Orgreave Colliery

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Adkin, Richard, 01 Sep 1909, (accident: 16 Aug 1909), aged 45, Colliery Manager, He was fatally injured by being crushed against the roof when riding on the front of a train of full tubs. He died on 1st September

Aitkin, George, 25 Jun 1857, Fall of roof in the mine

Allen, James, 20 May 1906, (accident: 28 Apr 1906), aged 58, Ripper, A stone in some ripping which left a stone hanging. Deceased tried to pull it down but could not do so. He then set a prop under it at one side and cleared some stone away, examined the roof and thought it was safe, but afterwards parts of this drawn stone fell and seriously injured him. Died May 20th

Allen, W., 15 Jul 1891, aged 18, Labourer, Suffocated in slack hopper

Allford, John, 01 Dec 1924, 3.30 a.m., 4th hour of shift, aged 35, Labourer, A ripping shot had been fired and after the roof had been examined by the deputy and a chargeman, deceased began to shovel away the debris from the face side. As he was working, a piece of roof fell from the newly exposed roof near the ripping lip and fatally crushed him. More careful examination might have disclosed the weakness in the roof and indicated the necessity of support or the getting down of the stone

Almond, Frank, 23 Apr 1907, aged 21, Engineman, When being raised in the upcast shaft at the end of their shifts, along with another man, the winding engineman overwound the cage. The detaching hook acted satisfactorily, but the speed was so great that the men were dashed against the top of the cage and these men were killed instantly and the fourth severely injured

Baker, Frank, 22 Mar 1904, (accident: 23 Feb 1904), aged 26, Coal Miner, Died from injuries received on February 23rd last. He was holding a light while another man set a prop under a girder, when a piece of stone fell out at a slip which could not be seen before and injured his foot. Blood-poisoning set in, from which he died

Barker, Thomas, 06 Dec 1906, aged 27, Collier, He was travelling along a crossgate to his work when a piece of stone, about 4 feet long by 1 foot wide by 1¾ feet thick, fell from the ripping lip and caught him on his head and killed him. The deputy had examined the roadway about three hours previously and had found all in order

Barnes, H., 29 Apr 1875, aged 18, Fall of roof

Barnes, James Ernest, 23 May 1914, aged 39, Machinery examiner, He was found dead under a set of seven full tubs on a dip engine plane

Beal, John, 17 Apr 1909, aged 49, Collier, Fall of roof. Beal was drawing back timber in the waste. He was using a hammer instead of proper timber drawing appliances, with the result that he was killed by a heavy fall of roof

Beasley, Albert, 11 Dec 1909, aged 30, Shunter, He foolishly went between the wagons during shunting operations in the dark, and was fatally injured

Bell, John, 03 Aug 1883, aged 13, Driver, Was driving along horse road and when passing the bottom of the incline chain broke and corves ran against him

Billing, J., 16 Nov 1904, aged 47, Collier, He was working at the coal face, near to where he had recently set a prop, when the roof fell suddenly upon and injured him so severely that he died nine hours later. The fall disclosed a slip and two weight breaks, which could not have been foreseen. Four props were displaced

Birt, W., 27 Feb 1903, aged 32, Rock ripper, Fall of rock in a road which he was enlarging. The rock which fell had probably been shaken by a shot

Boardman, Leonard, 22 Nov 1919, (accident: 05 Nov 1919), aged 17, Engine driver, Sitting at side of road near his engine when small piece of stone struck his head. Complained of shock and was taken home in ambulance and treated for concussion. Taken to hospital 12th. Died 22nd — sceptic meningitis

Booth, Alexander Joseph, 09 Feb 1912, aged 56, Collier, He was about to cut the lid off a prop in the waste when a "bump" caused a stone, 10 tons in weight, to fall in one piece upon him. It broke the prop at which he was working, and pushed out 3 or 4 others. Two sides of the stone were weight breaks and the top was a pebble bed

Booth, J., 19 Mar 1896, aged 19, Driver, Crushed beteen a corf and a prop

Bradley, Ernest, 05 Jun 1905, aged 15, Pony-driver, When riding, contrary to rules, on the first tub of a set of three full ones his forehead came in contact with a low sharp piece of roof and he was killed

Bridgwood, E., 22 Jul 1873, aged 60, Collier, Fall of roof

Briggs, Bernard, 12 Jan 1933, aged 20, Haulage hand, On endless haulage road near pit bottom, he had drawn a set of empties by means of a secure clip to with in a few feet of another set standing on same lines of rails and was leaning against a girder stanchion with rope running through clip when splice caught

Britland, J., 10 Jan 1901, aged 26, Contractor, Fall of rock in level. Cause — weight breaks

Brooks, Robert, 12 Jan 1910, aged 44, Contractor, Fall of roof in a working place. Timber should have been set

Brown, T., 26 Jan 1891, aged 50, Stallman, Explosion of roburite

Brownley, James, 25 Oct 1904, aged 17, Plane-boy, He gave the usual signal for an empty set of tubs to be taken up a self-acting incline but forgot to attach the rope to the tubs. The man at the top set off the full tubs and was unable to control them ; they rushed to the bottom and collided with and displaced some chocks, which allowed some girders and roof to fall and he was caught and killed by the fall

Burrell, George, 03 Aug 1924, (accident: 26 Jul 1924, 3 a.m., 4th hour of shift), aged 44, Contractor, He was lifting a piece of rock into the pack at the face of a level, when it broke in two and he cut his right thumb. He did not report the injury and continued at work. Two days later the doctor was called in and he was sent to hospital. Septicaemia set in and an operation was performed, but he died on 3rd August. Had deceased reported the injury at the time and received proper treatment, his life would probably have been saved

Cavill, George, 15 Feb 1910, aged 49, Contractor, He was killed by a heavy fall of roof in a road in which he and others were drawing timber. Proper care was not exercised nor the proper appliances used

Cheetham, J., 29 Jun 1876, aged 60, Bye-workman, Fall of roof [More information ...]

Christopher, John, 10 Mar 1934, (accident: 13 Dec 1933), aged 24, Dataller, To turn over a large stone after ripping he knocked out a prop under ripping lip when there was a fall which injured him. Died 10th March 1934

Clapton, E., 27 Jun 1903, aged 33, Shunter, The driver of the train conveying workmen along the colliery sidings from the public railway forgot that he had previously blocked the line with wagons. He had very improperly allowed Tinkler to ride on the locomotive with the shunters, and he evidently failed to keep a good look-out for the train collided with the wagons. The driver was seriously injured and Clapton and Tinkler died of their injuries the same day [More information ...]

Coupe, Arnold, 04 Feb 1919, aged 27, Collier, Building a pack close to face when a bar and two props had been withdrawn and there was a heavy fall and he was buried

Dale, George, 23 Apr 1907, aged 34, Contractor, When being raised in the upcast shaft at the end of their shifts, along with another man, the winding engineman overwound the cage. The detaching hook acted satisfactorily, but the speed was so great that the men were dashed against the top of the cage and these men were killed instantly and the fourth severely injured

Dalton, Reuben, 06 Feb 1908, aged 37, Bye Workman, The deceased was assisting to drill a vertical shot hole into a piece of sandstone forming the roof of the road when the stone fell upon and killed him. The stone was 2 ft. by 2 ft. by 20 ins. thick and had two loose sides and a weight break, which could not be seen before the stone fell on the third side. The operation of drilling vertical holes into the roof is a dangerous one as the men are working under the stone and if it falls, as it is apt to by the jarring of the drill, they have little chance to escape. Horizontal holes are safer and, as a rule, quite as convenient

Dickinson, Warren, 24 Apr 1906, aged 38, Collier, He was in the act of chipping top coal down when the coal and an invisible pot hole suddenly fell upon and fatally injured him

Downing, Richard, 16 Nov 1907, aged 45, Deputy, He had examined a stall and was passing the gate end for the second time to go down the gate when a large piece of rock from the roof suddenly fell upon and killed him. The gate ripping had been continued up to the face and there disclosed a slip and a well defined roof ran parallel to the face, and the roof had slightly broken down on the face on one side of the gate. Under such circumstances the stone should have been taken down

Ducker, Robert, 16 Jun 1914, aged 23, Collier, He was filling a tub when he was caught by a fall of roof weighing over half a ton. The fall came from a "pot-hole" but only half of the filling dropped out. One prop was run out

Edis, Ernest, 10 May 1909, aged 35, Boiler Attendant, He was found dead and fearfully burnt on a flue at the end of the coke oven boilers. The flue had collapsed and he had been killed by the very hot gases

Edwards, James, 21 Aug 1905, aged 47, Collier, The man who was working with him was drawing timber near the face, and he was holding a light. A prop had just been knocked out when a fall of roof occurred and killed him

Ellis, Albert, 17 Nov 1924, (accident: 15 Nov 1924, 8 a.m., 2nd hour of shift), aged 47, Labourer, He was about to unload a railway wagon which was fitted with a side door opening outwards and downwards. He knocked up the top catches but the door did not open, so he prised it by means of a shovel. The door suddenly fell open and crushed him against the wagon frame, inflicting injuries from which he died two days later

Fisher, F., 31 Jul 1878, aged 23, Collier, Fall of coal

Frowen, E., 03 May 1888, (accident: 02 May 1888), aged 20, Filler, Fall of roof ; died 3rd May

Gee, Charles, 14 Oct 1901, aged 24, Wagon-lowerer, Crushed between buffers when helping to move wagons

Gee, W., 03 May 1871, aged 24, Collier, Fall of roof [More information ...]

Hadfield, J., 07 Feb 1894, (accident: 06 Feb 1894), aged 35, Stallman, Injured by tub. Died 7th

Haggerty, Patrick, 07 Jan 1909, aged 38, Collier, Fall of roof. Fall of roof in a working place caused by a settlement of the strata and an unsuspected break in the rock roof. The place was well timbered

Harding, Albert, 10 Mar 1924, 5.20 p.m., 4th hour of shift, aged 30, Electrician, He was fixing some signal wire on a single rope haulage road when an empty tub became uncoupled from a set of 24, and ran back on a gradient of 1 in 6, and crushed him against a prop. The use of a safety chain would, no doubt, have prevented the accident

Hitching, William George, 12 Aug 1924, 4.50 p.m., 3rd hour of shift, aged 31, Screen Foreman, Deceased was standing on the screens on a gantry close to a pulley which was inadequately fenced when for some cause unknown he fell under the fence between the pedestal and the pulley and was fatally injured

Hobson, Albert Edward, 08 Oct 1908, aged 16, Pony Driver, He was lowering a tub of dirt down a gate without lockers in the wheels, with his back in front of the tub when he caught his foot against a sleeper and fell and the tub ran on to and killed him. The weight of the tub and dirt was about a ton and the gradient of the road 1 in 50. He was acting contrary tn the Special Rules and to orders he had received the same day not to lower these tubs

Hobson, R., 07 Jul 1900, (accident: 03 Jul 1900), aged 23, Collier, Fall of roof. Died 7th July

Houghton, T., 12 Mar 1901, aged 23, Labourer, Crushed by wagons during shunting operations at night

Hutton, E., 07 Mar 1894, (accident: 06 Mar 1894), aged 58, Pick sharpener, Run over by waggons. Died 7th

Jackson, Morris, 19 Nov 1909, aged 22, Labourer, He was assisting in the erection of a bye product plant in connection with the coke ovens. At the time of the accident he was standing with one foot on a wagon and the other on a cooling tower. A train of wagons was knocked into the wagons he was standing on and he fell between it and the coke bench, and was killed

Johnson, G., 23 Oct 1895, aged 44, Collier, When ascending he attempted to leave the cage too soon and caught his head against a beam

Johnson, Harry, 03 Dec 1909, aged 35, Collier, Fall of roof. He was working at the coal face when a large stone fell from between converging slips in the roof, fatally injuring him. The fall displaced a prop. The slips could not be seen before the accident

Kilner, Henry, 07 Jul 1907, (accident: 04 Jul 1907), aged 31, Collier, For a short time he had been holing from the tub road at the face at the end of a piece of coal, which had previously been holed, when a piece of coal came away to a weight break which could not be seen over a sprag and caught him. He was so severely injured that he died in the Sheffield Infirmary on the 7th inst.

Kirton, Frederick, 27 Jan 1908, aged 30, Assistant On-setter, The accident occurred in the downcast shaft at the Parkgate Seam mouthing. The inset at this seam is 90 yards above the Silkstone Seam or bottom of the shaft. No coal is drawn at this shaft from the Silkstone Seam and the cages, therefore, only run to the Parksgate Seam. The shaft is, however, used for ventilating the Silkstone Seam and to allow the air to pass spaces 1 ft. 2 ins. wide, are left between the baulks on which the cages rest. On the day of the accident, two tubs had fallen into the cage hole owing to a runaway set of tubs having collided with and forced them through the fence gates, and the deceased went into the cage hole to fasten a chain on to them so that they could be drawn by the engine. After doing this he stepped into the space between the baulks and, falling to the bottom of the shaft, was killed

Knight, C., 25 Aug 1897, aged 37, Collier, Fall of roof. 2 others injured

Latham, Arthur, 07 Sep 1910, aged 16, Pony Driver, When passing his pony for the purpose of opening a door he fell and the first full tub crushed him in against the door post

Marshall, Stephen, 23 Apr 1907, aged 25, Engineman, When being raised in the upcast shaft at the end of their shifts, along with another man, the winding engineman overwound the cage. The detaching hook acted satisfactorily, but the speed was so great that the men were dashed against the top of the cage and these men were killed instantly and the fourth severely injured

Meakin, Samuel Wragg, 03 Nov 1924, 8.15 p.m., 7th hour of shift, aged 46, Wagon Loader, He was engaged at night lowering wagons beneath the screens when he was apparently knocked down by three empty wagons which were being lowered on an adjoining road. He was extricated from beneath the wheels of the second wagon and died shortly afterwards. The artificial lighting was adequate. The space between the wagons standing on adjacent roads was about 3 ft., with iron standards 13 ft. apart. Deceased had twice acknowledged warnings that three empty wagons were about to be lowered. No person actually witnessed the accident. Deceased either became suddenly ill or forgot the warning about the three empty wagons

Mirfin, William, 02 Dec 1862, Fall of coal in mine

Moseley, Herbert, 01 Jul 1904, aged 35, Shaftman, He was examining the spear rods and pumps in the shaft and gob on to a collar to localise a "rattle" which seemed to indicate that a rubber was loose, and while he was listening the safety block on the spear rods came down upon him and crushed him. The pumps were working three strokes a minute, and he evidently forgot that he was in danger from the descending stop block

Moseley, William, 25 Sep 1909, (accident: 23 Sep 1909), aged 36, Machine man, Fall of roof. On September 23rd Moseley was working the coal-cutting machine and whilst bending over the machine, a small piece of stone fell from the roof. It knocked his head on to the projecting air valve of the machine and fractured his skull

Needham, J., 22 Apr 1893, aged 21, Shunter, Injured by waggons on branch railway

Newcombe, W., 04 Oct 1894, (accident: 03 Oct 1894), aged 14, Screen boy, Injured by waggon. Died 4th

Newell, William, 16 Apr 1933, (accident: 10 Apr 1933), aged 34, Collier, Bottom coal had been got out on longwall face cut by machine and brought down by shot. He was shovelling out bottom coal when piece of top fell on him. Died 6 days later

O'Brien, J., 22 Dec 1892, 8.45 p.m., 7th hour of shift, aged 19, Banksman, Crushed by waggons

Ogden, W., 12 Jan 1893, aged 26, Stallman, Fall of coal [More information ...]

Phillips, Charles John, 29 May 1914, (accident: 22 May 1914), aged 16, Rope runner, He was bringing out a run of eight full tubs on a small main and tail haulage road. He seems to have signalled off the run and been caught against a bar while trying to pass between two of the tubs. He died from his injuries a week later

Prosser, Isaac, 18 Mar 1915, aged 16, Drawer, Standing in middle of passbye 60 yards from face when there was a bump and stone fell from roof killing him instantly

Renshaw, A., 03 May 1871, aged 29, Collier, Fall of roof [More information ...]

Richford, J., 01 Nov 1897, aged 31, Deputy, Fall of roof. 2 others injured

Riley, John William, 13 Mar 1919, (accident: 10 Mar 1919), aged 24, Haulage hand, Came into passbye for some timber and sat down on bank bar at side of road when a rock fell from side — spine fractured. Died 3 days later

Rowley, Thomas, 21 Jan 1903, (accident: 13 Jan 1903), aged 44, Collier, Died 21st January. Was wedging coal from the face when a piece fell and rolled upon him. He was only slightly bruised and scratched, but he was in a delicate state of health, and congestion of the lungs supervening he died

Ruff, Robert Mitchell, 23 Jul 1924, 1 p.m., 7th hour of shift, aged 60, Collier, He had filled 17 tubs off a bord buttock face at the gate end and was in the act of collecting his tools at the end of the shift, when a fall of roof occurred which discharged seven props and buried him. The place was well timbered and had been visited by the deputy an hour before the fall occurred. The stone which fell on deceased weighed about 22 cwts. The whole fall extended over the full width of the gate and weighed from four to five tons

Rushby, Raymond, 03 Dec 1924, 6.15 p.m., 5th hour of shift, aged 17, Haulage Hand, He had connected the tail rope to a full set of coal on a passbye but was unaware that the rope had fallen in between a joint in the rails on the opposite road. As the set was drawn back the rail was pulled up and was swung into the side of the road where it pinned him against the road side. He was found later by a deputy and liberated in about 10 minutes. Artificial respiration was tried for about an hour, but without avail. Such an accident could only be prevented by more care and better road maintenance

Savage, George, 05 Jul 1915, aged 34, Contractor, Breaking rock which had been liberated previous day so as to build a pack at gate end

Scott, William, 25 Jun 1909, aged 19, Pony Driver, He was found crushed between the top of a tub and a girder. It is probable that when he was getting past the tub, after putting in lockers, the pony started

Shaw, Bernard, 20 Jan 1908, aged 34, Miner, When drawing back timber from the waste a large stone fell without warning and killed him

Sides, C., 26 Mar 1901, aged 30, Filler, Stepped out of the cage in mid shaft thinking he was at the bottom

Staton, John Thomas, 07 Jan 1908, aged 37, Wagon Repairer, The deceased and another wagon repairer were sent by their foreman to the sidings on the Great Central Railway to repair a full wagon, belonging to the Colliery Company, which required new coupling links. In order to carry out the necessary work, the draw bar had to be taken off and sent to the colliery workshops. On arriving at the sidings they saw the shunter, employed by the railway company and in charge of the sidings, and informed him what they were going to do. He told them where the wagon was, but said they could not get at it because there were two empty wagons between it and a stop block at the end of the road, and 16 empty wagons at the other side of them. They waited 45 minutes in the shunter's cabin for a colliery locomotive to come up to draw the wagons baok ; but before it came went down the sidings, a distance of about 300 yards, to where the wagon was and managed to push the two empty wagons beyond it towards the stop block, they then got under the wagon and attempted to remove the nut at the end of the draw bar, but found it was too tight to turn. They were getting from under the wagon when six loaded wagons, which had come from the colliery and were being lowered by the railway company's shunter, bumped into the and of the wagons and caused them to move forward about a wagon length. The deceased was run over by one of the wheels, and caused such injuries that he died shortly after reaching the Royal Infirmary at Sheffield. The accident was due to the two men not having carried cut a rule, which is posted up at the wagon shops at the colliery and was well known to them. It read as follows :— "Before any person commences any painting, repairing, or any other work on wagons, a red flag must be fixed in a conspicuous place where it will be visible to shunters and drivers to indicate danger on the line." They took no precautions whatever to let the shunter know they were working at the wagon. If they had put a red flag on the end of the wagons, none would have been put into the same road until it was removed

Taylor, Joseph, 01 Oct 1919, aged 32, Assistant onsetter

Tinkler, A., 27 Jun 1903, aged 40, Lampman, The driver of the train conveying workmen along the colliery sidings from the public railway forgot that he had previously blocked the line with wagons. He had very improperly allowed Tinkler to ride on the locomotive with the shunters, and he evidently failed to keep a good look-out for the train collided with the wagons. The driver was seriously injured and Clapton and Tinkler died of their injuries the same day [More information ...]

Tomlinson, John, 25 May 1909, aged 17, Driver, He was travelling up an incline with a pony. A train of full tubs passed him safely, but afterwards a coupling broke and the tubs ran back and though they were derailed by the drag they crushed Tomlinson against a prop. He should not have travelled the incline whilst the tubs were being hauled up

Toone, George, 07 Aug 1912, (accident: 24 Jul 1912), aged 35, Collier, Deceased was splitting a short prop when a piece of the prop flew and caught him on the shin. Blood poisoning supervened and he died from the effects on 7th August

Tunley, William, 15 Nov 1906, aged 19, Contractor, He was engaged ripping a gate road and after a shot was fired he went down the gate about 12 yards to get a drink out of a bottle. While doing so a piece of stone fell off the side at a slip and fatally injured him

Turner, F., 26 Jul 1888, aged 16, Engineman, Killed by flywheel of engine

Turner, W., 12 Jan 1893, aged 28, Stallman, Fall of coal [More information ...]

Vickers, J., 23 Jun 1875, aged 18, Explosion of gas [More information ...]

Ward, Joseph, 10 Oct 1911, aged 43, Collier, A train of six full tubs coming up-hill from the workings had run into a prop after getting off the rails. When put right and restarted the haulage rope broke at a knot which had been tied some months earlier. The train ran back on the drag and deceased was fatally crushed against the side of the roadway

Wheeler, Charles, 26 Mar 1870, aged 24, Collier, Explosion of gas in an ending

Whitham, A., 12 Nov 1902, (accident: 10 Oct 1902), aged 32, Collier, Died 12th November. Fall of overhanging coal from working face. Cause — a slip and neglect to set sprags

Wilcock, J., 05 Dec 1900, (accident: 03 Dec 1900), aged 26, Bye-workman, Fall of roof. Died 5th December

Worsdale, Joseph S., 26 Nov 1924, (accident: 13 Nov 1924, 11.45 a.m., 6th hour of shift), aged 45, Filler, A set of eight full and four empty tubs was being hauled up a gradient of 1 in 10 by main rope haulage. An empty tub left the rails and deceased attempted to lift it on without informing anyone of his intentions or taking any precautions whatever. The dog clutch on the haulage gear, which was afterwards found to be defective, slipped out and the set ran back, there being no drag on the set, and deceased received injuries to which he succumbed 13 days later. He should not have got in between the tubs

Wright, H., 07 May 1887, (accident: 15 Apr 1887), aged 29, Incline man, Crushed by corves. Died 7th May

Yates, Frederick, 11 Apr 1913, aged 22, Filler, He ran in front of a workman's train in trying to pass other men, and was knocked down and run over by six coaches. The accident was due to his own carelessness

York, Lewis, 26 Aug 1915, aged 14, Rope clipper, Unclipping set of 12 empties at pit bottom when he was crushed by the set against another which was standing