2.15 p.m., aged 28, Washery Chargeman, Deceased was found dead in the screen room of the washery. His jacket had been caught by the keyway in the projecting end of the shaft of the elevator pulley, and was wound round the shaft until his arm and head were drawn up against it and his neck dislocated

Hargreaves, William, 04 Dec 1912, aged 43, Buttocker, Deceased had attached a "Sylvester" to the middle of a leg under a bar in a jig in the Yard coal in order to draw a post from under some top coal at the jig landing. The post was very tight, and resisted the pull to such an extent that the leg was drawn from the bar and a heavy fall of roof resulted. Deceased was completely buried and killed instantly. The loader who was assisting was buried also, but escaped with little injury except severe shock. This accident could easily have been avoided by the exercise of a little judgment on the part of deceased, for the post to draw was so obviously tight, and a leg at any time is of uncertain stability for such a purpose as this

Heath, J. B., 24 Feb 1902, 9.30 a.m., aged 19, Signaller, &c., Crushed by tubs which ran wild down engine dip owing to breakage of cap on haulage rope

Herrod, Joseph, 01 Apr 1958, aged 56, Face worker, Buried by a fall of dirt [More information ...]

Hollins, William, 22 Aug 1903, 10.40 a.m., aged 28, Collier, Fall of roof (coal) in a waste at working face in Yard seam. While preparing to draw the timber from under top coal which had been been prepared for dropping it fell on him. The piece of coal was about 9 feet by 3 feet 6 inches by 2 feet 3 inches thick ; it was detached on two sides, cut up on one side and liberated by a break on the fourth side and supported by three posts. It was supposed that Hollins was cutting round the lid on one of the posts before drawing it with a pulling jack which he had at hand

Jackson, Walter, 25 Jan 1906, 12 noon, aged 29, Loader, Deceased was standing on the plates at the top of a jig, holding a tape to measure off the distance for the next jig-chock, when a fall of roof occurred directly over the plates from between the four bars put up in rectangular form at the landing. The fall came from a slip and a break in the roof parallel to the face

James, William, 31 Jul 1913, (accident: 29 Jul 1913), aged 28, Chargeman, Deceased was sheltering in an apparently safe position in the stall road of his working place in the Brassey Mine during the firing of a "Samsonite" flanking shot in the longwall face when a piece of ironstone, projected by the shot, ricocheted and struck him on the side of the body with great force, penetrating the right lung and lacerating the liver. He died in hospital two days afterwards

Johnson, Albert, 09 Dec 1924, 9.45 a.m., 3rd hour of shift, aged 25, Loader, Haulage accident [More information ...]

Leigh, Joseph James, 23 Jan 1914, aged 26, Hooker-on at pit bottom, The shaft cages are loaded and unloaded at two landings, and deceased was the hooker-on at the bottom landing. The top landing is at the level of the haulage road, and the full tubs are lowered four at a time to the bottom landing by means of a gravity cage. The empty tubs are raised in like manner at the other side of the shaft. Both cages are controlled by the same band brake. Obviously, the empty tubs should have been placed on their cage first before loading the full side one, but on this occasion the full side one was loaded first, and two of the tubs being loaded with dirt, the brake was unable to hold the load and the cage descended. At this moment, deceased was engaged in cleaning some dirt from underneath, and was crushed by the descending cage. He had not given any warning of his intention to the top landing attendants as was his practice on all previous occasions

Lloyd, James, 04 Feb 1903, (accident: 27 Jan 1903, 8.30 a.m.), aged 33, Packer, Fall of roof (top coal) in waste at working face in yard seam, where he was getting stone for building a pack. A "goth" preceded the fall, and several posts under the top coal were reeled out. Died 4th February

Lloyd, James, 21 Aug 1908, aged 38, Roofer, Deceased was employed in getting top coal 2 ft. 4 ins. thick in wastes in the Yard Coal seam. He had started by the pack side and got down a slice 10 ft. long and 1 ft. 6 ins. wide, in which space he had set two props to the roof with good lids, when a further slice of the same width fell from a break in the top coal and a portion of this fell upon him and killed him almost instantly. Deceased was well used to the kind of work he was doing ; but, even if he noticed the break in the coal he probably thought it was properly supported by a row of props which were set less than 5 ft. apart under the tops and the lids of which projected from 6 ins. to 1 ft. beyond the break

Lockett, George, 11 Dec 1905, 8.30 p.m., aged 46, Dataler, While repairing in a steep part of an endless rope haulage road a number of tubs were pushed into the steep part through a tub having having been unintentionally left gripped to the rope which was being used for taking tubs to and from the repairers

Lockett, Norman, 27 Mar 1909, aged 19, Taker-off, Fall of Roof. Deceased was taker-off at the bottom of a jig in a level in the Moss Seam. He was sitting with his back against the chock at one corner of the jig when a heavy fall of roof occurred in a cavity above the timbering along the level. A bar was broken by the fall and a large quantity of small debris came through the hole and buried deceased who was probably suffocated. The level was timbered with stout bars with laggings and runners above and partly stowed with dirt above the timber. It seems, however, that the space above was not sufficiently packed to prevent any further fall from dropping heavily on the supports. Further stowing with debris and timber above the bars in the cavity which extended to a height of about 7 ft. into the roof might have prevented the occurrence

Lomas, Joseph, 19 Apr 1893, aged 32, Sinker, Fell down shaft off a scaffold. He came down in a bowk and jumped out before it reached the scaffold and fell over or under a chain fencing an open space one side of the scaffold

Mace, Peter, 30 Mar 1966, aged 39, Ripper, Killed by a fall of roof

Mason, Jack, 11 Mar 1980, aged 61, Miner, Struck by empty mine car

May, Robert, 19 Oct 1967, aged 30, Developement Worker, Struck by falling stone

McGarry, Luke, 25 Mar 1907, 11.30 p.m., aged 27, Packer, Deceased was drawing timber 5 yards down a waste in the main coal. While setting a prop under a bad piece of roof in order to protect himself for the work he had in hand, the piece of roof (bass) under which he was setting the post fell and caught him before he could move back out of the way

McGuinnes, Arthur V., 28 Sep 1973, aged 22, Loco Driver, Hit head on pipe

McSporron, James William, 21 Jul 1958, aged 48, Ripper, Killed by a fall of roof

Nixon, Arthur E., 03 Jan 1904, 10 p.m., aged 21, Shoveller at coalcutter, Slipped and fell on revolving cutter wheel of coal cutting machine

Parker, Charles, 21 Aug 1913, (accident: 18 Aug 1913), aged 13, Tallyboy, Deceased had strayed from his usual working place to the foot of an inclined road up which the empty tubs are raised by means of a creeper chain. He was seen to step backwards and drop into an opening in which tension wheel of the chain revolves, but before the machinery could be stopped his right leg had been caught by the chain and drawn over the wheel, and he sustained severe injuries from which he died on August 2lst. The machinery was inadequately protected

Plant, David, 19 Jul 1909, aged 41, Ripper, Fall of Roof. Deceased was killed by fall of roof about 9 ft. by 6 ft. by 1 ft. 6 ins. thick in the ripping in a jig in the Main coal. In the first hour of the shift a shot was fired which brought down 4 ft. 6 ins. of roof 9 ft across the "jig" and 6 ft. in length to a break, leaving up a thickness of 1 ft. 6 ins. against a smooth parting. Deceased removed all loose material and examined the place before commencing to bore again. While in the act of stamping a hole for the boring post the half yard of roof fell from a slip running up the side of the jig, burying deceased and killing him instantly. The piece of roof might have been protected by props or stretchers before proceeding to work beneath it

Pointon, E., 06 Dec 1974, aged 48, Collier

Ratcliffe, Roland, 27 Aug 1907, 12.55 p.m., aged 42, Buttocker, Deceased and two others were drilling a shot hole in the coal in a longwall face which had been holed by a coalcutting machine during the previous night. They had already drawn the sprags and stretchers, and taken down a portion of the coal, and the shot was intended to bring down the remainder. It came away suddenly without warning, and threw deceased forward against a jig post breaking his neck. The accident would probably have been prevented had the sprags and stretchers been re-set, as required by Special Rule 79. Deceased was leading man in the place

Reid, Edward, 01 Apr 1958, aged 55, Face worker, Buried by a fall of dirt [More information ...]

Rhodes, Caleb, jnr., 04 Jan 1910, aged 24, Collier, Deceased was struck on the head by a jig post which was drawn out while jigging a journey of three loads against three empties. His skull was fractured and he died from the injury two days later. The jig-post had been examined by the contractor and was considered safe. Two journeys had been jigged all right before the accident. The post when set was cut into the floor to a depth of 8 ins., and into the roof a depth of 6 ins., where it was fastened by means of wooden wedges

Rhodes, T., 18 Aug 1969, aged 63, Miner

Riddle, Samuel, 11 Jun 1911, (accident: 22 May 1911), aged 27, Loader, Deceased complained of an injury to the knee by the fall of a small piece of top coal while holing at the face in a long-wall stall. The injury was only slight, and deceased finished the shift and walked home. Blood-poisoning supervened, and he died on June 11th

Rothwell, Joseph, 29 Mar 1899, 11 a.m., aged 39, Collier, Fall of roof in "waste" at longwall face in yard seam. He went into a "waste" from which the timber had been drawn, and where he had no business to go, for some unknown reason

Scott, Thomas, 15 Mar 1908, (accident: 11 Mar 1908), aged 54, Roofer, Deceased was taking down top coal in a "waste" in the Yard Seam, and for this purpose cutting out the coal over the head of a prop to permit of its being drawn with a "Sylvester." A piece of coal weighing about a ton suddenly came away from a slip and fell upon him, fracturing his spine. He succumbed four days later

Seabridge, Joseph, 21 Oct 1903, 10.45 p.m., aged 41, Dataler, Fall of roof (stone) while repairing main haulage road in Yard seam. He was setting a middle prop under a broken bar, when a heavy fall occurred and buried him

Shemilt, Arthur, 14 Apr 1953, aged 58, Packer, Collapsed

Shenton, Leslie, 09 May 1960, aged 20, Packer, Buried at face

Simcock, Thomas Beech, 03 Jun 1910, aged 50, Timberer, While descending in the cage with other men he was heard to squeal and then to fall out of the cage. Apparently he had a seizure and fell helplessly from the cage into the pit

Sivoli, Antonio, 15 Oct 1959, aged 40, Miner, Killed in an explosion

Spendilow, Roy, 27 Jan 1955, aged 23, Face worker, Killed by a fall of roof

Watson, Thomas, 26 Dec 1924, (accident: 14 May 1924, 8.20 p.m., 6th hour of shift), aged 66, Labourer, The deceased person, while working on roads close to the shaft, received slight injuries to his head on the 14th and again on the 19th May, 1924, by bumping his head. On neither occasion did he receive first-aid treatment. He died from septic poisoning on the 26th December, 1924. If he had gone to the ambulance station to be treated his life might have been saved.

White, Denton, 19 Jun 1911, (accident: 01 Apr 1911), aged 42, Buttocker, Deceased was scraping out slack from under the holing in a seam which was 4 ft. 6 ins. in thickness and machine holed, when a piece of coal burst off the face and fractured his thigh. He died on 19th June from blood-poisoning set up by the accident

Wood, Colin, 05 May 1947, aged 24, Face worker, Buried by fall

Wood, David, 20 Mar 1911, (accident: 08 Mar 1911), aged 32, Timberer, The accident occurred on an endless rope haulage road in the Yard seam. Two sets of full tubs were being taken outbye up a gradient, when the clip of the leading set of five tubs became detached from the rope, and the set ran back 6 yards against the next set of six tubs which also became detached. The 11 tubs ran amain and collided with a line of tubs standing on the flat at the bottom of the dip. The deceased had heard the tubs running wild, but thought they were empties, and therefore he was taking refuge between full tubs which were closed together by the collision, and he was jammed between them and sustained injuries, from which he died on March 20th

Wood, George Trevor, 09 May 1913, aged 26, Loader, The deceased was in a jig brow within 10 yards of the coal face when a "goth" occurred accompanied by a large fall of roof, which reeled out three settings of timber and killed him instantaneously

Wright, Charles, 22 Aug 1938, aged 30, Collier, Injured by fall of roof from slip. Died from internal injuries