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	Gallantry		Gallantry

	William Beith
	Albert Medal, First Class
	Date:	11 Apr 1877
	Colliery:	Tynewydd Colliery, Porth
	Occupation:	Mechanical Engineer

 

Whitehall, August 6, 1877.

The Queen has been graciously pleased to confer the "Albert Medal of the First Class" on —

Daniel Thomas, Colliery Proprietor, Brithwynydd, Rhondda Valley, South Wales ;

William Beith, Mechanical Engineer, of Harris's Navigation Colliery, Quakers'-yard, South Wales;

Isaac Pride, Collier, Llwyncelyn Colliery, Rhondda Valley, South Wales ;

John William Howell, Collier, Ynishir Colliery, Rhondda Valley, South Wales.

The following is an account of the services in respect of which the decoration has been conferred :—

On the 11th of April, the Tynewydd Colliery, situate near Porth, in the Rhondda Valley, South Wales, was inundated with water from the old workings of the adjoining Cymmer Colliery. At the time of the inundation there were fourteen men in the pit, of whom four were unfortunately, drowned, and one killed by compressed air, leaving nine men imprisoned by the water ; of this number four were released after eighteen hours' imprisonment, and five after nine days' imprisonment. It was in effecting the release of these latter five that those distinguished services were rendered which the conferring of the "Albert Medal of the First Class" is intended to recognize.

The rescuing operations consisted in driving through the barrier of coal thirty-eight yards in length, which intervened between the imprisoned men and the rescuers, and kept back a large quantity of water and compressed air. This task was commenced on Monday, April the 16th, and was carried on until Thursday, April the 19th, without any great amount of danger being incurred by the rescuers ; but about one o'clock P.M. on that day, when only a few yards of barrier remained, the danger from an irruption of water, gas, and compressed air was so great as to cause the colliers to falter. It was at this juncture that the above mentioned four men volunteered to resume the rescuing operations, the danger of which had been greatly increased by an outburst of inflammable gas under great pressure, and in such quantities, as to extinguish the Davy lamps which were being used. The danger from gas continued at intervals until half-past three on the following morning, and from that time the above four men at great peril to their own lives continued the rescuing operations until three o'clock P.M., when the five imprisoned men were safely released.

Source: London Gazette (07 Aug 1877)

Email	Researcher	Date	Interest
	Patrick Beith	15 Dec 2010	William Beith was my father's great uncle. His brother, John Beith was also a mining engineer. I am very interested to know more about William's part in this disaster which had both sad and happy endings.
	Marion Randall	05 Mar 2011	I am researching the Beith family for the son of Anita Clara Beith, her Grandfather was John Beith who lived in Rock with his wife Clara. I am finding it a
	paul evans	29 Feb 2012	iamtryingtofindoutwhathappenedtorescuersandrescuedinyearsafterthedisaster.iam interestedinrhonddavalleyhistory
	Andrew Scott	29 May 2021	Family interest. My grandfather was Freddie Beith
	Ceri Morgan	13 Jul 2022	William Beith was the master sinker at Harris Navigation Pit Quakers Yard and after employing my GGGrandfather as a carpenter at the pit sadly he died in a working accident in 1875. His son William then aged 15 was taken on as a trainee engineer because Beith a good hearted man promised Ann the wife of Thomas Francis that he would look after him. William served Beith and his sinking operations for many years at several pits in the South Wales valleys as an engine winding man and later built the winding engine for Lady Windsor Colliery . I would like to know more about W Beith as a man of reknown coal mining experience and knowledge in South Wales. He also I understand was a caring person to those who worked for him in a very dangerous industry.

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