Disasters - Names		Disasters - Names

Date:	18th June 1835
Colliery:	Wallsend
Cause:	Explosion
Lives Lost:	102

Thursday, about two o'clock in the afternoon, one of those dreadful explosions which have been so lamentably frequent in mining districts, took place at one of Mr. Russell's collieries, at Wallsend, known by the name of the church pit, or Russell's old Wallsend, by which twenty-six men and seventy-five boys lost their lives, leaving twenty-four widows and eighty-three children to bewail their sudden, and, under the circumstances, most sorrowful departure. The number of work people employed in this colliery was about 220, one hundred and five of whom were in the mine at the time of the explosion. The colliery had been viewed in the morning by Mr. Atkinson and his son, under viewers, and it was by them considered perfectly safe and secure in every respect, there not being the least indication of any escape of gas, and at the time of the explosion, there were four overmen and deputies down who had been accustomed to work in the pits for upwards of thirty years. These were among the sufferers. The catastrophe was made known to the banksman by a considerable report, which they spoke of as being like an earthquake, accompanied by a rushing of choke damp to the mouth of the shaft, bringing up with it some of the pitmen's clothes and other light articles from the bottom. There are other two shafts connected with this colliery, in one of which only two men were at work, who say that they felt a slight shock at the time, and soon after a quantity of choke damp. They happily escaped by being drawn up immediately. In the third shaft no one was at work. On the alarm being given the vicinity of the mine was soon thronged with anxious enquirers; and the awful scene of sorrow which ensued, cannot even now be contemplated without exciting feelings of the most painful description. The most strenuous exertions to render immediate assistance to the sufferers were directly made, and eight humane and intrepid individuals volunteered to go down, in the hope of being able to save and bring up some of their companions. After reaching the bottom, however, in attempting to go into the workings, they instantly found themselves being suffocated by the foul air; they had the greatest difficulty in regaining the ropes, and were almost insensible before they could be drawn up again. Such was the dangerous state of the mine, that all further exertions were unavailing, till the following day, Friday, when those creditable efforts were renewed, and 21 bodies brought to bank. The work of humanity was persevered in, day after day, until all the bodies (save that of one poor boy) had been found and taken to their sorrowing friends; and to the astonishment of every one connected with the colliery, on Sunday, four of the unfortunate creatures were found to be alive. They were immediately brought up with the most assiduous care, and eager hopes were infused into the hearts of many, that others would be found who had been similarly favoured. This pleasing hope was, however, soon dispelled. The poor men themselves, thus rescued from a terrible fate, could give no idea of their mode of preservation. For some time they were occasionally delirious, and generally speaking, they had no idea of the time which elapsed between the occurrence of the accident and that of their fortunate rescue. The scene at Wallsend on the Monday afternoon, was especially distressing: numbers were buried there, and it was a painful sight to see two and even three bodies brought from the same house, and borne away amid the agonized cries of their relations. On Monday, June 22nd an inquest was held on the bodies of the sufferers, and, by adjournment, on the 23rd, 25th, and again on the 27th, during which time some of the jurors visited those persons who were saved, and heard what they had to say respecting the accident, but they were unable to give any account of great interest with regard to this melancholy event; in fact the origin of the accident remained as much a mystery as at the moment of its occurrence. Verdict :— Accidental death.

Source:

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.

Photograph(s) of the memorial for this disaster are shown in the Memorials section

	Appleby, Henry, aged 17, Putter
	Appleby, James, aged 11, Trapper
	Bell, Edward, aged 19, Helper Up
	Bell, Francis, aged 22, Crane-man
	Bell, Richard, aged 19, Putter
	Bell, Robert, aged 13, Rolley-driver
	Bell, William, aged 16, Rolley-driver
	Brown, Martin, aged 33, Hewer
	Buddle, John, aged 19, Putter
	Buddle, Matthew, aged 14, Putter
	Buddle, Michael, aged 17, Putter
	Chicken, John, aged 19, Putter
	Clark, Robert, aged 21, Putter
	Collins, David, aged 19, Putter
	Combie, Edward, aged 12, Rolley-driver
	Combie, Edward, aged 22, Putter
	Combie, James, aged 11, Trapper
	Combie, Robert, aged 20, Putter
	Cousins, James, aged 20, Putter
	Crister, William, aged 56, Deputy Overman
	Crister, William, jun., aged 17, Crane-man
	Croser, John, aged 23, Hewer
	Dawson, Robert, aged 13, Trapper
	Dinning, Bateman, aged 12, Putter
	Dinning, William, aged 17, Putter
	Elrington, Thomas, aged 15, Attending Davy lamps
	English, John, aged 19, Putter
	Giles, Andrew, aged 16, Rolley-driver
	Giles, Henry, aged 21, Putter
	Giles, James, aged 19, Putter
	Giles, John, aged 19, Putter
	Gillis, John, aged 20, Putter
	Green, James, aged 19, Crane-man
	Green, Peter, aged 16, Stone stower
	Hall, George, aged 11, Putter
	Hall, John, aged 18, Putter
	Harbottle, Joseph, aged 72, Trapper
	Haxon, Francis, aged 14, Trapper
	Hepple, John, aged 12, Trapper
	Huggup, Thomas, aged 11, Trapper
	Johnson, William, aged 47, Sinker
	Kennedy, George, aged 16, Rolley-driver
	Kyle, George, aged 9, Trapper
	Lawson, Joseph, aged 63, Deputy Overman
	Lowry, John, aged 15, Attending Davy Lamps
	Mason, Luke, aged 19, Putter
	Mason, Peter, aged 17, Putter
	Mason, Robert, aged 13, Trapper
	Mason, Thomas, aged 12, Trapper
	Mason, William, aged 15, Putter
	McNay, Edward, aged 18, Putter
	Miller, George, aged 16, Putter
	Miller, Jamers, aged 20, Putter
	Miller, John, aged 12, Trapper
	Moore, James, aged 12, Way cleaner
	Moore, Thomas, aged 14, Helper Up
	Ovington, Christopher, jun., aged 19, Putter
	Ovington, Christopher, sen., aged 67, Door Keeper
	Patrick, David, aged 15, Trapper
	Patrick, William, aged 17, Trapper
	Pendlington, Ralph, aged 15, Rolley-driver
	Raite, Christopher, aged 13, Putter
	Raite, Hutton, aged 18, Putter
	Reavley, Cuthbert, aged 43, Hewer
	Reavley, John, aged 12, Trapper
	Reavley, John, aged 11, Trapper
	Reavley, John, aged 20, Putter
	Reavley, Thomas, aged 16, Helper Up
	Reavley, Thomas, aged 34, Hewer
	Reay, Andrew, aged 28, Hewer
	Reay, William, aged 24, Hewer
	Reed, John, jun., aged 14, Way-cleaner
	Reed, John, sen.
	Reed, Percival, aged 15, Way-cleaner
	Robson, Andrew, aged 12, Trapper
	Robson, John, aged 35, Deputy Overman
	Roseby, Christopher, aged 13, Rolley-driver
	Roseby, John, aged 16, Putter
	Roseby, Joseph, aged 15, Rolley-driver
	Roseby, Joseph, aged 10, Putter
	Roseby, Robert, aged 8, Trapper
	Sharp, Roger, aged 19, Putter
	Sharp, Thomas, aged 19, Putter
	Simpson, Thomas, aged 62, Overman
	Soulsby, George, aged 14, Trapper
	Soulsby, John, aged 16, Way cleaner
	Soulsby, Matthew, aged 31, Onsetter
	Stannes, John, aged 20, Putter
	Swan, Thomas, aged 13, Rolley-driver
	Thompson, James, aged 13, Driver
	Thompson, John, aged 14, Rolley-driver
	Thompson, William, aged 53, Sinker
	Usher, Matthew, aged 12, Trapper
	Waggot, John, aged 21, Putter
	Waggot, John, aged 14, Driver
	Waggot, Ralph, aged 75, Trapper
	Waggot, Ralph, aged 16, Driver
	Wanless, Joseph, aged 10, Trapper
	Watson, Luke, aged 15, Trapper
	Wilkinson, Robert, aged 21, Trapper
	Wilkinson, William, aged 17, Rolley-driver
	Wright, Joseph, aged 21, Putter
	All names found
	Youngest: 8 years old ; Oldest: 75 ; Average: 21
	Those names marked with , have a web page providing individual details of the accident, the page may also include a photograph of the deceased. Click on the symbol next to the name to see the web page.

23 Jun 1835	One Hundred Lives Lost (The Times)
25 Jun 1835	The Late Explosion at Wallsend (The Times)

• Great Pit Disasters, 1700 to present day by Helen and Baron Duckham, Published by David & Charles, 1973
• Wallsend Colliery Pit Disaster 18th June 1835 by Ken & Pauline Hutchinson, Published by North Tyneside Libraries, 1994, ISBN 090-652-9123

 

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