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John Stoker
| Age: | 16 |
| Died: | 12th Sep 1894 |
| Accident: | 12th Sep 1894 3:45 PM, 10th hour of shift |
| Year Born: | abt. 1878 |
| Colliery: | Blackhill |
| Company: | Consett Iron Co., Ltd. |
| Occupation: | Driver |
| Notes: | He got on to the wrong side of his set, and was crushed to death between tub and wall |
| Buried: | [not known] |
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| Description | |
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Number 57 on the list occurred at the Consett Iron Company's, Blackhill Drift, on the 12th of September last about 3.45 o'clock p.m., causing the death of John Stokoe, a driver.
This boy, although he was 16 years of age, had only been working in the pit for three or four weeks. For 12 months before that he was employed on the screens, on the surface. He was set to drive between two stations, and had another driver with him until it was thought safe to let him work alone. It appears at one place, on the right-hand side, as he was going out, there was very little space between the tubs and side, and he was warned always to be careful and to ride on the left side of the limbers. He seems to have done this all the time the other driver was with him, but almost as soon as he was left alone he got on to the right or opposite side of the limbers and was caught between the tub and side, and crushed to death. There was plenty of room on the other side, and if he had done as he was told this accident would not have occurred, but where the roof will admit of it, and it would in this case, the space between the tubs and side of the way should not be so small that a boy can be caught. I arranged with the manager of this pit to take some of the coal off, in order to prevent a recurrence of an accident of this kind at the same place.
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| Mines Inspectors Report Entry | |
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- 1894 Mines Inspectors Report (C 7667), Durham District (No. 4) by Thomas Bell, H.M. Inspector of Mines, Page: 20 Where to find this report
- 1894 Mines Inspectors Report (C 7667), Durham District (No. 4) by Thomas Bell, H.M. Inspector of Mines, Page: 43, Accident Number: 57 Where to find this report
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| Researchers | |
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| Researcher | Date | Interest | |
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| Lizzy O'Connor | 03 Jan 2018 |
I'm a musician born and raised in Blackhill and I wanted to write a song about a character who worked in the mines, I had some lines and melody worked out and I used this website to look for stories and inspiration. When I read about John Stoker, being just a young man and his burial place not known I was inspired to use his story for my song. 'the Ballad of John Stoker' obviously there's some poetic licence used as I didn't know anything else but the story of his tragedy. But I wanted to give him a sense of family and person. I wonder if there is anyway of finding out more about him or his family? Thanks for your assistance. cheers |
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