Bigge Pit

Location:	Willington 5 miles [8 km] NE of Newcastle
Map Ref:	(Sheet 88) NZ316686, 55° 0' 39" N, 1° 30' 21" W
Maps:	1860s map detailed map from the Ordnance Survey
	1898 map from Reid's Handy Colliery Guide
Opened:
Closed:
Owners:	1840's - Matthew Bell (M.P.) & Partners
	Catalogue of plans of abandoned mines for Bigge Pit
Notes:	1867 - Pumping shaft, Brasside Colliery, sunk in May from the surface to the Hutton Seam.

Description

Disasters (5 or more killed)

19th Apr 1841 Explosion, 32 lives lost (Show Names)

Names of those killed at this colliery

Please note that this collection of names is by no means complete!

						Bainbridge, Thomas, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 18, Putter, killed in the 1841 explosion, brother of William, Buried: St. Bartholomew, Longbenton on 22 Apr 1841 [More information ...]
						Bainbridge, William, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 11, Trapper, killed in the 1841 explosion, brother of Thomas, Buried: St. Bartholomew, Longbenton on 22 Apr 1841 [More information ...]
						Black, Robert, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 15, Driver, killed in the 1841 explosion, alive when brought out of the pit [More information ...]
						Bolton, Thomas, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 9, Trapper, killed in the 1841 explosion [More information ...]
						Brown, John, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 13, Trapper, killed in the 1841 explosion [More information ...]
						Brown, Robert, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 19, Putter, killed in the 1841 explosion, unmarried [More information ...]
						Campbell, George, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 18, Putter, killed in the 1841 explosion, nephew of John Campbell [More information ...]
						Campbell, John, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 34, Hewer, killed in the 1841 explosion, unmarried [More information ...]
						Campbell, Robert, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 14, Driver, killed in the 1841 explosion [More information ...]
						Cowper, Richard, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 9, Trapper, killed in the 1841 explosion [More information ...]
						Coxon, William, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 36, Hewer, killed in the 1841 explosion, widower with one child, Buried: St. Bartholomew, Longbenton on 22 Apr 1841 {NBI} [More information ...]
						Crawford, John, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 22, Onsetter, killed in the 1841 explosion, unmarried, alive when brought out of the pit, Buried: St. Bartholomew, Longbenton on 21 Apr 1841 {NBI} [More information ...]
						Crosby, Joseph, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 17, Craneman, killed in the 1841 explosion, Buried: St. Bartholomew, Longbenton on 22 Apr 1841 {NBI} [More information ...]
						Crosier, Jonathan, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 20, Putter, killed in the 1841 explosion, unmarried [More information ...]
						Dodgson, Thomas, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 27, Hewer, killed in the 1841 explosion, recently married [More information ...]
						Dodgson, William, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 25, Hewer, killed in the 1841 explosion, brother of Thomas Dodgson [More information ...]
						Hall, John, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 16, Driver, killed in the 1841 explosion [More information ...]
						Howey, William, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 24, Putter, killed in the 1841 explosion, left a wife and 2 children [More information ...]
						Johnson, Joseph, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 27, Hewer, killed in the 1841 explosion, unmarried, Buried: St. Bartholomew, Longbenton on 22 Apr 1841 {NBI} [More information ...]
						Joyce, John, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 23, Putter, killed in the 1841 explosion, unmarried [More information ...]
						Liddell, James, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 14, Putter, killed in the 1841 explosion [More information ...]
						Martin, George, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 19, Putter, killed in the 1841 explosion, unmarried [More information ...]
						Martin, Michael, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 36, Hewer, killed in the 1841 explosion, left a wife and 4 children, Buried: St. Bartholomew, Longbenton on 22 Apr 1861 {NBI} [More information ...]
						Martin, William, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 10, Trapper, killed in the 1841 explosion, son of Michael Martin, Buried: St. Bartholomew, Longbenton on 22 Apr 1861 {NBI} [More information ...]
						Mason, Simpson, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 10, Trapper, killed in the 1841 explosion [More information ...]
						Pearson, James, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 18, Putter, killed in the 1841 explosion, alive when brought out of the pit [More information ...]
						Pearson, Robert, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 9, Trapper, killed in the 1841 explosion, brother of Thomas [More information ...]
						Pearson, Thomas, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 15, Driver, killed in the 1841 explosion, brother of Robert [More information ...]
						Ranson, Matthew, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 15, Onsetter, killed in the 1841 explosion [More information ...]
						Reed, John, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 28, Deputy, killed in the 1841 explosion, unmarried [More information ...]
						Scott, George, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 9, Trapper, killed in the 1841 explosion [More information ...]
						Wood, Thomas, 19 Apr 1841, 1:15 p.m., aged 39, Wood-leader, killed in the 1841 explosion, left a wife a 6 children, Buried: St. Bartholomew, Longbenton on 22 Apr 1841 {NBI} [More information ...]

						32 names found

If you know of any fatalities missing from the above list then please contact us with the details and we will add them to our database.

more information on some of the fatalities shown above

Collieries and Pits within 5 miles (8km)

a simulated map showing the immediate vicinity of Bigge Pit

list of collieries/pits etc. near to Bigge Pit

Credits

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.



Mail: Webmaster	Back	Home	Crown copyright material is reproduced under Class Licence Number C01W0000177 with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland. Copyright © 1999-2008 by The Durham Mining Museum and its contributors Registered Charity No: 1110608 Page last updated: 01 Dec 2007	Search	Print