| Disasters - Names |
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Disasters - Names | ||
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| Date: | 28th January 1836 |
| Colliery: | Hetton, Downs Pit (Eppleton) |
| Cause: | Explosion |
| Lives Lost: | 20 |
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| Description | |
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An awful explosion occurred in the celebrated Hetton colliery, near Houghton-le-Spring, by which twenty human beings lost their lives, and another was so dreadfully scorched as to afford but faint hopes of his recovery. Upwards of one hundred persons were employed in the pit at the time the explosion occurred, but owing to the accident being confined to one of the workings, namely the Downs pit, the number of victims was less than might have been expected. From the evidence adduced on the coroner's inquest it appeared that the explosion was caused by the negligence or inattention of a boy who had the charge of a trap door, and whose duty was to keep it shut as much as possible, in order that the part of the pit where the men were working might be purified by a current of air. From the evidence of several witnesses experienced in the management of mines, (including Mr. George Hunter, of Painsher, viewer to the marquess of Londonderry), there existed no doubt that the general ventilation of the pit was excellent. The whole of the evidence tended to shew that, had the men been working with the Davy lamp, instead of candles, no explosion would have occurred; but, it was stated that the men, even in situations where danger existed, had an antipathy to its use, because from candles they had a better light.
| 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. |
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| Fatalities | |
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Costdle, William Henry Blake, aged 17, of High Downs, single | |
Cowens, James, aged 25, of Downs Lane, left a wife and child | |
Cummings, Anthony, aged 10, Trapper, of Downs Lane | |
Dodds, Edward, aged 13, of Hetton, brother of Mark, taken out alive but subsequently died | |
Dodds, Mark, aged 18, of Hetton, brother of Edward | |
Findlay, Richard, aged 31, of High Downs, left a wife and two children, brother of Thomas, Buried: St. Michael & All Angels, Houghton-le-Spring | |
Findlay, Thomas, aged 27, of High Downs, brother of Richard, Buried: St. Michael & All Angels, Houghton-le-Spring | |
Gardiner, John, aged 16, of Hetton | |
Gleghorn, John, aged 24, of High Downs, cousin of the other John Gleghorn and son of William and Margaret Gleghorn, Buried: St. Michael & All Angels, Houghton-le-Spring on 30 Jan 1836 | |
Gleghorn, John, aged 30, of High Downs, left a wife, cousin of the other John Gleghorn & son of Surtees and Elizabeth Gleghorn, Buried: St. Michael & All Angels, Houghton-le-Spring on 30 Jan 1836 | |
Halliday, William, aged 19, of High Downs | |
Harland, Robinson, aged 23, of Hetton, single, taken out alive but subsequently died | |
Kay, Thomas, aged 38, of Downs Lane, wife due to give birth to her eighth child, lost child on hearing of accident, man and child buried together | |
Milburn, John, aged 23, of Hetton, left a wife and child | |
Newton, George, aged 39, of Low Downs, left a wife and five children, Buried: St. Michael & All Angels, Houghton-le-Spring | |
Surtees, William, aged 17, of High Downs, single | |
Tate, Simon, aged 31, of Hetton, left a wife and three children | |
Walton, John, aged 14, of Downs Lane, taken out alive but subsequently died | |
Ward, William, aged 20, of Hetton, single, taken out alive but subsequently died | |
Wears, William, aged 27, of Houghton, left a wife and two children | |
All names found | |
Youngest: 10 years old ; Oldest: 39 ; Average: 23 |
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