1858 Accidents

1858 Fatal Accidents

Notes - The information in this page is mainly compiled from appendices to the reports of the Inspector of Mines and Collieries - William Alexander for the Western District of Scotland and Robert Williams for the Eastern District of Scotland. Unless stated otherwise, the extra details are from the main body of the report. Many accidents are not listed in these reports and additional names have been added from newspaper reports and other sources - these are indicated by a shaded gray background.

Information from Appendix to Inspectors Report										Extra Details
Year	Month	Day	Name of Colliery	Where situated	Owners name	Person(s) killed	Occupation	Age if given	Cause of death	Extra Details
1858	January	1	Cuttymyre	Kilsyth	Matthew Wallace &Co	Peter Lockhart	Engineman	24	Fell down the shaft
1858	January	2	Gartsherrie	Coatbridge	Wm Baird & Co	Francis Heron	Collier	22	Fall of coal
1858	January	9	Cleland	Hamilton	Robert Stewart	Francis Boyle	Not employed		By coming in contact with pumping crank of engine
1858	January	9	Fergushill	Kilwinning	Archibald Finnie	Peter Montgomery	Drawer	11	Crushed by the cage at the bottom of the shaft
1858	January	20	Parkhead	Hamilton	King & Henderson	Matthew Whitelaw	Collier		By explosion of fire damp in a new pit in the course of being opened up	There has been only one explosion of fire damp causing loss of life in this district during the past year, which occurred in a new pit only partially opened at Parkhead Colliery near Hamilton, belonging to Messrs King and Henderson, by which 2 men and a boy were suffocated from the after (or choke) damp which usually follows an explosion. The quantity of inflammable air which exploded must have been very small, as none of the deceased were in slightest degree injured by the fire; the two men, which afterwards lost their lives, came to the bottom of the pit along with the other workmen, one of them, David Brown, not finding his youngest son there, went back into the workings in search of him, and the result was, that both father and son were found dead the next day, after the damage done by the explosion had been partially repaired and the ventilation restored. Matthew Whitelaw, the second person alluded to, went into the bucket along with a fellow workmen, for the purpose of being taken up the pit, but was so affected (overcome) by the quantity of noxious gas he had inhaled that he died before he reached the surface. The explosion was so very limited that the workmen in the other part of the mine would not have known that any explosion had taken place had not the concussion of the air extinguished some of the lamps. Newspaper Report
						David Brown	Collier
						David Brown, jun	Collier
1858	January	25	Dalkeith	Dalkeith	Duke of Buccleuch	Thomas Thomson	Collier		By fall of roof at face of workings
1858	February	4	Stonerigg	Airdrie	William Black	Elizabeth Morgan	Pit-head woman		By falling down pit along with an empty hutch when the cage was at bottom of pit
1858	February	6	Ayr Colliery	Ayr	J T Gordon	William Smart	Collier	37	Fall of roof
1858	February	8	Woodhall	Airdrie	Merry & Cunningham	William Winning	Collier		By being crushed at bottom of pit whilst attempting to go on the cage while in motion
1858	February	12	Carnbroe	Airdrie	Merry & Cunningham	James Kenna	Collier		By fall of roof caused by incautiously removing a wooden prop
1858	February	17	Bartonholm	Kilwinning	Wm Baird & Co	Michael McGee	Collier	50	Fall of coal and roof
1858	February	23	Arniston	Dalkeith	John Christie	William Liddle	Collier		By fall of coal at face of working
1858	February	23	Govan	Glasgow	William Dixon & Co	George Jack	Sinker	38	The handle of a crane broke and fell down the shaft upon him while he was changing a bucket
1858	March	8	Gartgill	Coatbridge	Wm Baird & Co	Matthew Thomson	Collier	20	By a fall of stone (“potbottom”)	In this case the seam of coal worked is about five feet thick, it is "holed" in the upper division, and at a convenient distance the bottom coal is lifted. The roof in immediate connection-with the Coal is shale, and a fault peculiar to some roofs, locally known as "bonnets ", or ''pot bottoms " is frequently found, a skin or coating adheres to the roof when the coal is taken down, which in some cases prevents the workmen from detecting the irregularity or unsoundness of the roof. In this particular case the fall happened near to the coal face, and while the deceased was engaged undermining the coal there. These faults range from two to six feet diameter, are nearly circular and when they fall a concave opening is formed in the roof.
1858	March	10	Overton	Dunfermline	William Ferrie	William Burt	Sinker		By falling down pit whilst ascending by the bucket not being properly attached to the rope
1858	March	13	Cowdenbeath	Dunfermline	Forth Iron Co	George McKenlay	Drawer		By being crushed by a hutch on a self-acting incline
1858	March	22	Torbanehill	Bathgate	James Russell & Son	Thomas Smith	Sinker		By bucket and rope falling on him by the winding engine being taken out of gear
1858	March	25	Highland Park	Kilsyth	Brown & Rennie	James Watson	Hillman	37	By the cage being raised while he was engaged with the pipes in the shaft
1858	March	27	Raw	Coatbridge	Wm Baird & Co	James McLean	Brusher	33	Crushed between the cage and a beam at the pit mouth
1858	April	2	Condie	Falkirk	James Russell & Son	George Hunter	Collier		By fall of roof at face of workings
1858	April	12	Govan	Rutherglen	Wm Dixon & Co	James Morrison	Drawer	17	Fall of roof at the face	The seam of coal where this accident took place, is generally worked in two divisions. The "under" division of the seam is worked slightly in advance of the "upper". Deceased was a drawer, and had gone into the face of one of the walls on the morning of the accident. The collier engaged there had just taken down a portion of the ''upper" coal, deceased sat down upon it, and had only been there a few moments when a part of the roof, immediately overlying the coal which had been taken down, fell upon him.
1858	April	17	Eastfield	Rutherglen	J G Buchanan	William Ramsay	Engineman	67	Fell from a mid lodgement while examining the state of the water in it
1858	April	22	Highland Park	Kilsyth	Brown & Rennie	Thomas Aitchison	Collier	17	Fall of coal
1858	April	27	Lochgelly	Dunfermline	Lochgelly Iron Co	William Melville	Pitheadman		By being crushed betwixt a railway waggon and a stone wall
1858	May	4	Garscube	Dumbarton	James Barclay & Co	Daniel Kelly	Sinker	45	By the winding machinery getting out of gear with the driving shaft	This case is identical with case No. 27, detailed in my Report for 1857. The circumstances attending it are also the same. The engineman on the day of the accident had been pumping water till a shift of sinkers were ready to commence work. The engine was then ungeared with the pumping, and geared with the winding shaft. The "kettle" with the two unfortunate sufferers was only lowered ten fathoms, when the wheel upon the winding shaft got out of gear, and they were dashed to the bottom, a distance of fifty fathoms. Since the accident, the suggestions made in my last Report, for such a description of machinery, have been adopted. The cost of providing the appliances for safely disengaging the gearing is so trifling, that I hope no new pumping and winding engine will in future be considered complete, which is not fitted up with them. The Procurator Fiscal charged the engineman with culpable homicide. He was tried by Lord Deas and a jury, but it would appear the evidence was not sufficiently strong to obtain a conviction.
1858	May	4	Garscube	Dumbarton	James Barclay & Co	Robert Donaldson	Sinker	39
1858	May	15	Broadfield	Duntocher	Alex. Dunn & Co	Matthew Main	Collier	60	Explosion of fire damp	The " Hurlet and Campsie" coal, is known throughout this district as a fiery seam. Several severe explosions have taken place in it. According to the special rules of the colliery, it was the duty of the fireman to examine the works every morning before the men were allowed to go into them. This important precaution had sometimes been omitted, and on the morning of the accident the four unfortunate sufferers had gone to their work before the fireman made his examination. A dislocation divided the workings into two districts ; one of these districts had been free of firedamp for a considerable time, but the other was known as fiery. The deceased worked in the fiery division. It did not appear very clear where the firedamp had been ignited, but I felt satisfied it was in the south level of that division. The explosion must have been very violent; the person who I believe caused it was very little burned, but the other three were severely scorched, indeed one of them was partially charred. Sleepers, rails, hutches, wood, and rubbish were swept out to the bottom of the shaft, and a hutch was driven right up it about 100 fathoms, carrying with it the cage to the pithead pulley, where they stuck both jammed; the hutch projecting partly up through the bottom of the cage. The Procurator Fiscal charged the oversman with culpable homicide, and he was tried by Lord Cowan and a jury. From the evidence it did not appear that he had known of more than one case when the men had gone to their work before the fireman made his examination, and he was found not guilty. From cases of partial explosions which come under my observation, I have reason to believe that the important precaution of examining the works before the men are allowed to enter them, is sometimes omitted by firemen, and often set at nought by the rashness of the workmen. However, this rule is one of the most important, and for two very good reasons it ought to be strictly enforced at all times; first, if the colliery has a tendency to give off firedamp, the workmen in the morning trust implicitly to the examination and report of the fireman, their lives are entirely in his hand, they have no means of checking him; and, second, the stability of large and important works are in such cases alike dependent upon the careful and judicious performance of the duties entrusted to this important official. To guard against the rashness of the colliers, who I know are apt to follow closely on the examination of the fireman, and in some cases go in to their work before he has completed his examination, I think it would be a proper precaution if colliery owners would make it a direct rule, that no workmen should be allowed to descend the shaft in the morning till after the fireman had made his round of examination, and had signalled from the bottom to that effect; and if this was strictly adhered to by the workmen, the delinquencies of the fireman, such as failing to examine the pit at a proper time would soon come to be known. But apart altogether from safety, if masters would carefully consider the amount of property they have at stake, surely the precaution of providing against such wrecks as the one just described, would be sufficient inducement to cause the duties of fireman to be more rigidly and carefully performed than they are at present. Newspaper Report
						Matthew Main jn	Collier	17
						David Ramsay	Collier	18
						Thos. McKerricher	Collier	24
1858	May	15	Stonelaw	Rutherglen	John R Reid	John Angus	Sub-oversman	45	Explosion of fire damp	This accident, and [accident at Broadfield], happened on the same day. The colliery in questfore the been known (sic) for many years to be very free from firedamp, and two days before the accident a slight accumulation had been discovered in the mine. It was then stopped to enable the oversman to overhaul the brattice, and lead the air more directly to the face. He and three assistants were engaged at this particular work on the morning of the accident, the firedamp lay from A to B., they were in the act of dislodging it, when it is supposed to have come in contact with a naked light in an explosive state. The four men, at the time of the explosion, were engaged in the aircourse they were all more or less burned, and three of them died from the effects of it. The oversman, the only survivor, says they worked with a safety lamp in the aircourse, but by a mistake of one of them, who had gone away to bring in wood, an uncovered light had been left in the return aircourse. The quantity of firedamp in this case must have been very small, as the colliers were at work immediately beyond the mine, and knew nothing of it. However, it was an error in the oversman, that he did not take the precaution to see that all naked lights were removed ; particularly in the immediate course of the return air, and where, mixed up with the general ventilation, the firedamp was sure to pass in an explosive state.
						James Hughes	Roadsman	26
						Thomas Malloy	Roadsman	26
1858	May	15	Inkerman			Unknown McMurray			Not listed	Newspaper Report
1858	May	17	Between Linwood & Johnstone			Matthew Boyle			Not listed	Newspaper Report [NB No death certificate located for this name]
1858	June	1	Bennieshill	Falkirk	John Brown	Peter Thomas	Collier		By fall of roof at face of workings
1858	June	3	Old Carnbroe	Airdrie	James Merry	Samuel Harrison	Drawer		By falling down pit from an upper working whilst putting a hutch on cage
1858	June	25	Westmuir	Glasgow	Robert Gray & Co	Patrick Campbell	Brusher	21	Fall of roof
1858	June	28	Espieside	Coatbridge	Wm Baird & Co	Andrew Sinclair	Collier	32	Explosion of fire damp	This accident took place in a stone mine, where deceased and a fellow workman were engaged. It was customary for them to go to their work in the morning with the rest of the workmen. They had a safety lamp to enable them to examine the place, and look after the state of the ventilation ; but it had been left the previous day in the mine at the end of the brattice, consequently they went in to their work with naked lights, and ignited a quantity of firedamp which had collected there during the night. The fire and blast rushed out with considerable velocity, sweeping with it the brattice, and tearing up the roadway, and one of the rails was driven right through the unfortunate sufferer, who had been a short distance behind his fellow workmen. The person that fired the gas was burned but not seriously. Previous to the introduction of the special rules, mines being frequently contracted for, it was one of the clauses in the agreement that the workmen should look after the ventilation and examine the firedamp for themselves. More than one case has occurred here this year showing the impropriety of such an arrangement, unless where the place is kept going continuously. The mine in question was in the centre of a coal working; there were a number of working places on each side of it; the whole ventilation had to pass through it, and the firemen examined all the working places of the colliery in the morning with the exception of it. If these men had taken the precaution to examine their place, no doubt the accident would have been prevented, but the fact of the safety lamp having been left at the face of the mine on the day previous, and for anything I know they may have been in the habit of keeping it there, is sufficient to show that they did not know, or at least were not sufficiently aware of their own danger and responsibility. Such a system is no doubt calculated to produce accidents. In practice, a fireman goes round the works with a safety lamp, and he knows it to be his duty to do so ; but men working in stone mines, and it may be, not much accustomed to firedamp, should not be trusted with such an important charge. That the impropriety of such an arrangement may be seen, it is only necessary to suppose every man his own fireman, which in point of fact would be but carrying out the idea more fully. Under such conditions, if two-thirds of the men were absent, two-thirds of the places would not be examined ; and the same with stone mines, if not at work they are not examined, but so mixed up with the general ventilation, that an accident fatal to the whole pit may result from an improper surveillance of but one working place. In this case I directed the attention of the manager to the special rules, and he gave orders that in future the fireman should in the morning examine all the working parts of the colliery before any of the workmen were allowed to enter to their work.
1858	June	30	Titwood	Pollokshaws	Sir John Maxwell, Bart.	Archd. Anderson	Collier	14	Fall of roof
1858	July	14	Portland	Kilmarnock	Allan Gilmour & Co	Wm Shiels	Drawer	18	Explosion of fire damp	The circumstances connected with this accident are very similar to [accident at Espieside] It was the duty of the fireman to examine the working places of the colliery in the morning with a safety lamp, before the workmen were allowed to enter them. Two men had engaged to drive an exploring mine in a part of the pit where the seam was foul. They had agreed to examine it in the morning for themselves, but had to wait till the fireman first made his round of examination, and the one safety lamp did for all. Previous to the accident firedamp had frequently been found in the mine in the mornings; the men had no other means of clearing it away than by " waffing" it out with their jackets, as the brattice was a number of yards back from the face. The accident took place when this operation was going on, by some lads entering the mine with their naked lights, which ignited the firedamp and resulted in the death of two of them. The ventilation at the time I visited the works was very weak, but the direct cause of accident was the want of "brattice " to carry forward the ventilation to the face of the work, and the neglect of the special rule which provided that the pit "should be examined by the oversman or his deputy and put in a safe state before the men were allowed to enter to their work." The advantage of the special rules, in so far as they provide for the safety of the workmen in relation to firedamp, is, that one person is specially appointed for a special work, and he is not allowed to depute his work to another; otherwise, if each workman might be deputed to act as his own fireman, the safety provided for by the special rule would directly be ignored. An exception might be made where a stone mine was situated in an isolated part of a colliery, and where the general ventilation was independent of it; or if a mine was kept constantly at work, though situated alongside the general working places, the entire management relating to firedamp might be entrusted to the workmen therein engaged. But in mines situated among the general working , places, and where the men all go to work at the same time, it seems absurd to arrange that the least dangerous places should be examined by a proper person, while the places where firedamp is most likely to be found should be left entirely to chance, or the capricious examination of an unskilled workman.
1858	July	14	Portland	Kilmarnock	Allan Gilmour & Co	James Hart	Drawer	12	Explosion of fire damp
1858	July	16	Titwood	Pollokshaws	Sir John Maxwell, Bart	Robert Park	Drawer	13	Jammed by the cage being lifted which canted the hutch and he got drawn in between it and the crossbar of the cage
1858	July	24	Raw	Coatbridge	Wm Baird & Co	James Burns	Collier	25	Fall of roof
1858	August	2	Skerrington	Kilmarnock	Allan Gilmour & Co	James Aiton	Collier	27	Fall of roof coal, while engaged taking it down
1858	August	7	Elgin	Dunfermline	Earl of Elgin	Daniel Whitehead	Collier		By fall of coal at face of working
1858	August	19	Boutriehill	Irvine	Boutrehill Coal Co	Alex. Wilson	Bottomer	68	Fall of stone in the shaft
1858	August	25	Sunmeside	Wishaw	Archibald Russell	William Simpson	Oversman		By fall of roof whilst removing wood props
1858	August	30	Newbattle	Dalkeith	Marquis of Lothian	David Harknes	Collier		By fall of coal at face of working
1858	September	8	Elderslie	Johnstone	Andrew Walker	John McMillan	Collier	16	Fall of coal and stone at the face
1858	September	10	Carron	Falkirk	Carron Co	James Huskie	Collier		By fall of coal at face of working
1858	September	17	Coxhill	Falkirk	Alexander Whyte	Samuel Niel	Collier		By fall of coal at face of working
1858	September	20	Little Reath	Dunfermline	Lochgelly Iron Co	George White	Drawer		Crushed by a loaded hutch on self-acting incline
1858	September	22	Fordell	Dunfermline	G W M Henderson	James Martin	Roadsman		By fall of roof whilst repairing and enlarging drawing road
1858	September	27	Heathery Knowe	Baillieston	Blochairn Iron Co	Dun. McKendrick	Sinker	36	Fell from the kettle in the shaft
1858	October	9	Barronhall	Falkirk	Carron Co	James Gow	Drawer		By falling on main horse road and crushed by loaded hutches
1858	October	11	Minivey	Dalmellington	Dalmellington Iron Co	Thos. Conolly	Collier	55	Fall of roof
1858	October	16	Sadler's Brae	Kirkintilloch	Messrs Hardie	John Marshall	Collier	28	Fall of roof
1858	October	24	Comrie	Dunfermline	Forth Iron Co	Andrew Wilson	Engineer		By falling amongst and crushed by the wheels of pumping engine
1858	October	29	Coltness Iron Works	Wishaw	Coltness Iron Co	William Gibb	Collier		By fall of coal when engaged reducing pillars
1858	October	29	Coltness Iron Works	Wishaw	Coltness Iron Co	Thomas Gibb	Collier		By fall of coal when engaged reducing pillars
1858	November	4	Ayr Colliery	Ayr	John Taylor Gordon	Wm O'Malley	pitheadman	47	By pushing an empty hutch into the wrong side of the shaft
1858	November	4	Stevenston Colliery	Stevenston	Merry & Cunningham	John Smith	Collier	26	Explosion of fire damp	In this case four men were engaged in opening up or driving forward a winning out wall by contract. It was kept going continuously with three shifts of men in twenty-four hours. There were other working places disconnected from this, but which were more immediately under the surveillance of the oversman. The firemen examined them in the usual way in the morning before the men were allowed to enter to their work. For some reason, on the morning of the accident, the deceased, one of the four men who worked in the winning out wall, had gone into one of these places with a naked light, before the fireman made his round of inspection, and ignited a quantity of firedamp which had collected there. He was severely burned, and died from the effects of it.
1858	November	8	Wellwood	Dunfermline	Thomas Spowart	James Sinclair	Collier		By fall of roof at face of workings	Newspaper report
1858	November	8	West Thornton	Kilmarnock	Archibald Finnie	John Calder	Collier	17	Fall of roof
1858	November	11	Bridesholm	Airdrie	Provanhall Coal Co	Martin Hannah	Roadsman		By fall of roof in drawing road
1858	November	11	Darngavil	Airdrie	Patrick Rankine	Henry Develin	Collier		By fall of roof at face of workings
1858	November	20	Little Reath	Dunfermline	Lochgelly Iron Co	Robina Johnston	Pit-head woman		By being crushed betwixt cage and beams of pithead scaffold
1858	November	30	Coltness	Wishaw	Alexander G Simpson	James Paterson	Collier		By fall of roof whilst engaged enlarging main horse road	Newspaper Report
1858	December	2	Arniston	Dalkeith	John Christie	John Clark	Collier		By fall of roof at face of workings
1858	December	2	Arniston	Dalkeith	John Christie	Alexander Hood	Collier		By fall of roof at face of workings
1858	December	4	Riskend	Kilsyth	M Hay & Son	John Anderson	Collier	53	Fall of roof
1858	December	5	Garscube	Maryhill	James Barclay & Co	Wm Bonnar	Collier	24	Explosion of fire damp	The pit had only been sunk a few weeks previous to the accident. The seam around the pit bottom was considerably deranged with dislocations, and exploring roads had been extended a few fathoms from it. Deceased and a fellow workman were engaged in sinking a blind pit. It would appear they had prepared to blast in it, and after igniting the match had retired into one of the exploring roads. It was known that a small quantity of firedamp did collect in one of these roads, and as the place was abandoned at the time, they were provided with a safety lamp for the purpose of making an examination; or in case of retiring from a shot, as in the present case, so that they might do so with safety. The Davy lamp was found entire after the explosion, and near to where it took place, showing that the poor fellows had not neglected to take it with them for the purpose of examining the place, but that they had proceeded beyond the line of safety before doing so. They were both slightly burned, and one of them died from the effects of it.
1858	December	10	Quarter Iron Works	Hamilton	Colin Dunlop & Co	Mathew Law	Roadsman		By crushed by cage whilst attempting to go from one side of pit bottom to the other	Newspaper Report
1858	December	13	Quarter			Francis McLanachan			Not listed	Newspaper Report
1858	December	20	Wheatyfauld	Dalry	Merry & Cunningham	Fairley Campbell	Drawer	13	Fall of roof
1858	December	27	Ardeer	Kilwinning	Merry & Cunningham	Robt. Arnott	Sinker	45	Fell off a sinking kettle while ascending the shaft

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Last Updated 12th January 2007