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	Individual Details		Individual Details

Age:
Died:	6th Jul 1852
Accident:	6th Jul 1852
Born:
Colliery:	Beeston Manor
Company:	Harding and Co.
Occupation:
Notes:	Explosion of firedamp
Buried:	[not known]
Category:

Accident No. 1 in the Tabular List.

Explosion at Beeston Manor Colliery, near Leeds.

A man and a boy, on entering their working place in the morning, ignited the gas, and were burnt to death. The mine was lighted entirely by Davy lamps, and this explosion is peculiar, as occurring with the lamp.

About five years ago nine persons were killed here by gas firing at the Davy lamp ; and the colliery, which has always been fiery, was, and still is, ill ventilated. I found that the air-ways had a sectional area of six to eight feet only ; the air-current was not "split;" the doors were all single ; the stoppings were not tight, being loosely made of rubbish, without any bricks or lime ; tattered sheets were hung instead of doors ; air-pipes and brattices were not used ; and, in the spot where the accident happened, a stopping had been left open, which should have been closed, and the air was not carried up to the face. There was a furnace, but it was always smothered up with fuel in the afternoon, and left unattended until next morning. There was not any regular examination of the works by an underground steward, and the lamps were not inspected or locked. The two lamps used by the deceased were found, after the explosion, with the gauges properly screwed on ; but they were in bad repair, and were radically defective, having only 576 apertures per square inch, instead of 784.

The manager was not aware that the lamps were imperfect, and he had not devised any rules relating to their use and treatment, although eighty persons — many of them young boys — were handling them daily.

There was a terrific thunder storm in the evening prior to the accident ; the barometer was unusually low, and the thermometer very high, but these unfavourable indications were not followed by additional attention to the furnace, or increased care in the workings.

Under the before-mentioned conditions, it is not surprising that the ventilation should be feeble, and the mine dangerous.

It appeared that the underground steward had repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, urged the proprietor to allow him to widen the air-ways, to build brick and lime stoppings, and to sink another shaft for the purpose of strengthening the air ; and it was further stated that since the first explosion, when nine persons perished, there had not been any improvement made in the ventilating arrangements, excepting a slight enlargement of the furnace ; and the reason assigned was that the profits of the mine were not sufficient to justify a further outlay of money.

The coroner's jury were divided as to whether a verdict of "manslaughter" should be returned against the colliery owner, but they agreed unanimously in the following decision :— "That the deceased came to their deaths by an explosion from the supposed cause of imprudently carrying their Davy lamps into firedamp ; and the jury censure in the strongest terms the owner and manager of the mine, for the careless manner in which the works are carried on ; and the jury are of opinion that substantial brick stoppings should be built ; that wooden doors should be used instead of cloth sheets ; that the steward should examine the works every morning, before the workmen go down ; and that a daily inspection of proper and approved safety-lamps should in future be established." In addition to these recommendations I suggested that, with a view to place the colliery in an effective state of ventilation, a new pit should be sunk ; the capacity of the air-ways should be considerably increased ; the air should be "split" into two or more currents ; and the furnace kept constantly burning throughout the night, as well as during the day.

Until these measures are adopted, it will be needful to exclude naked lights from the mine ; and even with the best safety-lamps, the risk of working will be great, unless a more skilful and vigilant superintendence be exercised.

• 1854 Mines Inspectors Report, by Charles Morton, H.M. Inspector of Mines, Page: 37
• 1854 Mines Inspectors Report, by Charles Morton, H.M. Inspector of Mines, Page: 59, Accident Number: 1

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