Disasters - Names		Disasters - Names

Date:	28th July 1837
Colliery:	Workington
Cause:	Inundation
Lives Lost:	27

On July 28, 1837, Workington Colliery, on the coast of Cumberland, was inundated by the sea, and the Isabella, Union, and Lady pits submerged. The workings had been carried to a distance of 1,500 yards under the sea, and rising rapidly towards it, until only 150 ft. of strata intervened. Up till ten months previous to the date of the accident, Mr. Matthias Dunn had the management of the colliery. After Mr. Dunn's departure, a considerable robbing or removal of the pillars under the sea was carried on; a proceeding, the danger of which was a matter of common talk about the town. Disaster was foretold by many. A number of the colliers left the work. A correspondence on the subject took place between those on the spot and Mr. Dunn, who, on account of the imminence of the danger, submitted the matter to a north of England coal-owner, and induced him to write to Mr. Curwen, the owner of Workington Colliery, drawing his attention to the risk that was being run. But no steps were taken, till eventually a crush ensued, and the sea burst in on the evening of the day above mentioned. Had the accident occurred during the day, the number of lives lost would have been greater. As it was, it is variously stated at from twenty-seven to forty human beings, and an almost equal number of horses (Dunn's Coal Trade, p. 102; Win. and Work., 2nd ed. 198; Child. Employ. Com., Append. i., pp., 300, 307, 878; 1849 Report, pp. 494, 609).

Source:

Annals of Coal Mining and the Coal Trade by Robert L. Galloway. Published in 1898.

	Allison, Thomas, left a wife and a large family
	Brough, John, left a large family
	Brough, Jonathan, left three orphan children
	Cain, Hugh, unmarried
	Craney, Richard, left a wife and family
	Creen, Robert, left a wife and four children, son of Thomas and father of Thomas
	Creen, Thomas, son of Robert and grandson of Thomas
	Creen, Thomas, left a wife and family, father of Robert and grandfather of Thomas
	Darling, Martin, aged boy
	Ditchburn, Thomas, unmarried
	Dobson, Philip, left three children
	Frill, Daniel, left a wife and family
	Gambles, James, left a wife and a large family
	Hayton, William, unmarried
	Huids, Thomas, left a wife and family
	Johnstone, Thomas, left a wife and family
	Magee, John, left a wife and two children
	McKitten, George, unmarried
	Mountjoy, Robert, aged boy
	Mulligan, John, left a wife and family
	Mulligan, Robert, young man
	Murrow, Jeremiah, unmarried
	Sharp, Joseph, unmarried
	Sides, John, left a wife and a large family
	Stubbs, William, left a large family
	Wilkinson, William, left a wife and eight children
	Young, John, left a large family
	All names found

04 Aug 1837

Melancholy Loss of Life and Property, (From the Cumberland Packet.) (The Times)

• Great Pit Disasters, 1700 to present day by Helen and Baron Duckham, Published by David & Charles, 1973

 

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