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George Thornton
| Age: | 30 |
| Died: | 3rd Aug 1830 |
| Accident: | 3rd Aug 1830 5:40 AM |
| Year Born: | abt. 1800 |
| Colliery: | Jarrow, Alfred Pit |
| Company: | |
| Occupation: | Hewer |
| Notes: | residence: Jarrow ; killed in the 1830 explosion |
| Buried: | at Jarrow on 05 Aug 1830 |
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| Description | |
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A dreadful explosion of hydrogen gas took place in Jarrow colliery, at about twenty minutes before six o’clock on the morning, when forty-two men and boys were deprived of life. Twenty-one of the men were married, leaving widows and sixty-six children. There were one hundred and twenty men in the mine, of whom seventy were in the Bensham seam, where the blast took place. Ten more were much injured, and two horses were killed. It appeared on the inquest that the miners had broken into a crack or fissure in the coal, whence the inflammable gas suddenly issued, and was ignited by some negligence in the use of the Davy lamp, as the mine was well ventilated just before.
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| Burial Register | |
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BURIALS in the Parish of Jarrow, in the County of Durham, in the Year 1830 | ||||||
| Page | No | Name | Abode | When buried | Age | By whom the Ceremony was performed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 175 | 1399 | George Thornton | Jarrow | Aug. 5 | 30 | John Carr |
In margin: Forty persons were killed by an explosion of gas in the Bensham seam of Jarrow Colliery on the third day of August 1830 |
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| Related Articles | |
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| Pub. Date | Article (Newspaper) |
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| 10 Aug 1830 | Dreadful Accident at Jarrow (The Times) |
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| Further Reading | |
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- Durham Mining Disasters, c.1700 - 1950s by Maureen Anderson, Published by Wharncliffe Books, 2008, ISBN 1-845630-73-4
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| Sources | |
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- Burial register entry courtesy of Julie Thompson
- Local Records or Historical Register of Remarkable Events by John Sykes, published in 1833 in two volumes
- Parish/Bishop's Transcript's burial records kindly supplied by Julie Thompson
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| Researchers | |
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