Description

One of those dreadful events which have too frequently to be recorded, occurred at the Russell's Wallsend pit, situate at the village of Wallsend, near Newcastle, on the evening of the above day, Wednesday, by which, eleven lives were lost. Between six and seven o'clock that evening, the men, who were all what are called "shifters," went down the shaft to prepare the pit for the following day's working. Nothing more was heard of them until the furnace keeper was alarmed, between nine and ten o'clock, by symptoms of fire damp at the shaft. He immediately apprised other workmen of the circumstance, and they began to search the pit, when they discovered one of the bodies about twelve o'clock; another was found at half-past two o'clock, and shortly afterwards, two more were found; being four out of eleven who had unfortunately perished. The cause of the accident was not ascertained. On the morning of the occurrence, the pit appeared to be in a well-ventilated state, so much so, indeed, that it is stated the men could not work without their clothes on, on account of the cold. The pit is the same that fired little more than three years previous, by which one hundred and three unfortunate beings were killed.

Related Articles

Further Reading

• Northumberland & Cumberland Mining Disasters by Maureen Anderson, Published by Wharncliffe Books, 2009, ISBN 1-845630-81-5

Sources

• Gateshead Observer
• 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.

Researchers

 Return    Return to Top