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William Laws
| Age: | 21 |
| Died: | 13th Apr 1896 |
| Accident: | 13th Apr 1896 10:00 PM |
| Year Born: | abt. 1875 |
| Colliery: | Brancepeth, A Pit |
| Company: | Strakers and Love |
| Occupation: | Stoneman |
| Notes: | an explosion occurred on a main haulage road of the mine ; killed in the 1896 explosion (ignition caused by shot firing) |
| Buried: | St. Stephen's Churchyard/Willington Cemetery |
| Category: | Explosions of fire damp or coal dust |
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| Description | |
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Only one fatal explosion, viz., that at Brancepeth Colliery on the 13th of April, occurred. A special report having been made to you on this accident I do not propose to go into the details of it again. The explosion was undoubtedly caused by the firing of a shot on a main engine plane, and the management have now prohibited shot-firing on the main roads entirely, and are introducing the use of higher explosives in the canches and drawing roads, roburite being the explosive selected.
A considerable amount of gunpowder is still, however, being used in the coal and roadways of some of the seams connected with these collieries, but I hope to see the quantity again reduced before long.
Whatever his politics may be the average working miner is very conservative in matters which affect his work, and a change from gunpowder, to which he has been accustomed for years, to an explosive, which has somewhat different characteristics and to which he is a stranger, is sure to be met with a certain amount of disfavour.
A little difficulty is experienced at first starting before the relative proportions of the different explosives to be used to do the same amount of work is thoroughly understood, the tendency being to use more of the higher explosive than is necessary, but when this has been mastered the higher explosives do their work well, and it is only reasonable that both owners and men should yield something in exchange for the greater safety there undoubtedly is in the higher compounds than with gunpowder in mines which are dusty or which give off inflammable gas.
The text of the Report into the disaster is available online here.
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| Census Data | |
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1881 Census
Address: No 17 Park Street, Brancepeth, Co. Durham
(Ref: RG11 / 4951 / 7 / 7)
| Name | Age | Rel | Mar | Occupation | Where Born | Born |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAWS, Thomas | 38 | Head | Mar | Coal Miner | DUR: Houghton Le Spring | 1843 |
| LAWS, Christiana | 36 | Wife | Mar | DUR: Shildon | 1845 | |
| LAWS, Isabella | 12 | Dau | Unn | DUR: Willington | 1869 | |
| LAWS, Robert | 10 | Son | Unn | DUR: Willington | 1871 | |
| LAWS, Jane Ann | 8 | Dau | Unn | DUR: Willington | 1873 | |
| LAWS, William | 6 | Son | Unn | DUR: Willington | 1875 | |
| LAWS, Thomas | 4 | Son | Unn | DUR: Willington | 1877 | |
| LAWS, Mary | 2 | Dau | Unn | DUR: Willington | 1879 |
Please note: the census extracts shown here are our 'best guess match' to the person shown on this page and is not intended to be definitive — only knowledge of the family would allow this.
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| Memorial: 1896 Brancepeth Colliery Disaster | |
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| Tombstone | |
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Willington — St. Stephen's Churchyard/Cemetery
Location: OS Map 93, Grid Ref NZ210353
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This is a low resolution image for web display, if you would like to have a higher resolution image, then please
us quoting reference T-02228-04-0002 and we will make the image available on a temporary page for you to access.
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| Names on this tombstone | |||
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| Name | Died | Age | Born |
| Christina LAWS | 21st Jul 1923 | 79 | 1844 |
| Frances LAWS | |||
| John LAWS | 16th Nov 1917 | 32 | 1885 |
| Mary Jane LAWS | |||
| Thomas LAWS | 4th Jun 1919 | 76 | 1843 |
| Thomas LAWS | 21st Jun 1915 | 38 | 1877 |
| William LAWS | 13th Apr 1896 | 21 | 1875 |
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| Related Articles | |
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| Pub. Date | Article (Newspaper) |
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| 14 Apr 1896 | Mine Disaster, Explosion At Brancepeth Colliery, Feared Loss Of 17 Lives (Northern Daily Mail) |
| 15 Apr 1896 | Colliery Explosion (The Times) |
| 16 Apr 1896 | The Colliery Disaster In Durham (The Times) |
| 17 Apr 1896 | The Colliery Disaster In Durham (The Times) |
| 18 Apr 1896 | The Colliery Disaster In Durham (The Times) |
| 21 Apr 1896 | The Colliery Explosion In Durham (The Times) |
| 14 May 1896 | The Colliery Explosion In Durham (The Times) |
| 15 May 1896 | The Brancepeth Colliery Explosion (The Times) |
| 16 May 1896 | The Brancepeth Colliery Explosion (The Times) |
| 14 Sep 1896 | The Brancepeth Colliery Explosion (The Times) |
| 26 Feb 1897 | News (Northern Daily Mail) |
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| Further Reading | |
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- Mines Inspectors Report into the 1896 Disaster (C. 8174)
- Durham Mining Disasters, c.1700 - 1950s by Maureen Anderson, Published by Wharncliffe Books, 2008, ISBN 1-845630-73-4
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| Mines Inspectors Report Entry | |
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| Sources | |
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- 1881 Census — taken 3rd April, 1881
- 1896 Mines Inspectors Report (C 8450), Durham District (No. 4) by R. D. Bain, H.M. Inspector of Mines, Page: 23, Accident Number: 172 Where to find this report
- 1896 Mines Inspectors Report (C 8450), Durham District (No. 4) by R. D. Bain, H.M. Inspector of Mines, Page: 8 Where to find this report
- Church/Cemetery photograph (T-02206-04-0002) © Kev Duncan
- Headstone(s) in St. Stephen's Churchyard/Cemetery, Willington
- Tombstone photograph (T-02228-04-0002) © Kev Duncan
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| Researchers | |
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| Researcher | Date | Interest | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lynn Day | 19 Oct 2008 |
Mary Laws grand child to Alexander and Mary Tait listed in 1901 census |
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| Katie Laws | 30 Jun 2018 |
Interested as been to "The man engine" in Willington and heard Thomas and William Laws names mentioned in the death and was curious of the name as my dads parents were from Brandon and Brancepeth Is there a way I could find anything else to see if there is a link in the name? |
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| david laws | 07 Nov 2023 |
We have recently moved to Oakenshaw from Sunderland and were advised of a possible family link to the area being Willam and Thomas Laws. |
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