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	Individual Details		Individual Details

Age:
Died:	5th Sep 1856
Accident:	5th Sep 1856
Born:
Colliery:	Gatehead
Company:	Archibald Finnie
Occupation:
Notes:	Drowned or suffocated by water from an old waste
Buried:	[not known]
Category:

No. 29. Occurred while piercing a Waste containing Water.

It was known to the manager of the Colliery that a small quantity of water lay to the "rise" of the works, and the men who were driving the exploring room had orders to keep a bore in advance of it ; this precaution was observed, and the bore hole, at the time of the accident, was seven feet beyond the face of the room in solid coal.

In this case, the quantity of water was certainly small, but sufficient to produce the accident. It would appear if the men had remained in their places they would have been comparatively safe, but under such circumstances, even though danger was not seriously suspected, it is not possible to prevent confusion, and it would require some nerve for men to stand in a body of water where the lights were extinguished, or grope their way safely in gloom and darkness.

It is always unsafe to approach a waste containing water, with a single bore in advance, and the following sketch, shewing the position of the place after the accident, is another striking illustration of it.

Certainly the safe way is to keep, at least, a centre or "breast" and two "wing" bores, at all times, in advance of the solid coal, and the distance ought to vary with the known or anticipated pressure of water.

• 1856 Mines Inspectors Report, by William Alexander, H.M. Inspector of Mines, Page: 151
• 1856 Mines Inspectors Report, by William Alexander, H.M. Inspector of Mines, Page: 169, Accident Number: 29

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