	Hunwick Colliery	Index	Hunwick Colliery

Hunwick Colliery

Location:	Bishop Auckland 7½ miles [12 km] SW of Durham
Map Ref:	(Sheet 92) NZ199327, 54° 41' 21" N, 1° 41' 26" W
Opened:
Closed:	20 Aug 1921
Pits:	Gibson Pit, closed: 1921
	Shaft details for Gibson Pit
Owners:	1850s - Robson & Jackson
	1850's - R. W. Jackson, Esq.
	1860's - West Hartlepool Harbour & Railway Co.
	1860's - Hunwick Coal Co.
	1870's - Bolckow, Vaughan & Co. Ltd.
Output:	1855 - Coal.
	1860 - Coal.
	1865 - Coal.
	1873 - Coal.
	1888 - Coal.
	1894 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing. Fireclay.
	1896 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing. Fireclay.
	1900 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing. Fireclay.
	1902 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing. Fireclay.
	1905 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing. Fireclay.
	1910 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing. Fireclay.
	1915 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing. Fireclay.
	1921 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing. Fireclay.
Employment:	1854 - 0 [Working]
	1883 - 419
	1894 - 138 (117 below, 21 surface)
	1896 - 174 (156 below, 18 surface)
	1900 - 11
	1902 - 158 (149 below, 9 surface)
	1905 - 201 (186 below, 15 surface)
	1910 - 223 (193 below, 30 surface)
	1915 - 0 [Standing]
	1921 - 0 [Abandoned]
	Colliery Management (prior to 1970)
Seams Worked:	1905 - Beaumont, Busty, Harvey
	1910 - Brockwell, Busty, Five Quarter, Harvey
	1915 - Brockwell, Busty, Five Quarter, Harvey, Victoria [Standing]
	1921 - Brockwell, Busty, Five Quarter, Harvey, Victoria [Abandoned]
	Catalogue of plans of abandoned mines for Hunwick Colliery
Notes:	Miscellaneous Notes and Incidents for Hunwick Colliery

Description

Disasters (5 or more killed)

None Found

Names of those killed at this colliery

Please note that this collection of names is by no means complete!

						Braton, Robert, 15 Oct 1894, 10:20 a.m., 1st hour of shift, aged 35, Hewer, Fall of stone while working in a wide bord
						Clarkson, Thomas, 13 May 1903, (accident: 01 May 1903), aged 32, Stoneman, he was repairing timber on a road when roof, which was short, worked down upon him and caused a wound on the top of his head; blood poisoning set in, and he died on the 13th, Buried: Town Cemetery, Bishop Auckland
						Clennell, Thomas, 06 Jan 1912, aged 19, Helper-up [More information ...]
						Close, William, 23 Sep 1896, aged 52, Hewer, He returned to a supposed missed shot, and when within a short distance of it it exploded and killed him
						Coates, John, 06 Jun 1870, aged 13, crushed by tubs on engine plane
						Curry, Richard, 09 Jan 1865, aged 14, Driver, crushed by cage descending
						Cuthbert, Richard, 29 Jul 1903, aged 59, Hewer, when kirving a jud a portion of the overlying seggar fell over the sprags, and fatally injured him., Buried: Churchyard/Cemetery, Newfield
						Davison, Thomas, 19 Mar 1846, struck on head by descending cage
						Egglestone, Anthony, 19 Feb 1859, aged 56, Stone Worker, killed by a fall of stone, Buried: Byers Green, Churchyard of St. Peter the Apostle
						Hakin, Joseph, 31 Oct 1904, aged 44, Hewer, caught by full tubs on self-acting incline, after empty set had passed him, and was killed
						Hansom, Reginald, 10 Apr 1924, 1.45 p.m., 6th hour of shift, aged 28, Hewer, while deceased was taking a 6-ft. wide lift across the face of a heading 7 yards wide in a seam 21 ins. thick, a stone, 6 ft. 6 ins. by 5 ft. by 12 ins. thick in the middle, tapering to a feather edge on all sides, fell from a clayey parting in the roof and killed him. Planks were systematically set 2 ft. 6 ins. apart, and two of these were canted out
						Hardy, Thomas, 17 Feb 1885, aged 53, Hewer, fell down and died from natural causes while at work ; air all right
						Hodgson, Bartholomew, 05 Feb 1889, aged 42, Hewer, died from natural causes while following his employment in the pit, ventilation right
						Hope, Greenwell, 15 Aug 1857, aged 19, struck by waggon
						Howden, Charles, 18 Mar 1862, aged 18, Pony Putter, crushed by tub
						Howden, William, 02 Nov 1859, aged 13, Horse Driver, crushed by cage in shaft [More information ...]
						Janson, William, 08 Sep 1880, aged 27, Locomotive Fireman, while shunting a waggon of ballast into a siding it got off the way at a crossing and he was thrown off it and run over
						Johnson, Joseph, 31 Jan 1856, (accident: 30 Jan 1856), aged 10, Stone Picker, Francis Hardy heard someone cry out and found Johnson standing near a waggon; he said he had been crushed between two waggons. He was immediately taken into a joiners shop, a cart sent for, and was taken home to Bishop Auckland. Surgeon Mr. Hutchinson attended, but Johnson died the following day — he was only 10 years old
						King, Astin, 28 Sep 1860, aged 25, Hewer, killed by a fall of stone
						Nolan, Martin, 29 Apr 1868, aged 55, Screenman, crushed between waggons
						Price, Robert, 13 Sep 1871, aged 43, Hewer, killed by a fall of stone
						Thompson, Edward, 12 Nov 1910, (accident: 01 Nov 1910), aged 37, Shifter, After working about half his shift underground on November 1st, he complained to a fellow workman of a cold shiver and went home. Two days afterwards a doctor was called in and found he was suffering from a punctured wound on the shoulder and septic poisoning. He rapidly got worse and died on November 12th. At the inquest evidence was brought to prove that he had received a blow on the shoulder with a piece of stone, and the doctor said the injury he saw was the cause of death. The deceased never made any mention of the occurrence to the man he was working with

						22 names found

If you know of any fatalities missing from the above list then please contact us with the details and we will add them to our database.

Those names marked with , have a web page providing individual details of the accident, the page may also include a photograph of the deceased. Click on the symbol next to the name to see the web page.

Some of the names of mining fatalities on this web site have been kindly provided by Jim Grainger from his research into early newspapers (primarily the Durham Advertiser and Durham Chronicle) and are marked with .

more information on some of the fatalities shown above

The following unnamed fatalities are listed in the Mines Inspectors Reports, once again this collection is not complete!

Date							Inspectors Remarks
31 Jan 1856	–	–	–	–	1	1	surface waggons

Collieries and Pits within 5 miles (8km)

a simulated map showing the immediate vicinity of Hunwick Colliery

list of collieries/pits etc. near to Hunwick Colliery

Credits

Sources:

1854 List of mines by T. Y. Hall, published in Vol II (1853-4) of the Transactions of the North of England Institute of Mining Engineers
1859 Mines Inspectors Report, Southern District by John J. Atkinson, H.M. Inspector of Mines
1860 Mines Inspectors Report, Southern District by John J. Atkinson, H.M. Inspector of Mines
1862 Mines Inspectors Report, Southern District by John J. Atkinson, H.M. Inspector of Mines
1865 Mines Inspectors Report, South Durham District by John J. Atkinson, H.M. Inspector of Mines
1868 Mines Inspectors Report, South Durham District by John J. Atkinson, H.M. Inspector of Mines
1870 Mines Inspectors Report (C 456) Where to find this report
1871 Mines Inspectors Report (C. 653), South Durham, Westmoreland, and Cleveland District by James Willis, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1873-4 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1880 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1880 Mines Inspectors Report (C 2903) Where to find this report
1881 Mines Inspectors Report (C 3241)
1885 Mines Inspectors Report (C 4760) Where to find this report
1888 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1889 Mines Inspectors Report (C 6015), Durham District (No. 4) by Thomas Bell, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1890 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1894 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1894 Mines Inspectors Report (C 7667), Durham District (No. 4) by Thomas Bell, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1896 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, also available online at Peak District Mines Historical Society Ltd
1896 Mines Inspectors Report (C 8450), Durham District (No. 4) by R. D. Bain, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1900 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1902 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1903 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 2119), Durham District (No. 4) by R. D. Bain, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1904 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 2506), Durham District (No. 4) by R. Donald Bain, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1905 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1909 List of Mines - from Reid's Handy Colliery Guide
1910 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1910 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 5676), Durham District (No. 3) by A. D. Nicholson, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1912 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 6983), Durham District (No. 3) by A. D. Nicholson, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1915 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1921 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1924 Mines Inspectors Report, Northern Division (No. 2) by T. Greenland Davies, H.M. Inspector of Mines [DMM Ref: L-01624 - Tom Bainbridge Collection]
An Account of the strata of Northumberland & Durham as proved by Borings & Sinkings, Volume F-K, published by the North of England Institute of Mining & Mechanical Engineers, 1885
Contributions by members of the Public
Headstone(s) in Byers Green Churchyard
Headstone(s) in Churchyard (Church Demolished), Newfield
Headstone(s) in Town Cemetery, Bishop Auckland
Mineral Statistics for 1855 (Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, and of the Museum of Practical Geology), compiled by Robert Hunt, F.R.S.
Mineral Statistics for 1860 (Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, and of the Museum of Practical Geology), compiled by Robert Hunt, F.R.S.
Mineral Statistics for 1865 (Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, and of the Museum of Practical Geology), compiled by Robert Hunt, F.R.S.
Mineral Statistics for 1869 (Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, and of the Museum of Practical Geology), compiled by Robert Hunt, F.R.S.
Mineral Statistics for 1883 - Government report from the Mines Department (C 4058), published in 1884 — includes List of Mines and Mineral Works
Mineral Statistics for 1884 - Government report from the Mines Department (C 4430), published in 1885 — includes List of Mines and Openworks

Further Research:

Research Notes for Hunwick Colliery

Mail:
Webmaster

Back

Home

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Copyright © 1999-2024 by The Durham Mining Museum and its contributors
Registered Charity No: 1110608
Page last updated: 30 Sep 2023

Privacy Policy

Terms & Conditions