Waunlwyd Colliery

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Adams, Evan, 19 Jan 1894, aged 13, Collier's boy, Fall of roof at the face of his working place in the Big Vein. The stone which was 4¾ feet long 2¼ feet wide and 9 inches thick at one side and feather edge at the other was released from slips by a weight. There were it seems several props set across the face but they were not close enough to catch this stone. I hope closer timbering will result after this and that the officials will see to its being done. There were two qualified colliers working in the place with him

Baker, John, 14 Feb 1889, aged 18, Repairer, While engaged building a pack wall near the working face a large piece of insufficently spragged coal broke off and crushed him

Baker, Sidney, 25 May 1907, 1.30 p.m., 7th hour of shift, aged 27, Collier, Fall of roof at the face of his working place in the Elled Seam. He and others were erecting a lag at the time but the fall would not have occurred had reasonably sufficient timber been properly set. The maximum distance for timber was fixed under Special Rule 2, at 12 feet each way which is not a reasonable distance in this part of the mine, and tends to induce men to omit securing their places. See other cases in this list at the same colliery and the same seam, as well as at other collieries in this seam

Baskerville, Thomas, 06 Jun 1902, aged 57, Repairer, He seems to have disturbed the ground by chipping it, to make room for a cog on top of the framing of the first pair of timber which had just been set in an old heading in the ¾ seam, and which was crossed by a double road for the purpose of extending the mechanical haulage. The timbering of the double road had been completed. Three pairs of timber within 9 feet were discharged by the fall, weighing 20 tons

Brace, Elijah, 09 Mar 1896, aged 21, Collier, Fall of roof, a shot had been fired in a previous shift and was thought to have done no work. He was working under it when about 3 tons fell on him

Brace, Isaac, 28 May 1909, (accident: 20 Oct 1908), aged 41, Collier, He appears to have strained himself on the 16th October, and to have worked two shifts afterwards. A doctor saw him on the 20th, and diagnosed a small lump or tumour. He appears to have passed this through his bowels during the day, and serious internal haemorrhage occurred which lasted for nearly a week. He died on 28th May, 1909, presumably from a tumour or cancer, but as no post-mortem was made it could not be stated with certainty which it was. Death apparently resulted from the effects of a strain received in the course of his work by assisting to lift a full tram on the rails. It would probably not have been heard of before the Compensation Act came into force, and in any case it is not even now altogether certain that it is one which is comprised under the Coal Mines Regulation Act

Brewer, Henry, 30 Jan 1910, (accident: 07 Dec 1909), aged 63, Labourer, Stumbled over a piece of wood and fell down and broke his thigh while leaving work. Died 30th January, 1910

Coope, Edwin, 16 Jan 1897, (accident: 23 Dec 1896), aged 48, Collier, Fall of roof in his working place from an unseen slant fractured his thigh and he died from the effects on the 16th January 1897. The place was apparently well timbered

Cox, Richard, 29 Mar 1907, 9 a.m., 2nd hour of shift, aged 25, Collier, Fall of roof at his working face in the Elled Seam. The stone (clift) was about 6 feet by 4 feet by 15 inches thick on one side and only a few inches on the other. It appears to have broken off on the thick side at some timber, from want of support or adhesion on the other. The usual distance between supports in this part of the workings was 5 feet, whereas the maximum distance specified under Special Rule 2 mdash; which requires the distances named to be reasonable — is 12 feet. This shows a want of appreciation of the object of the Special Rules on the part of those who have the fixing of such distances whether owners, agent or manager, or jointly

Crewe, James, 02 Nov 1898, aged 16, Collier's boy, Crushed against a prop by an empty tram which was turned over at the side in a stall road but not far enough to clear the full tram which he was about to sprag

Davies, D. L., 21 Jan 1910, aged 57, Rollerman, Crushed by runaway full tram on endless rope haulage road while walking to shaft

Davies, David, 31 Mar 1908, aged 50, Collier, He appears to have slipped when pushing a tram on a double parting, underground, and to have injured his chest on a buffer, and blood poisoning supervened. Typhoid fever afterwards developed, and death was stated to have been the result of the blood poisoning, accelerated by typhoid

Davies, George Henry, 13 Jul 1914, aged 30, Assistant Collier, He was found lying face downward in some mud behind a horse he had been driving during the shift. The post-mortem examination showed that he died from suffocation caused by mud and water in his mouth and nostrils

Davies, Joseph, 16 Apr 1929, (accident: 26 Mar 1929), aged 52, Collier, Strain while lifting full tram. Died 16th Apr

Evans, Arthur, 06 Feb 1912, aged 37, Collier, While acting as a haulier he got jammed between the tram and a post and was killed

Evans, David, 22 Dec 1905, (accident: 25 Oct 1905), aged 33, Timberman, A fireman, who was knocking up a post, struck him on the head with a hammer, inflicting a cut about an inch long. He worked 11 days afterwards, but subsequently become ill, and died on the 22nd December, it is alleged, as a result of the accident

Evans, David John, 12 Jun 1901, aged 20, Collier, Fall of roof in his working place. Apparently from the marks on the stone he had previously tried to wedge it down, and failing to do so did not trouble to take the precaution of securing it

Evans, Jonah, 10 May 1924, 5.15 a.m., 7th hour of shift, aged 43, Repairer, He and other repairers were engaged in repairing work on a main haulage road when a large fall occurred. Evans' body was recovered 8 hours later, and the other men escaped with slight injuries only. At the time they were continuing the taking out of a low bridge, and, due to the nature of the ground, piling was resorted to, as well as strutting between the arms of the timbers ahead. About 40 tons of loose ground fell, discharging the new timber for a distance of six yards. Electric safety lamp used

Evans, Thomas Rees, 27 Jul 1905, (accident: 10 Mar 1904), aged 25, Collier, Thomas Rees Evans, 25, collier, when working at Waun Llwyd Colliery on the 10th March, 1904, met with a simple fracture of the thigh as the result of a fall of top coal and died on the 27th July, 1905. A post-mortem examination was made in the presence of three doctors, two of whom stated at the inquest that the thigh bone was firmly united although in a faulty condition, that there were no internal complications to account for death, and that death was in no way connected with the accident to the leg. He lost about 1½ stone in weight after the accident, but the doctors agreed that they could only say that death resulted from "natural causes." The coroner in summing up pointed out to the jury that the only proper verdict on the evidence before them would be "death from natural causes," but the jury decided to return a verdict that death was due to the fractured bone of the leg, the result of an accident. This decision was so completely contrary to the evidence before them that I have no hesitation in removing the case from the list of fatal accidents. It shows how valueless is the opinion of a sympathetic local jury in cases where compensation questions are likely to arise [fatality reported during the year but not classified as a reportable accident]

Evans, William, 28 Jul 1906, aged 58, Labourer, He was walking up the slope behind two full trams, these caught in some empties which had got off the other road, resulting in the hook which attached the full ones to the rope straightening out and allowing the full trams to run back upon Evans, causing instantaneous death

Goddard, Albert, 18 Jul 1909, (accident: 03 Jun 1909), aged 40, Ostler, Hand slightly injured by a horse which he was cleaning in the stable underground kicking it. He died on the 18th July from septic poisoning, the result of the kick

Goddard, William, 03 Mar 1905, (accident: 18 Sep 1904), aged 48, Ostler, A horse which he was feeding rubbed against his leg, slightly scratching it. Blood-poisoning set in, and he died on the 3rd of March, 1905

Griffiths, George, 27 Feb 1906, aged 42, Haulier, A loaded tram of timber on the front end of which he was riding tilted up, in consequence of the timber having shifted, and crushed him against the roof

Griffiths, Thomas, 28 May 1908, (accident: 06 Nov 1907), aged 39, Collier, While removing the sticks of a pair of timbers which he had just knocked out from under his second rippings, a stone about 2½ feet square and 6 inches thick fell and caught his head, causing injuries from which he died on the 28th May, 1908. Apparently he had not used a gablock and chain, which he should have done, and which was available for drawing the timber

Ham, Emanuel Goulding, 17 Sep 1897, aged 14, Collier's boy, A large slab fell from the roof of working plate owing to an unnoticed slant. This is another instance in which the roof being strong timber is not set as closely as it should be to guard against these hidden slips though of frequent occurrence. The manager and the officials who should see that it is done are more or less to blame well as the colliers as they should that the rules are complied with and thoroughly enforced. The collier with whom the boy was working was injured at the same time

Harris, Henry, 01 Oct 1929, (accident: 30 Sep 1929), aged 65, Engine attendant, Fell while throwing old waste from a bucket into trams. Died 1st Oct

Harris, William J., 27 Aug 1889, aged 15, Collier's boy, Fall of coal at the face while working with his father, the fall was not a large one, but resulted from insufficient spraging

Howe, William, 29 Jun 1914, aged 40, Coal Trimmer, When attempting to pass between a standing and moving wagon for the purpose of coupling them up, he was crushed between the buffers

Howells, Thomas, 20 Mar 1929, aged 47, Hitcher, Fell out of ascending cage due to mistake of signals

Hudson, William S., 16 May 1904, aged 13, Collier's Boy, Fall of side. Edward Parfitt (his butty) pulled down some coal from the face on to a tram. Parfitt states that he had placed the boy at the side of the tram for safety. From the position of the body and shovel it looked as if deceased was filling coal

Hughes, William, 23 Apr 1906, (accident: 30 Jan 1906), aged 51, Ripper and Timberman, He was carrying his drills at the end of the shift when they slipped and scratched his arm. Blood-poisoning supervened, and he died on April 23rd, 1906

Isaac, John, 14 Jan 1907, (accident: 07 Jan 1907, 1 p.m., 6th hour of shift), aged 33, Collier, Fall of top coal from the face in the Big Vein. He was in a stooping position cleaning away some rubbish before taking down the top coal. While doing so the coal unexpectedly fell on the back of his neck, causing injuries from which he died on the 14th January

James, Edward, 26 Jun 1912, aged 67, Trafficman, He was crushed between three runaway trams and another three in front on an endless rope haulage, owing to the failure of one of the clips

James, William, 02 Oct 1908, aged 47, Timberman's labourer, Fall of roof on a heading in No. 4 Big Vein Seam, No. 2 Pit, where deceased and his butty had just finished putting up a pair of double timber to strengthen the existing timber

Jenkins, George, 07 Feb 1899, aged 39, Collier, Fall of roof from slips in his working place

Jenkins, John, 26 Jul 1927, (accident: 12 Jul 1927), aged 63, Collier, Pulling down piece of roof and fell awkwardly. Died 26th

Jones, Edward, 05 Dec 1901, (accident: 19 Nov 1901), aged 31, Haulier, Edward Jones, 31, haulier, at Waun Llwyd Colliery, died on the 5th December from an abscess on the brain. It is alleged that a tram struck him on or about the 19th November, but, from the doctor's evidence, death does not appear to have been the result of the accident [fatality reported during the year but not classified as a reportable accident]

Jones, Jacob, 11 Feb 1901, aged 59, Timberman, Fall of roof in a road where he had been repairing. He had set a couple of pairs of timber and lagged them, and was leaving at the end of his shift when the fall occurred

Jones, James, 13 Jan 1905, (accident: 07 Jan 1905), aged 16, Collier, James Jones, 16, collier, died on the 13th January from appendicitis and peritonitis. It was alleged that he strained himself when lifting a lump of coal at Waun-Llwyd Colliery on the 7th, but as he played football after leaving work on that date the strain could not have been a serious one. A post-mortem examination was made by the doctors, and I have accepted their statement that the death was not the result of such an accident as was set forth at the inquest [fatality reported during the year but not classified as a reportable accident]

Jones, James, 30 May 1912, (accident: 24 May 1912), aged 19, Assistant Collier, Fall of side at working face. A piece of coal fell out from between two sprags causing fatal injuries. He died May 30th, 1912

Jones, John, 30 Jul 1908, aged 52, Collier, Died from septic pneumonia, possibly the result of a strain, said to have been received at work, by lifting a piece of coal into a tram. The evidence before the jury, to my mind, was not as complete as it should have been, and I was very doubtful as to whether it should be classed as an accident comprised under the Mines Act

Jones, Rice, 05 Nov 1905, (accident: 12 Sep 1905), aged 41, Repairer, Fall from the side of road where he had just finished taking his meal with five others. The stone which fell was about 20 to 30 lbs. weight and cut his head; at the time considered trivial, but which the doctor stated in evidence at the inquest resulted in an abscess, which caused death on the 5th of November

Jones, William, 29 May 1899, aged 44, Haulier, When walking in front of a full journey he stumbled and the first tram passed over him

Lewis, Caled, 02 Apr 1895, aged 46, Haulier, Having taken out the sprags from the tram wheels he was passing along the side of his journey of six trams when the horse started suddenly. The jerk caused a large piece of coal to fall from the tram, and it crushed him against the side of the level killing him instantly

Lewis, Thomas John, 06 Feb 1902, (accident: 06 Jan 1902), aged 26, Haulier, His journey caught a stick of timber lying at the side of the road, causing it to strike and fracture his leg. He died on the 6th February

Lewis, William, 08 Feb 1900, aged 25, Haulier, He was standing close by the jenny wheel of a self-acting incline waiting for his journey to land. Another journey came down from tbe incline above, unnoticed by him, and crushed him against the wheel. By some means his arm became entangled between the rope and the revolving jenny wheel, and was wrenched off just above the elbow, from which death resulted

Llewelyn, John, 29 Sep 1924, 12.45 p.m., 6th hour of shift, aged 68, Surface Labourer, He was standing with one foot between the two rails of a tramway leading from the pit top to the screens, looking away from the pit, when he was knocked down by a journey of six loaded trams travelling slowly towards him. He was released from under the first tram, badly injured, and died a few hours later. It was apparently a case of being absent-minded at the time

Lloyd, John, 25 Feb 1900, (accident: 21 Feb 1900), aged 34, Fireman, When walking along a main haulage road (the trams on which travel at the rate of about two to three miles an hour) he appears to have tripped, and becoming entangled with a tram received injuries from which he died on the 25th February

Lyon, Frank, 25 Jul 1928, (accident: 24 Jul 1928), aged 24, Assistant Collier, Crushed by trams. Died 25th

Maynard, William, 11 Jun 1903, (accident: 19 Dec 1902), aged 23, Collier, William Maynard, 23, collier at Waun Llwyd Colliery, injured his side by coming in contact with a mandril helve on the 19th December, 1902, when walking out from work. He died on the 11th June, and it was attempted to prove that death was the result of the accident. A post-mortem examination was held and one doctor was of opinion that death resulted from "appendicitis," while another held that it resulted from "pneumonia." I have consequently not considered it necessary to include it as a colliery fatality [fatality reported during the year but not classified as a reportable accident]

Meredith, John, 24 Sep 1907, 1.30 a.m., 7th hour of shift, aged 47, Labourer, Fall of roof which occurred while he and others were clearing a previous large fall in a gob road in the Old Coal Seam. This is always dangerous work and can only be guarded against by great care and judgment, In this case they appear to have been deceived by the stone which fell being broken over the gob and its not being noticeable that it was so

Mogford, Frederick, 01 Nov 1889, aged 17, Collier, Fall of roof, a large stone from a slip discharged two props which were under it and crushed him in the corner where he was working

Morgan, Henry, 15 Oct 1925, aged 52, Haulier, Head caught in collar of timber while driving. Died same day

Morris, James, 12 Jun 1907, 9.30 a.m., 3rd hour of shift, aged 52, Collier, Fall of roof at the face in the Big Vein. He appears to have been getting coal down when the roof fell from an irregular greasy slant

Owen, John D., 21 Oct 1907, 4 a.m., 9th hour of shift, aged 44, Timberman, He strained himself on lifting a collar or stick from the centre of the road where they unloaded it from a tram, to the side. In doing so he suddenly felt a pain and apparently paralysis of the lower part of the body set in gradually from it, and prevented his working up to the time of his death

Parry, William John, 12 Sep 1912, aged 17, Assistant Collier, Fall of side at working face. While holing under some top coal between two kind joints, the top coal fell out, killing him

Peters, Ebenezer, 02 Jan 1905, aged 66, Greaser, Crushed between the buffers of railway waggons on colliery sidings when passing between them in the course of his work. He was simply going from one side of the waggons to the other by the shortest road, and did not notice some waggons which were being let down from the screens

Phillips, John, 28 Apr 1934, crushed by a tram [date of report]

Phillips, Peter, 06 Jan 1911, aged 62, Timberman, Fall of side while repairing air road. He knocked out a setting of timber before having fixed a new pair

Phillips, R. D., 13 Dec 1911, aged 13, Collier Boy, Fall of roof at working face from between four slants while he was holding a light for a man to fix a post

Price, Alfred, 18 Feb 1905, (accident: 01 Jan 1905), aged 36, Haulier, Scratched his face just beneath the left eye when pulling a locker out of a wheel. Erysipelas supervening, he died on the 18th of February, the result, according to medical evidence, of the scratch

Price, R. W., 20 May 1927, (accident: 16 May 1927), aged 34, Collier, Fall of coal. Died 20th

Rees, William James, 12 Jun 1925, (accident: 01 Jun 1925), aged 17, Assistant Collier, Crushed by tram. Died 12th June

Roberts, Joseph, 23 Dec 1893, (accident: 18 Feb 1893), aged 44, Collier, When at work ripping the roof with a pick a small piece of stone in falling caught his wrist. he continued to work out his shift and worked for some days after but complained of his hand being stiff. He ceased after about a week and died 23rd Dec., 10 months after. He was a member of the Permanent Relief Society and apparently drew relief pay from it for 43 weeks and his widow I understand gets 5s. a week for herself and 2s. 6d. each for three children being 12s. 6d. a week. The cause of death is certified by the club doctor as the result of blood poisoning supervening upon injuries received to his wrist. The matter has been much commented on by medical men and others who consider the death was from other causes. I have concluded it is a mining death but was not aware that the effects of blood poisoning could last so long

Slumley, Charles, 05 Apr 1909, (accident: 27 Feb 1909), aged 20, Collier, Fall of side from a Slant, as he was clearing rubbish from a "Barry" work, knocked him down, injuring his back against a stone on the floor. He was sent to the Hospital, and it was found that his spine was partially fractured. He died on the 5th of April from "Cystitis" and general blood poisoning

Smith, Henry, 17 Oct 1907, 11.30 a.m., 5th hour of shift, aged 61, Brakesman, When lowering trucks to the screens by the brakes, he was crushed between the truck and the retaining wall, the space not being more than 12 inches. He was using the brake on the second last waggon

Stephens, Isaac, 03 Sep 1909, aged 17, Labourer, He was engaged with a timberman clearing a fall in the ¾-seam in a heading on the West side of No. 2 Pit. The timberman appears to have left him filling a tram to which the pony was not attached, and returning in about 10 minutes found him under the front part of the tram some 40 yards down the heading. How he got there is unknown as he was alone at the time, but he must have hitched the pony to the tram and was run over in consequence of stumbling in front of it. The pony seems to have been a good and quiet animal much thought of by the haulier in charge of him, and stops on being called to do so

Taylor, John, 01 Feb 1905, aged 30, Labourer, He was taking a tram of props to the pit mouth when an empty tram returning from the screens knocked it off the rails, and twisted the timbers towards and against some railway waggons which were being pushed up by a locomotive. This resulted in the other end of the props crushing him against a pillar supporting the heap-stead roof

Thornbury, Ernest, 11 Mar 1906, (accident: 09 Jan 1906), aged 28, Timberman, While putting in some new timbers on the heading, No. 4 East Dip, Big Vein Coal, a stone fell and struck him on the shoulder. He worked all that day and the remaining days of that week. He died on March 11th, 1906, from an abscess which formed, causing blood poisoning

Tippin, -, 05 Jul 1927, aged 70, Haulier, Struck head against timber. Died

Tippins, Samuel, 12 May 1894, aged 66, Repairer, He tripped over the hauling rope while engaged cleaning the road. He injured his elbow slightly but continued his work. An abscess it appears formed subsequently which resulted in death. Nothing was known of the case at the colliery as he had not reported it and his absence was taken no notice of in consequence of his having previously lost a great deal of time owing to ill health

Vincent, William, 27 Jun 1910, aged 23, Labourer, Fall of roof on a road where repairs were in progress

Wall, Edward, 02 May 1910, aged 38, Timberman, Fall of roof and side while repairing an old water course level

Watkins, Howell, 28 May 1903, Labourer, Howell Watkins, labourer at Waun Llwyd Colliery, died on the 28th May from "pneumonia." There was some talk of an accident having occurred, but according to medical opinion the cause of death was so clear that an inquest was not considered necessary [fatality reported during the year but not classified as a reportable accident]

Watkins, W. J., 14 Feb 1902, aged 13, Collier's Boy, While turning back small coal at a barry wide work face, he was crushed by some clod, which fell along with coal pulled from the face by the collier in the adjoining place. The coal and clod came off further than the collier expected. He was much to blame for not warning deceased in any case

Wilcox, Jesse, 26 Jul 1924, 8.15 a.m., 2nd hour of shift, aged 47, Collier, He was preparing to set a face prop when a small piece of top coal and clod broke off and knocked him down. He was again caught by another fall of coal and clod, being so badly injured that he died later in the day

Williams, Robert, 17 Oct 1893, aged 15, Collier, Fall of coal from the face. The collier had drawn down a large piece of coal and the boy was picking up slag from it when a further lump rolled over and caught him

Williams, Sidney, 11 Mar 1928, (accident: 08 Mar 1928), aged 46, Collier, Fall of coal. Died 11th

Williams, William, 10 Oct 1898, aged 18, Collier, Fall of roof from underneath which he had removed a prop when cutting bottom in his working place in the East Elled Seam

Wilstead, Thomas, 10 Sep 1910, aged 19, Collier, Fall of roof top coal at working face