Disasters - Names		Disasters - Names

Date:	24th November 1848
Colliery:	Auckland, St. Helens
Cause:	Struck by cage
Lives Lost:	1

Henry Close was killed at St. Helen's Colliery on 24 November. An inquest was held on the following day at the Pointer Dog Inn, West Auckland. At about 3 a.m., he and six other men descended shaft to their work in a cage, which had two compartments one above the other, five being in the lower and deceased with Thomas Raine in the upper one. When they got to the main coal seam, the men in lower cage got out, and Raine had only just time to clear himself and jump out, when the cage was drawn away, and the deceased being left in, he was caught against the bunting on the back of his head. A signal was immediately given for the cage to descend again, and as soon as it was got clear of the sides, the deceased fell out and was taken up quite dead. James Robson, Thomas Raine, William Ridley and Thomas Emmerson, the four men in the upper cage said that it had been drawn up about a minute and a half or two minutes after they reached the bottom and none of them saw the rapper pulled. George Morgan, the plugman at the engine, claimed he saw the men go down in the cage and when it got to the bottom, "being about four foot off the rapper" he saw it struck and said to Nicholas Emmerson, the brakesman, "that will do", and the cage was immediately drawn up. He heard the rapper distinctly, and considered there was sufficient time for the men to get out.

The Durham Advertiser commented : From the evidence adduced, it certainly appears that too much haste had been made in drawing up the cage, as two minutes could not afford time for all the men to clear themselves, and, it is hoped that in future more precaution will be exercised.

Henry Close left a widow and six children.

Source:

Text kindly provided by Jim Grainger from his research into early newspapers (primarily the Durham Advertiser and Durham Chronicle).

	Close, Henry, struck by cage; left a widow and six children
	All names found
	Some of the names of mining fatalities on this web site have been kindly provided by Jim Grainger from his research into early newspapers (primarily the Durham Advertiser and Durham Chronicle) and are marked with .

 

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