North Bitchburn Colliery

1845, Aug 27 - North Bitchburn Colliery commenced to sink and was put down to the Brockwell Seam.

1908, 29 Jan - Victoria, Marshall Green seams abandoned

1936, 15 Jan - Five Quarter or Busty seam abandoned

1938, 13 Aug - Brockwell seam abandoned

1938, 16 Jul - Top Main seam abandoned

Agar, Henry, 1919, aged 19

Blenkinsopp, Robert, 02 Jul 1900, (accident: 15 Jun 1900), aged 62, Hewer, Died to-day from blood poisoning. He sprained his hand while at work on June 15th.

Burn, Joseph, 15 May 1902, aged 27, Bricklayer, employed on buildings for new coal crasher, when he fell into the disintegrator hole a distance of about 20 feet, and severely injured his head, died same day

Emmerson, John, 09 Apr 1894, (accident: 07 Apr 1894, 7:30 a.m., 5th hour of shift), aged 35, Hewer, Severe injuries to body by fall of stone. Died on the 9th.

Emmerson, Thomas, 12 Jul 1883, aged 21, Hewer, severe injury to back by fall of stone

Friend, John Henry, 19 Jan 1870, aged 15, Screen Boy, improperly swinging on a rope attached to a beam of wood which fell upon him

Frost, Jonathan, 21 Apr 1873, aged 28, Hewer, killed by a fall of stone

Gash, John, 14 Feb 1898, aged 57, Hewer, died while at work in his place from failure of the heart's action; ventilation satisfactory

Gash, Jonathan, 21 Jan 1908, (accident: 06 Jan 1908), aged 26, Hewer, He scratched his finger whilst at work in the mine. He died on 21st January from septic pneumonia

Hall, Ovington, 30 Apr 1894, 10:10 a.m., 5th hour of shift, aged 18, Putter, Severely injured by a fall of roof from a slip while engaged hewing coal, causing his death in a few hours.

Heslop, Simon Taylor, 24 Dec 1901, aged 50, Horsekeeper, died from pneumonia alleged to have been brought on by glanders from ponies; the medical evidence was conflicting but did not bear out the allegation

Hook, Robert, 05 May 1916, (accident: Dec 1914), aged 55, Deputy, He ruptured himself in December 1914 while shoving a tram in the pit. In April 1916 he was admitted to the County Hospital where he died on 5th May. A post mortem showed that death was due to double pneumonia, and that there was no direct evidence that his condition was due to the accident in the mine

Horman, John, 23 Oct 1860, aged 16, Screener, crushed by coal truck

Hutchinson, Joseph, 19 Apr 1889, (accident: 29 Nov 1888), aged 47, Hewer, died from the effects of injuries received to his back by a fall of stone while working in a thin seam

Johnson, Thomas, 18 Dec 1904, aged 61, Horsekeeper, killed by a horse in a stable remote from the colliery and after the colliery had been laid in

Longstaff, George, 21 Dec 1920, aged 16, Putter, crushed by tub, Buried: Escomb Old Cemetery

Lynas, Ronald, 10 May 1943, aged 16, Landing Lad, runover by set, Buried: Witton Park Cemetery

McVay, John, 24 Sep 1881, (accident: 20 Sep 1881), aged 64, Shifter, collar bone and ribs broken and severely crushed by a fall of stone while cleaning it away

Metcalf, William, 16 Dec 1870, aged 32, Hewer, killed by a fall of stone

Mooney, John, 19 Sep 1888, aged 22, Hewer, fall of stone from a breaker while turning away a place from an old horse road

Musgrave, Ralph, 27 Oct 1881, (accident: 25 Oct 1881), aged 16, Run Rider, severely injured by tubs through coupling breaking

Naisbit, Richard, 24 Jun 1873, aged 61, Hewer, killed by a fall of stone

Nattras, Ralph, 03 Dec 1867, aged 23, Hewer, crushed by set of full tubs at landing of engine plane ; switch wrong, and empty set joined full one

Nicholson, Joseph, 21 Feb 1868, aged 48, Hewer, killed by a fall of stone

Price, Patrick, 03 Aug 1907, aged 30, Labourer, he was putting some buckets into a cage when it was taken away suddenly and he fell into the sump

Raine, Robert, 12 Jan 1859, aged 34, Deputy, fall of coal drawing a jud

Richardson, Henry, 22 Dec 1893, 8:50 p.m., 6th hour of shift, aged 26, Hewer, Fall of top coal while engaged taking off side coal. He met with a breaker.

Rowe, Thomas, 16 May 1895, (accident: 25 Sep 1894, 10:30 a.m., 1st hour of shift), aged 48, Hewer, received a slight injury to his shoulder by a fall of stone on 25th September 1894; he resumed work shortly after, and worked over three months, and eventually died from the effects of influenza [fatality reported during the year but not classified as a colliery accident]

Rudd, Michael, 01 Dec 1887, aged 18, Putter, fall of stone while going into a working place

Rutherford, George, 08 Aug 1871, aged 48, Hewer, killed by a fall of roof

Smith, John Thomas, 13 Dec 1911, aged 24, Hewer, he was working with another hewer in a broken lift 5 yards wide, in a seam 2 feet thick, when a stone, the full width of the place and 14 inches thick, fell from between a slip close to the face, and another, 3 feet 6 inches from it; there was no neglect in the timbering of the place

Stephenson, John, 24 Apr 1884, aged 52, Deputy, fall of stone while drawing timber in a broken jud

Tarn, Stephen, 30 Mar 1909, (accident: 07 Feb 1909), aged 48, Hewer, Whilst kirving, a piece of stone fell on to his thumb. He died on 30th March. The verdict of the Coroner's jury was that death was due to exhaustion from neurasthenia caused by injury to his thumb whilst at work in the mine

Tierney, John, 15 Jun 1898, aged 30, Hewer, he was finishing taking out part of a pillar of coal, when a fall of roof took place and killed him

Tilburn, Charles, 11 Aug 1903, aged 52, Screener, he was letting down trucks under the screens, and in attempting to get on to the footstep of one of them, to put the brake down, he slipped under the wheels and was run over and killed

Tyerman, John, 10 Feb 1871, (accident: 03 Feb 1871), Hewer, killed by a fall of stone

Waggitt, Luke H., 25 Mar 1887, aged 15, Greaser, from some cause he neglected to get into a refuge and was caught by the engine set and run over

Wilson, Robert, 02 Jan 1891, 10:20 a.m., 1st hour of shift, aged 45, Hewer, while going in-bye he was run over by the engine set, although warned to get into a refuge hole close by [More information ...]

Woodrough, John, 26 Oct 1859, (accident: 24 Oct 1859), aged 13, Pony Driver, explosion of gas