Whitwood Colliery

Current Status - Page under construction! and is far, far from complete!

Adamson, E., 06 Aug 1873, Collier, Explosion of gas [More information ...]

Alfred, Griffiths, 10 Sep 1913, (accident: 20 Dec 1912), aged 29, Miner, Whilst engaged setting back a pack wall in his gateway, he was caught by a fall of roof and side 8 feet by 4 feet by 18 inches. The stone appeared to have been shot shaken when the gate ripping was done, and the removal of the pack wall liberated it. He died on the 10th September, 1913

Anderton, John, 17 Apr 1862, Crushed in shaft

Appleyard, William, 28 Aug 1935, aged 29, Carpenter, Two men were building a new roof over two adjacent mixture sheds. Beams had been fixed at 10ft intervals and he was walking along a cast iron guttering built into side walls when he lost his balance and fell through partially constructed roof. Died 8hrs. later

Astley, Thomas, 18 Nov 1924, 11.45 a.m., 6th hour of shift, aged 36, Deputy, A disc coal cutting machine had gradually risen out of its cut on a longwall face, and in order to rectify matters the machine was drawn back for a distance of 8 ft. The machineman was ready to start, and the deputy was passing when a fall of roof occurred from almost immediately above the machine. A stone, 8 ft. by 3½ ft. by 1 ft., killed the machineman instantly, and so injured the deputy that he died the following day. The roof was supported by bars needled into the face at one end. Centre props set to the bars after the machine passed had been withdrawn to allow the machine to be drawn back, and a piece of coal fell away from a "back" in the coal, so removing any support to the face ends of the bars. Under the circumstances extra centre bars or runner bars should have been set [More information ...]

Balderson, William, 30 Dec 1879, (accident: 23 Dec 1879), aged 19, Collier, Fall of roof. Died 30th Dec

Barnes, Richard, 12 Apr 1911, aged 26, Brakesman at the drop cage, He was found dead under the balance weights of the full drop cage. He had evidently put his head and shoulders through the fence for some purpose unknown, and had been caught by the descending weights

Beardsmore, J., 01 May 1884, aged 32, Collier, Whilst ascending shaft, fell out of cage

Biddle, G., 20 Jul 1877, aged 49, Collier, Fall of roof

Brassington, Christopher, 12 Feb 1907, (accident: 11 Feb 1907), aged 50, Collier, When removing some holing dirt, under the middle coal, the coal suddenly came away and rode over two sprags, crushing him so severely that he died the following day in the Leeds Infirmary

Bubb, R., 23 Jan 1895, aged 14, Driver, Crushed by full corves which got off the rails

Burrows, Thomas, 15 May 1924, 6.45 a.m., 1st hour of shift, aged 50, Byeworkman, They were carrying a ventilation door up a gate road preparatory to fixing it a little distance from the face when a large fall of roof and side occurred, burying both of them. They were got out as soon as possible and sent to hospital, but both died the same day. A prop which had been supporting one side of the road was found beneath the door and it is possible the door had caught it and knocked it out. The fall came from a slip in the side to which a prop had been set and a greasy slip along the roof. After the accident stretchers were fixed to support the roof and sides at regular intervals along the gate road [More information ...]

Burton, G., 31 Jul 1897, (accident: 30 Jul 1897), aged 35, Collier, Strained himself when lifting stone. Died 31st July

Button, George Walter, 20 Jul 1910, aged 15, Pony Driver, He was taking an empty tub along a roadway when about 1 cwt. of stone fell from the roof and killed him. The fall disclosed a slip

Carr, John, 25 Jul 1933, aged 61, Washery engineman, Assisting to repair engine and connecting rod was being drawn into position by a sylvester when chain broke — he and another man were pulling the lever — slipped and fell into the crank place. Thought to be lightly injured. Died 6 months later

Carr, Thomas, 14 Feb 1919, aged 33, Collier, Drilling shothole in ripping when piece of rock fell from roof. Died later that day

Clark, D., 14 Feb 1893, aged 40, Collier, Fall of roof

Cockcroft, W., 25 Oct 1872, aged 50, Wood-getter, Fall of roof

Cole, J., 31 Jul 1899, aged 70, Shotfirer, Had apparently gone to shot hole, when firing carbonite by electricity, forgetting to disconnect the cable from the battery

Cooper, W., 24 Nov 1904, aged 37, Bye-workman, Deceased and another man were taking off side to widen a gateway for a passbye when a large stone, which appeared to be solid, fell from a concealed weight break and slip and caught and fatally injured him

Cresswell, Thomas John, 15 May 1924, 6.45 a.m., 1st hour of shift, aged 39, Byeworkman, They were carrying a ventilation door up a gate road preparatory to fixing it a little distance from the face when a large fall of roof and side occurred, burying both of them. They were got out as soon as possible and sent to hospital, but both died the same day. A prop which had been supporting one side of the road was found beneath the door and it is possible the door had caught it and knocked it out. The fall came from a slip in the side to which a prop had been set and a greasy slip along the roof. After the accident stretchers were fixed to support the roof and sides at regular intervals along the gate road [More information ...]

Crowther, Thomas, 02 Mar 1858, Crushed by the cage at the bottom of the shaft [More information ...]

Davey, Albert, 01 May 1906, aged 38, Hanger-on, At the shaft bottom where he was working there are two landings and both decks of the cages are loaded simultaneously. One of the cages on this occasion came from the surface, and the empty tubs it contained were taken out ; two full tubs were run in, but the other two became buffer-locked, and Davey went into the lower deck of the cage to get them loosened, and while he was doing so, the onsetter in charge of the top landing, signalled the cage away, and the deceased, as the cage ascended, fell out and dropped onto the sump boards, and was so seriously injured that he died within a few hours. The signal to the winding engineman is controlled from the top landing, but the man in charge there should, before giving one, have received a signal by means of a semaphore falling from the low landing. He stated that the semaphore had fallen, but as no signal had been given from the landing, it seems probable that it stuck from the previous time

Dibb, Thomas, 09 Jan 1865, Falling down the shaft

Dickinson, Thomas, 07 Dec 1865, Fall of roof in the mine

Dixon, T., 20 Dec 1886, aged 44, Collier, Fall of roof

Dooley, J., 07 Jul 1875, aged 15, Driver, Run over by waggon on surface

Doughty, Charles, 05 Jul 1933, aged 37, Deputy, Mine was not worked and six deputies were engaged on two rippings 30 yards apart on main haulage road. At one ripping it was necessary to withdraw supports from ripping lip and while he sent for a chain for the Sylvester another went under the lip

Doyle, E., 15 Jun 1890, (accident: 13 Jun 1890), aged 50, Collier, Run over by tubs. Died 15th

Farrell, H., 18 Mar 1873, aged 23, Collier, Fall of coal

Featherstone, F., 15 Mar 1886, aged 14, Coupler, Crushed by corves

Firth, Joseph, 10 Mar 1924, 10.50 a.m., 4th hour of shift, aged 50, Collier, Two ripping shots had been fired on the night of the 7th inst. in the sandstone roof overlying the Haigh Moor Seam. Part of the stone was cleared on the 8th and deceased was continuing this work when a large piece of stone fell from near the lip and fatally injured him. Deceased and the deputy had both examined the roof during the morning and considered it safe

Fletcher, Adam, 16 Feb 1903, aged 38, Collier, Was passing along a long-wall face when a large flake of coal burst off and killed him. Cause — a sudden "weight"

Frankland, A., 06 Aug 1873, Collier, Explosion of gas [More information ...]

Gallagher, T., 20 Jun 1893, aged 20, Collier, Fall of roof

Gill, C., 10 Nov 1890, (accident: 25 Aug 1890), aged 19, Pumper, Kicked by horse. Died 10th Nov

Grice, E., 11 Jun 1887, aged 26, Collier, Fall of coal

Griffiths, G., 05 Feb 1877, aged 21, Collier, Fall of roof

Hardwick, John, 15 Jan 1909, aged 48, Collier, Fall of roof. He was getting coal near a large fault, when a sharp bump threw out two props and caused a fall of roof

Hinchliffe, John, 12 May 1853, Falling down the shaft

Holbert, Wilfred, 15 Nov 1911, aged 15, Haulage boy, He was employed at a junction upon an endless rope haulage plane and had to detach empty tubs and attach full ones at the outbye side of the gear wheels. After moving a switch upon the empty road he momentarily forgot the full train and stepped into the full road and was run over by the full tubs with fatal results

Hough, John, 19 May 1913, aged 52, Collier, While holing at the face a piece of top coal weighing about 2 cwts. fell and fractured his spine. The place appeared to be properly timbered and spragged

Hough, T., 03 Oct 1886, (accident: 01 Oct 1886), aged 14, Driver, Crushed by cage. Died 3rd Oct

Hupton, J., 11 Nov 1902, (accident: 10 Nov 1902), aged 61, Collier, Died 11th November. Fall in a working place. Cause — a sudden weight and a smooth parting

Hutchinson, A., 23 Jan 1893, (accident: 20 Jan 1893), aged 20, Banksman, Crushed by cage. Died 23rd

Idle, Solomon, 22 Nov 1850, Boiler bursting

Inman, T., 28 Apr 1903, (accident: 27 Apr 1903), aged 25, Collier, Died 28th April. Fatally injured by a fall of roof in a working place when listening to his father and the undermanager talking about the place, which appeared to be quite safe. Cause — an unsuspected slip

Ireland, H., 27 Sep 1903, (accident: 22 Aug 1903), aged 39, Labourer, Died 27th September. He was engaged in whitewashing the fitting shops. A substantial platform had been fixed 18 feet from the floor, and a sheet slung to catch dust and splashes. He foolishly placed his whole weight upon the sheet to see if it had been properly fixed. The ropes gave way and he fell to the ground and was fatally injured

Jennings, -, 19 May 1896

Jennings, Thomas, 05 May 1918, aged 51, Labourer, Died from shock after being badly bruised on the lower part of his back when timber fell on him whilst unloading a wagon in the colliery yard ; residence: 5, Ashton Street, Castleford

Jinks, Oliver, 31 Mar 1911, aged 18, Dataller, They were engaged in driving a road through the goaf. They had scoured out goaf 5 feet in (from the side of an old road) and the place was 7 feet wide. The roof above suddenly fell and Moat was killed instantly, and Jinks was fatally injured. No timber had been set. It was a case of gross carelessness [More information ...]

Jones, J. M., 31 Oct 1901, aged 22, Collier, Sudden fall of roof in coal face. Cause — a previously unseen slip

Jones, W., 13 Nov 1891, (accident: 14 Oct 1891), aged 27, Crushed by tubs. Died 13th Nov

Kenny, Michael, 27 Jul 1924, (accident: 02 Jul 1924, 5.30 a.m., 7th hour of shift), aged 31, Drifter, He was employed by a contractor to fill away the debris from a drift that was being driven. After filling away the stone he went back to the chargeman, who was dressing down a slit so that a ventilation door could be put in, to see what he had to do next. A fall of roof occurred behind the chargeman and deceased was knocked down with such force that his back was severely injured and he died on 27th July

Lambeth, L., 02 Jan 1886, aged 48, Collier, Fall of roof

Lee, Sylvester, 16 Jun 1905, aged 18, Bye-workman, He and another man were bringing an empty train down a drift when it got amain and he by some means caught his head against a girder and was killed. There is little doubt they had been riding, which is contrary to the rules

Leek, William, 02 Dec 1912, aged 27, Coal Cutting Machineman, Whilst driving a coal cutting machine a piece of roof 3 feet long fell from between two bars, and cut his head. He died a few days later from concussion of the brain

Lindsell, James, 12 Apr 1919, aged 37, Collier, He and his mate were removing loose ripping dirt when stone fell and struck him

Lowe, Aaron, 22 Mar 1919, aged 44, Coal Miner, Preparing to set some props and two bars which had been knocked out by stones from a shot when he was caught by a fall of roof

Macray, C., 20 Feb 1883, Collier, Fall of roof

Marsh, A., 09 Aug 1899, (accident: 07 Aug 1899), aged 19, Bye-workman, Fall of roof. Died 9th August

Marsh, J., 21 Apr 1882, (accident: 22 Mar 1882), aged 30, Collier, Fall of roof. Died 21st Oct

Moat, William, 31 Mar 1911, aged 48, Contractor's Labourer, They were engaged in driving a road through the goaf. They had scoured out goaf 5 feet in (from the side of an old road) and the place was 7 feet wide. The roof above suddenly fell and Moat was killed instantly, and Jinks was fatally injured. No timber had been set. It was a case of gross carelessness [More information ...]

Moorhouse, Robert, 18 Nov 1924, 11.45 a.m., 6th hour of shift, aged 44, Machineman, A disc coal cutting machine had gradually risen out of its cut on a longwall face, and in order to rectify matters the machine was drawn back for a distance of 8 ft. The machineman was ready to start, and the deputy was passing when a fall of roof occurred from almost immediately above the machine. A stone, 8 ft. by 3½ ft. by 1 ft., killed the machineman instantly, and so injured the deputy that he died the following day. The roof was supported by bars needled into the face at one end. Centre props set to the bars after the machine passed had been withdrawn to allow the machine to be drawn back, and a piece of coal fell away from a "back" in the coal, so removing any support to the face ends of the bars. Under the circumstances extra centre bars or runner bars should have been set [More information ...]

Morgan, J., 14 Jul 1903, aged 14, Driver, Fall of roof in a roadway. Cause — a slip and a smooth parting

Mosley, B., 12 Aug 1874, aged 53, Collier, Fall of coal

Norbury, A., 25 Feb 1895, aged 26, Carpenter, While repairing in the shaft fell from top of cage to bottom of shaft

Owen, Edward, 13 Jun 1924, 3.45 p.m., 3rd hour of shift, aged 40, Shot Firer, He had gone into the face of a working to fire two shots, and after examining the roof, knelt down to examine the shot hole which had been bored in the bottom coal. Whilst kneeling, a piece of following stone fell, knocking out a prop which struck him on the head and fractured his skull

Parry, J., 13 Apr 1893, aged 16, Hurrier, Injured by tubs on branch railway

Perry, Thomas, 18 Feb 1873, aged 47, Collier, Fall of coal

Pinder, G., 08 Jan 1885, aged 16, Spragger, Thrown off engine he was driving

Powell, James, 22 May 1880, aged 15, Hurrier, Crushed by corves

Roberts, Frederick John, Oct 1914, (accident: 17 Mar 1914), aged 38, Labourer, He was knocked down by some full tubs when oiling a creeper, and sustained a fractured thigh. He practically recovered from the injury, but whilst travelling to and from the infirmary to receive treatment he contracted pneumonia from which he died in October

Robinson, Sam, 11 Jan 1907, aged 42, Labourer, A railway was being diverted in order to straighten a curve and a new drain was being dug to take the place of an old one. A travelling steam crane with a grab was being used to lift the soil and clay out of the new drain and to put into wagons on the same road as the crane was standing. At this point there was curve and a gradient of 1 in 40 and outer rail was two inches higher than the inner one. A wagon and a half of soil had been lifted safely, but when some more was being lifted and the jib swung round to nearly parallel with the wagon, the crane fell over and the jib and grab fell upon the deceased who was in the trench and fatally injured him. The crane was fitted with clamps to fasten on to the rails but they were not used

Sanderson, J., 14 Jan 1886, (accident: 12 Jan 1886), aged 25, Loco. fireman, Run over by waggons. Died 14th Jan

Saxton, William, 21 Aug 1889, aged 68, Byeworker, Explosion of gas [More information ...]

Scott, Arthur, 20 Jul 1913, (accident: 28 Aug 1912), aged 19, Pony Driver, On August 28th, 1912, he was injured by being run over by a full tub. He had taken the locker out of the tub and was runningin front of it to get to a man-hole. His spine was fractured and he died on July 20th, 1913

Silverwood, Charles, 01 Nov 1870, aged 14, Driver, Fall of roof in horse road

Skitt, E., 09 Mar 1885, aged 14, Driver, Run over by corves

Smith, Frederic, 19 Jan 1864, Fall of coal in the mine

Smith, George, 29 Aug 1889, (accident: 21 Aug 1889), aged 29, Collier, Explosion of gas. Died 29th Aug [More information ...]

Smith, Joseph Henry, 10 Oct 1919, aged 43, Blacksmith, He and a shaftsman were being lowered into a shaft standing on a cradle by a crab engine. Driver had a brake operated by a lever. Pinnion wheel broke and put engine out of gear and brake failed to act and cradle ran to bottom

Smith, Joshua, 17 Jul 1858, Fall of roof in the mine

Speak, A., 31 Dec 1903, (accident: 30 Dec 1903), aged 26, Collier, Died 31st December. Accidentally struck in the abdomen by the pick of a fellow workman

Speight, H., 11 Dec 1900, aged 36, Shunter, Whilst shunting waggons was run over

Staley, T., 03 Apr 1903, (accident: 13 Mar 1903), aged 20, Loader, Died 3rd April. Fall of roof from between the timbering of a working place. Cause — converging slips

Swailes, T., 20 Feb 1875, aged 32, Collier, Fall of roof

Taylor, Elijah, 07 Nov 1861, aged Boy, Run over by a corf in the mine

Thomas, Kendrick, 12 Jul 1906, aged 32, Engineman, His work was to attend the screen engine and to look after the screening machinery. No coal was passing over the Best Coal belt, and the men were at the next one. Two heard an unusual noise, and on looking round saw the deceased being whirled round the shafting which drives the jigging screen. He had apparently been standing upon the moving picking belt and been caught by the bolt ends in a coupling-box of the shaft, which revolved at 110 revolutions per minute. What he was doing is not clear, but as the engine and machinery had very shortly before been standing half an hour, he had had ample opportunity of attending to them

Thredgold, E., 19 Aug 1885, aged 17, Engine driver, Crushed by corves

Todd, W., 09 Oct 1889, (accident: 04 Oct 1889), aged 33, Collier, Fall of roof. Died 9th Oct

Wailes, B., 02 Oct 1884, (accident: 25 Sep 1884), aged 55, Collier, Fall of coal ; died 2nd October

Walsham, J., 24 Dec 1893, (accident: 13 Dec 1893), aged 71, Platelayer, Run over on branch railway. Died 24th

Wanless, James, 26 May 1854, Explosion of firedamp [More information ...]

Ward, John, 11 Mar 1915, aged 36, Miner, Working bind when piece of stone fell and killed him instantly

Wasbrook, A., 20 Apr 1893, aged 28, Collier, Fall of roof

Webster, W., 30 Apr 1877, aged 19, Labourer, Thrown from arm of capstan whilst riding thereon

Welsdale, Edward, 24 Nov 1919, aged 23, Collier, Setting a bar when roof clod fell from between two slips

Westerby, Walter, 06 Oct 1912, (accident: 03 Oct 1912), aged 44, Collier, He was knocking out a sprag from under the coal and about 12 cwts. of coal fell upon him. It came from a break which might have been seen. He died on the 6th October

White, A., 31 Dec 1889, (accident: 30 Dec 1889), aged 14, Rope guider, Drawn onto drum of hauling engine. Died 31st Dec

White, Charles William, 02 Aug 1910, aged 43, Collier, When taking a full tub along a gateway he walked backwards in front of it, and when stepping aside to get behind it his head was crushed between a prop and the tub

Whitehouse, John Ambrose, 26 Jun 1915, (accident: 17 Jun 1915), aged 14, Trapper, Taking lockers out of two empty tubs when tubs struck his thigh. Worked rest of shift. No external marks by inflammation set in and he died of blood poisoning 26th June

Wilson, F., 23 Aug 1897, aged 23, Screener, Was lowering an empty waggon when other waggons followed and crushed him

Wilson, John, 19 Mar 1874, aged 28, Collier, Fall of roof

Wright, Walter, 17 Feb 1933, aged 18, Pony driver, Proceeding outbye with a loaded tub on a level road when first tub struck a prop set under a bar and dislodged it causing fall of roof which buried him. Dead when released