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John Chadderton
| Age: | |
| Died: | 19th Apr 1857 |
| Accident: | 6th Apr 1857 |
| Born: | |
| Colliery: | Thistly Field |
| Company: | John Knowles and Co. |
| Occupation: | |
| Notes: | Explosion of firedamp, died 12th and 19th |
| Buried: | [not known] |
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| Description | |
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At Halshaw Moor, where one life was lost ; also at Thistly Field, where two lives were lost; and at Duckworth Hall, No. 2 pit, Oswaldtwistle Colliery, where three lives were lost and two other persons burned, there was no fireman to see the places safe for the men to enter, on the plea that there was no firedamp. The persons were all burned in going in; the one at Halshaw Moor being a trespasser, but all the others were at their own of work. At Duckworth Hall, the occurrence was aggravated by the underlooker having observed firedamp on certain occasions in driving through a small fault, and he had, especially on the Monday preceding the explosion, again observed it in a working which was crossing the fault at a further distance than usual in advance of the air. He cautioned the persons to be careful, but neither reported the matter to the manager nor appointed a fireman, and did not even give the persons a safety-lamp to go in with. They managed to get in safely on the Tuesday. The pit was standing on the Wednesday, being a fast-day ; and on the Thursday the gas fired at their candle as they were entering, burning five persons, three of them fatally. A verdict of manslaughter was returned against the underlooker, and he was imprisoned for some weeks until he was bailed. At the Assize, however, where so much actual crime has to be dealt with, an offence of this kind is seldom if ever punished, and the bill was ignored by the grand jury.
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- 1857 Mines Inspectors Report, North and East Lancashire District, by Joseph Dickinson, H.M. Inspector of Mines, Page: 25
- 1857 Mines Inspectors Report, North and East Lancashire District, by Joseph Dickinson, H.M. Inspector of Mines, Page: 29, Accident Number: 14
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| Researchers | |
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