Mitchell's Main Colliery

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Allatt, Frank, 27 May 1904, aged 19, Nut Waggon-man, When stepping from a ladder on to a waggon he slipped and fell upon the hook of the waggon draw bars and received fatal injuries

Ashwood, W., 09 Oct 1886, aged 19, Hurrier, Fall of roof

Atkins, -, 11 Apr 1893, aged 15, Screen boy, By machinery

Atkins, W., 28 Jul 1888, (accident: 19 Jul 1888), aged 20, Hurrier, Fall of coal ; died 28th July

Bannister, William, 23 Aug 1906, aged 25, Planeman, Close to the downcast shaft the coal is brought up a stone drift, the gradient of which is 1 in 12, by means of an endless rope. On the full side there are "jack catches" to prevent a tub or tubs running back in the event of their becoming detached, or a chain or coupling breaking. The deceased was cleaning one of these "jack catches" out, and a set of tubs which were being brought up caught and fatally injured him. It is difficult to account for the accident, as there was plenty of room and the refuge holes were in order, and he would have warning of the tubs approaching as the rope drags on the floor until the tubs got close up and the lashing chain was 9 feet long

Barker, R., 07 Dec 1886, (accident: 26 Nov 1886), aged 35, Hurrier, Crushed by corves. Died 7th Dec

Barraclough, J., 18 Sep 1936, aged 63, Miner, A brick fell down the shaft and fractured his skull [date of report]

Bedford, John, 09 Jul 1935, aged 15, Pony driver, Going outbye leading his pony round a turn when he slipped on rails and injured his shoulder — accident not reported and worked for two days when he became ill — 9 days later to hospital. Died 16 days after admission — death from toxemia

Biddulph, T., 05 Dec 1885, aged 33, Collier, Fall of coal

Brittain, John, 19 Apr 1924, 11.20 a.m., 6th hour of shift, aged 16, Joiner's Apprentice, He was crossing some railway sidings and was carrying a piece of wood on his left shoulder. Shunting operations were being carried on, and he failed to notice two wagons approaching him from the left side. The piece of wood evidently prevented him from seeing the two wagons and the noise of an engine near prevented him hearing them. He was knocked down and fatally injured

Chorlton, R., 23 Nov 1897, aged 17, Driver, Found beside some corves and supposed to have been crushed in some way, cause unknown

Crossland, T., 12 Oct 1889, aged 31, Collier, Fall of side

Crossley, J., 08 Nov 1887, aged 48, Contractor, Fall of roof

Denford, James, 14 Feb 1874, aged 13, Brickmaker's asst, Fell into pug machinery

Denton, Ernest, 27 Jul 1929, Trammer, killed by a fall of stone [date of report]

Fairhurst, -, Jul 1889, I have had occasion in a former report to allude to a case which occurred at Mitchell Main Colliery, some time ago, when Fairhurst was injured by a fall and was thought to be dead. The under manager and deputies, who were members of the St. John Ambulance Association, however, after persisting for 1 hour and 40 minutes, were successful in restoring respiration, and the man recovered. He was employed at the colliery again, some light work being found for him. but I regret to say that the shock was such, apparently, that he never absolutely got over, and he died in July, more than two years after the injury I have above described [fatality reported during the year but not classified as a reportable accident]

Fish, W., 29 Sep 1886, (accident: 19 Aug 1886), aged 20, Hurrier, Finger crushed by corve. Died 29th Sept

Greasley, C., 28 Jun 1890, aged 47, Collier, Fall of roof

Groves, W., 10 Apr 1877, aged 18, Crushed by corves in bottom of shaft

Hall, William, 02 May 1913, aged 65, Labourer, He was walking backwards with a barrow on a flue top which was level and 8 feet 4 inches wide. He slipped and fell over the edge on to the ground 5 feet below, the barrow falling with him

Hancock, John, 02 Dec 1875, Carpenter, Fall of head gear, on surface

Harrison, Isaac, 08 Jun 1880, Trammer, Fall of coal

Hartley, W., 13 Nov 1883, aged 50, Screener, Crushed by waggons

Hill, William, 05 Jan 1924, (accident: 28 Dec 1923, 1 a.m., 3rd hour of shift), aged 53, Ripper, He knocked out a prop from under the ripping after setting a "catch prop" and immediately about two tons of roof fell upon him inflicting injuries from which he died eight days later. There is a rule at this colliery that all props must be withdrawn with a "dog and chain." Had this been done the accident would not have occurred

Hodgson, William, 29 Aug 1911, (accident: 26 Jul 1911), aged 26, Trammer, A piece of stone fell from the roof and cut his head. It was not considered serious, and he returned to work on August 10th, and worked six days. He was removed to the hospital on the 28th August, and died on the 29th instant

Ibbotson, George, 07 Mar 1910, aged 26, Collier, A fall of roof occurred in his working place. Cause — A horizontal smooth parting and a vertical slip

Jackson, David, 07 Apr 1904, aged 37, Contractor, He was ripping the road to make it higher, and was drawing a prop with a hammer, when a large stone fell upon and killed him. The fall disclosed a pothole and converging slips

Jackson, S., 20 Jul 1886, aged 30, Hurrier, Fall of coal

Jarrett, A., 06 Dec 1900, (accident: 29 Nov 1900), aged 34, Filler, Fall of side. Died 6th December

Johnson, W., 15 Sep 1885, aged 35, Collier, Fall of coal

Lawson, Herbert, 04 Feb 1924, 12.30 a.m., 3rd hour of shift, aged 51, Road Layer, He was working at a curve and, in order to put on a piece of guide rail, had to take some wood out of a brick wall. On the top of the wall was a short prop supporting a bar. The removal of the wood caused the wall and prop to give way and a fall occurred. Deceased should have set a temporary prop under the bar before interfering with the wall

Lockwood, Charles, 02 Sep 1910, aged 53, Collier, He was in the act of knocking out a prop in the goaf to make room for a pack, when about 200 tons of roof fell without the slightest warning. The area of roof supported by props was too great

Marchant, Ernest H., 23 Nov 1919, (accident: 19 Nov 1919), aged 44, Blacksmith, Examining shaking screen prior to doing repair work and was coming away from it when he attempted to cross shaker while in motion. Foot slipped off edge of trough and his leg went in, extricated himself but died 4 days later

McKeon, M., 06 Sep 1897, aged 24, Packer, Fall of side

Moorhead, S., 20 Dec 1888, (accident: 13 Dec 1888), Driver, Run over by corves ; died 20th December

Noble, H., 16 Apr 1888, aged 30, Assistant hanger on, Run over by corves

Palmer, Horace, 11 Jun 1914, (accident: 10 Jun 1914), aged 13, Screen-boy, He was helping to put an empty tub on the rails at a point near a creeper chain. He slipped on a flat sheet and his right leg was caught in the creeper chain. His foot had slipped through a hole about 4 inches wide which served as clearance space at the side of the creeper chain end. Amputation was necessary, and he died the next day

Pilley, John William, 18 Nov 1912, aged 40, Ripper, Deceased was engaged in taking down a second lift of ripping in the gate, about 15 inches thick, and was in the act of withdrawing a prop from under the front edge of the cutting side, when a large fall of roof occurred and buried him. The stone which fell weighed about 6 tons and came from a slip on the one side and a fracture on the other

Pullman, W., 10 Jan 1883, Collier, Fall of roof

Sharp, A., 15 Aug 1889, aged 22, Collier, Fall of roof

Shreaves, H., 08 Apr 1889, aged 30, Incline boy, Run over by corves

Smith, Frederick, 15 Jun 1904, aged 28, Shunter, It was his duty to feed the screens with empty waggons, and three were standing in a siding which has a gradient of about ¼ inch per yard towards the screens; one was about 18 inches in front of the other two and he foolishly went between the buffers to push the waggon to the screens. While in that position two other waggons, brought down by a horse, ran into the two standing waggons, and deceased was crushed fatally. The driver of the horse could not see him and went away without knowing that an accident had happened. There was no need for him to go between the buffers at all as the waggon could be moved with a stick he had with him, and proper pinch bars are provided

Stead, Luke, 21 Oct 1875, Collier, Fall of coal

Sweeting, Frederick, 01 Jul 1934, aged 58, Nght lampman, Told his wife and fellow wokrmen that he had hurt his shoulder when he fell unscrewing an electric lamp — did not report accident for 5 days when he was ill and taken to hospital — died 3 weeks later from septicemia

Sykes, James William, 06 Apr 1905, aged 35, Collier, When holing in the Barnsley Seam a piece of coal fell from between two slips which could not be seen before the fall occurred and killed him

Thompson, Frank, 18 Jul 1904, aged 48, Mechanic, He had completed the work of fixing a pump in the Parkgate seam, and was watching it working. He had evidently been feeling one of the bearings to see if it was heating, and was drawn in between some cog wheels and killed

Thornton, A., 24 Sep 1891, aged 46, Fitter, Injured by rope

Toone, F., 01 Apr 1898, aged 16, Driver, Found under corf of tram he was driving. Not known how he got there

Walker, John Robert, 12 Nov 1914, aged 54, Dataller, He was working at the bottom end of a crossgate rising 1 in 9 for 20 yards. From the top of the crossgate a full tub ran away and deceased was caught while attempting to get clear. A driver had neglected to close a stop-block at the top of the crossgate

Walker, W., 16 Feb 1889, aged 31, Collier, Fall of roof

Walker, Walter, 01 Jun 1933, aged 28, Collier, Building a gate pack when adjoining waste from which no timber had been drawn on a prievious shift broke down and dislodged seven wood props — killed instantly

Wallburn, -, 30 May 1889, (accident: 29 May 1889), A cargo of timber was in process of being unladen from a barge on the canal into the Mitchell Main Colliery yard, on the 29th May, when a workman called Wallburn, who was assisting the captain of the barge to unload, was struck by the mast and derrick, which fell, owing to the breakage of a guy rope; he died on the following day [fatality reported during the year but not classified as a reportable accident]

Williams, George, 12 Nov 1913, aged 19, Rope Lad, He was employed lashing empty tubs to an endless rope. He had to unlash and lash again on passing two mushroom pulleys which conducted the rope up to the tension wheel. He failed to unlash the chain, so unhitched it from the tub and, on seeing the chain being taken up to the tension wheel he jumped through the fence and was dragged into the wheel. He ought to have stopped the rope before going through the fence. The bell wires were just above his head