West Ardsley Colliery

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Appleyard, T., 11 Mar 1874, aged 18, Hurrier, Crushed by waggons on surface

Appleyard, Tom, 12 Nov 1907, (accident: 11 Nov 1907), aged 62, Labourer, A conveyor for taking coal to the coke ovens became choked and stopped the engine by causing the driving belt to come off. After getting the machinery to work again he and others were standing watching the conveyor when he moved away apparently to clean up coal lying about on the platform above the end of the conveyor. He had previously lifted a trap door to get to the end of the conveyor and he by some means fell through this and fractured his skull and his leg was caught by the conveyor. Died Nov. 12

Armitage, W., 25 Sep 1902, aged 16, Pony driver, He was driving a set of full tubs along a roadway when the first tub left the rails and broke a prop, and Armitage was killed by the fall of roof which followed

Aspden, J., 03 Jan 1886, aged 32, Engineman, Caught in elevator

Asquith, S., 18 Jun 1873, aged 29, Collier, Fall of roof

Aveyard, Joseph, 26 May 1869, aged 40, Labourer, Crushed by a wagon

Beaumont, E., 05 Aug 1875, aged 13, Fell off steam hoist on surface

Bell, Frank, 30 Mar 1905, (accident: 25 Mar 1905), aged 31, Labourer, One of the shafts had recently been sunk from the Middleton Seam a distance of 223 yards to the Better Bed and enlarged from 10 feet to 18 feet diameter for a depth of 358 yards from the surface. It was, however, decided not to work the lower seams at present but to utilize the shaft for the Middleton Seam. A scaffold was put in 28 feet below the Middleton Seam, around the edge of which space was left and an 18-inch diameter air pipe passed through it and was connected with the upcast shaft for the purpose of ventilating the lower portion of the shaft. Two places had been driven in the Black Bed Seam 198 yards below the Middleton Seam a distance of 14 yards and the porches formed in them. On the day in question deceased and other five men were engaged in putting wire rope guides into the shaft, seven had been put into position and the eighth and last was being pulled off the reel by the winding engine on the surface when it caught an open flaming paraffin lamp and knocked it off a girder on to the scaffold 28 feet below the Middleton Seam. The oil was spilled and burned and immediately an explosion occurred, and the six men were more or less seriously injured. The others ultimately recovered, but deceased died on 30th March. About 15 yards of water had accumulated above the places driven in the Black Bed Seam and some gas had burst through this water and come up the shaft and been ignited by the burning lamp on the scaffold

Blakey, W., 25 Jun 1868, aged 29, Fall of roof

Brassington, G., 08 Jan 1878, aged 51, Timberer, Fall of roof

Bunting, H., 24 Sep 1889, aged 16, Driver, Crushed by corves

Burke, Martin, 21 Jan 1924, 7.20 a.m., 1st hour of shift, aged 51, Labourer, He was engaged with others in emptying railway wagons containing refuse from the mine and coke ovens, over the end of a spoil heap which was on fire. Attracted by sparks and flame coming from the heap, some men working near went to it, and found deceased lying at the foot of the heap, badly burned. He said he had fallen off the wagon door and rolled down. He received medical attention at the mine and was sent to the infirmary, where he died a few hours later

Cartwright, J., 13 Jun 1872, aged 49, Collier, Fall of roof

Cawrthorn, D., 11 Apr 1870, aged 40, Byeworker, Fall of roof

Cosgrove, Edward, 27 Nov 1910, aged 17, Wagon Trimmer, Whilst crossing the line, in order to trim a wagon, he was knocked down and run over by a full wagon

Crowther, George, 26 Aug 1907, aged 44, Collier, He was working with a man named Armitage and as soon as they got into the face in the morning Armitage heard "ripping" in the coal and told the deceased, who was at the gate getting an empty tub, of it. He (the deceased) said it was nothing and told Armitage to go and get some coal to fill the tub. Deceased then commenced to clear away from the road some coal which had fallen from the face side, so that he could get the tub along, and then picked up a piece of stone and sounded the roof with it and said it was all right. Immediately after a piece of stone from the roof fell upon and killed him. The stone fell from a slip concealed behind the face, a piece of coal being forced off the face by the fall. It is probable if the deceased had used a pick or hammer to sound the roof instead of a piece of stone he would have detected that it was unsafe and taken precautions to prevent the accident

Dean, T., 04 Jul 1884, aged 46, Collier, Fall of roof

Drury, E., 07 Jan 1891, aged 41, Labourer, Crushed by engine

Ellis, Arthur, 12 Sep 1908, aged 42, Wagon Attendant, He had two wagons under the screens standing on chocks ; the first was being filled. The wagon man lowered two empty wagons behind them but, before doing so, placed a chock on the rail, to stop the first one before it touched the second wagon of the two standing under the screens under the deceased's control and also told the deceased that he was going to do so. By some means, just as the wagons approached the two standing wagons, the deceased got his head between the buffers and was killed instantly. The buffers did not actually touch each other, as the chock placed on the rail stopped the first of the two wagons, being lowered down when they were about 4 ins. apart

Fisher, George, 31 Mar 1871, aged 39, Bye-workman, Fall of roof

Fletcher, N., 24 Oct 1875, aged 60, Hanger on, Crushed by cage [More information ...]

Forster, Harold, 21 Jul 1908, (accident: 20 Jul 1908), aged 30, Labourer, Several wagons of coal were being emptied at the washer elevator standing on the same set of rails. The road at the elevator is level, but on the full side of it the gradient is 1 in 25. Two wagons had been emptied, and an attempt was made to get the third one to move them by gravity without success. The brakes of the fourth one were therefore lifted and a scotch knocked out. The fourth wagon moved and ran into the third, and the deceased, who, for some unexplained reason, passed between the buffers of them and was severely crushed. Died the following day

Garforth, Joseph, 09 Jul 1913, aged 28, Coal Miner, He was working at the bord face when a piece of roof bind, 5 feet 8 inches by 18 inches by 2 feet, weighing about 18 cwt., fell upon him killing him instantly. Two slips were exposed by the fall, one being visible for some yards along the face

Haigh, Benjamin, 25 Apr 1902, aged 54, Foreman boiler-maker, Was superintending the removal of a large boiler when it rolled over upon him

Hargreaves, Henry, 21 Sep 1910, aged 36, Collier, He was getting coal from a narrow rib between two faces which had been driven in opposite directions, when a large fall occurred from two converging slips in the roof and buried him. Only one of these slips was visible before the accident happened, the other was uncovered by the working away of the coal. One prop was left standing, and possibly one or two were displaced by the fall. Bars should have been used

Hawkins, M., 10 Jun 1900, (accident: 08 Jun 1900), aged 35, Driver, Crushed against roof when riding on full tubs. Died 10th June

Hemingway, William, 19 Dec 1879, (accident: 06 Dec 1879), aged 44, Carter, Fell on the ground. Died 19th Dec

Hirst, J., 04 Feb 1886, (accident: 07 Jan 1886), aged 13, Driver, Run over by corves. Died 4th Feb

Holland, J., 03 Sep 1895, aged 34, Collier, Fall of roof

Holmes, J., 06 May 1901, aged 43, Collier, Fall in a working place. Cause — a sudden weight

Hopton, J., 14 Jan 1891, (accident: 12 Jan 1891), aged 43, Byeworker, Crushed by pulley frame. Died 14th

Kelly, D., 11 Jan 1888, aged 33, Collier, Fall of roof

Kirkby, John, 06 Jun 1856, Blow from the lever of a capstan [More information ...]

Matthews, W., 19 Aug 1874, (accident: 15 Jun 1874), aged 39, Fitter, Injured by machinery on surface. Died 19th Aug

Muffitt, James, 24 Sep 1913, aged 53, Collier, Whilst stepping aside to pass a pony he was overtaken by a set of full tubs travelling on an endless rope at about 2&189; miles an hour. If he had stepped to the left instead of to the right he would have had plenty of room

Rayner, J., 27 Mar 1876, (accident: 20 Mar 1876), aged 56, Screener, Crushed by waggons on surface ; died 27th March

Rogers, John, 28 Apr 1902, (accident: 07 Apr 1902), aged 47, Coal hewer, Died 28th April. Foolishly removed a prop from under roof in his working place which he thought was sound, and was fatally injured by a fall

Shillito, Thomas, 03 Sep 1915, aged 38, Shotfirer, When firing a shot in the coal face he was caught by fall of roof and five props were reeled out

Sykes, H., 30 Sep 1898, aged 24, Collier, Fall of roof

Symonds, William Henry, 01 Feb 1924, 11.50 a.m., 5th hour of shift, aged 24, Ripper, He was widening a road in order to lengthen the pass-bye. At the place where he was working there was an overhanging piece of shale which suddenly fell from the side on to him, killing him instantly. The piece of shale weighed 6 cwts., it was not supported, and deceased was working under it. He ought either to have spragged it or got it down before commencing to work under it

Taylor, William, 19 Nov 1909, (accident: 09 Nov 1909), aged 38, Assistant in pit bottom, A train of full tubs drawn by a main and tail haulage rope was coming into the pit bottom when it fouled on empty tub which was off the rails. This jerked a train of empty tubs forward and one of the tubs left the rails at a curve where Taylor was standing. He was crushed between the tub and the side and so seriously injured that he died on 19th November

Wainwright, John, 10 Jan 1910, aged 45, Miner, He was fatally injured by a fall of roof when working in the coal fce. The fall displaced timber and disclosed vertical and horizontal slips

Wainwright, R., 21 Feb 1876, aged 20, Hurrier, Run over by corves on engine plane

Wilson, William, 01 Nov 1908, (accident: 28 Oct 1908), aged 36, Fitter, On the day of the accident the pit was off work, but the coke ovens and electric light engine were working. At 4 p.m. the foreman fitter was told a joint in the range of steam pipes leading to the washer at a bend taking the steam under the colliery sidings was blowing, and he gave the deceased and another fittter instructions to remake it, and they did so ; when this was done, and the steam turned on again, it was found that the bottom joint of the bend had started to blow, and the foreman decided that it should also be remade. The steam was turned off, and this was done. These two joints are below the ground level in a hole which was bricked round. After the joints were remade the men all came out, and all the drainage outlets were opened and the steam gradually turned on until the full pressure was on the pipes, this took about 15 minutes. Then all the engines started working. The deceased went into the hole again to finally tighten the joint, and had screwed up five out of the six bolts of the bottom joint, and was engaged with the sixth when about an inch of the india-rubber ring blew out, and the escaping steam slightly scalded the front of his body and legs. Died November 1st

Worrall, William, 23 Sep 1919, aged 44, Pumpman, Found lying dead face down across connecting rods of horizontal triple ram pump — his head had been crushed. Believed to have been climbing on pump to do some work and tripped over connecting rod

Wright, William Henry, 26 Aug 1913, aged 40, Labourer, A derrick pole was being erected to lift some material on to a building and deceased was employed in holding one of the guide ropes clear of a travelling chain. By pulling slack the steel rope coiled up and taking the cover off a switch-board, came in contact with a live terminal. Deceased, who was standing on wet ground, was electrocuted. The voltage was 440 and the men employed were aware of the danger of allowing the rope to touch any electrical wires