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Individual Details |
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Individual Details |
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William Wears
| Age: | 27 |
| Died: | 28th Jan 1836 |
| Accident: | 28th Jan 1836 1:30 PM |
| Year Born: | abt. 1809 |
| Colliery: | Hetton, Downs Pit (Eppleton) |
| Company: | |
| Occupation: | |
| Notes: | of Houghton, left a wife and two children ; killed in the 1836 explosion |
| Buried: | [not known] |
| Category: | |
An awful explosion occurred in the celebrated Hetton colliery, near Houghton-le-Spring, by which twenty human beings lost their lives, and another was so dreadfully scorched as to afford but faint hopes of his recovery. Upwards of one hundred persons were employed in the pit at the time the explosion occurred, but owing to the accident being confined to one of the workings, namely the Downs pit, the number of victims was less than might have been expected. From the evidence adduced on the coroner's inquest it appeared that the explosion was caused by the negligence or inattention of a boy who had the charge of a trap door, and whose duty was to keep it shut as much as possible, in order that the part of the pit where the men were working might be purified by a current of air. From the evidence of several witnesses experienced in the management of mines, (including Mr. George Hunter, of Painsher, viewer to the marquess of Londonderry), there existed no doubt that the general ventilation of the pit was excellent. The whole of the evidence tended to shew that, had the men been working with the Davy lamp, instead of candles, no explosion would have occurred; but, it was stated that the men, even in situations where danger existed, had an antipathy to its use, because from candles they had a better light.
Pub.
Date | Article (Newspaper) |
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| 06 Feb 1836 | Explosion At Hetton Colliery, and Inquest On The Sufferers (Newcastle Courant) |
- Durham Mining Disasters, c.1700 - 1950s by Maureen Anderson, Published by Wharncliffe Books, 2008, ISBN 1-845630-73-4
- Local Historian's Table Book of Remarkable Occurrences Connected with the Counties of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Northumberland and Durham by M.A. Richardson. Published in five volumes in 1844.
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