1868 Deaths

1868 Deaths listed in Mine Inspectors Report

This table is compiled from appendices to the reports of the Inspector of Mines and Collieries - William Alexander for the Western District of Scotland and Ralph Moore for the Eastern District of Scotland. Unless stated otherwise, the additional details are from the main body of the report.

Year	Month	Day	Name of Colliery	Where situated	Owners name	Person(s) killed	Occupation	Age if given	Category of Accident	Cause of death	Extra Details?
1868	January	6	Barleith No 4 Pit	Kilmarnock	John Galloway & Co	Adam Irving	Pony driver	15	Miscellaneous	By a kick from the pony he was driving
1868	January	8	Summerlee No 3	Coatbridge	Wilsons & Co	John Hamilton	Collier	60	Explosions	Explosion of fire damp	The deceased, who was a collier, had been engaged on the morning of the accident for three hours or thereby in his working place, and worked with an open or unprotected light. The place he was extending was near to a dislocation two fathoms down, and he had just driven through a small hitch of 18 inches up, a few feet back from the face. As to how the accident occurred, it appears that the deceased had gone out with his " drawer," a boy, to assist him a short distance with a loaded hutch, and on returning to his place, ignited a little gas which had collected during the few minutes he was absent. A very small part of the " head coal," A, as per sketch, inside of the 18-inch hitch, had been taken down shortly before the accident, and the gas which was ignited had apparently gathered in that small opening.
1868	January	14	Provanhall No 5	Baillieston	Provanhall Coal Co	Robert Paterson	Drawer	16	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of roof on main drawing road	Newspaper Report
1868	January	15	Balquhatstone	Slammanan	John Watson	Robert Paterson	Miner	35	In shafts	While he was ascending the pit, the pinion wheel of the engine broke and the descending cage being heaviest, he was carried to the pulleys, and fell back into the pit. Brake on fly wheel
1868	February	7	Hill of Beath	Dunfermline	Ord Adams	Rob. Campbell	Brusher	24	Falls of coal and roof	Failing to take down a side piece of sandstone shaken by a shot, it fell over upon him
1868	February	8	Stanrigg	Falkirk	Alexr Wilson	Wm Bennie	Collier	23	In shafts	He was supposed to have fallen at a broken step, while descending traps to the bottom of a 40 fathom pit	Newspaper report
1868	February	10	Bannockburn	Bannockburn	Mrs Geddes	Alexander Stevenson	Assistant engineman	68	Miscellaneous	Got entangled with the underground machinery	There is a small engine situated near to the bottom of this pit, and the steam used by it is produced on the surface. The deceased was an assistant engineman. At the time of the accident he was engaged on the night shift, when the surface and underground engines were engaged pumping water. The steam being produced on the surface, the underground engine, when once started to pump water, did not require constant attention further than keeping it moving at the speed required to raise the drainage of the dook. It was the duty of the deceased to visit the underground machinery occasionally, perhaps five or six times during the night, and he was lowered and raised by the winding machinery. Some time before the accident it appears that he had been lowered to the bottom of the pit in the usual way. The engineman, his neighbour, observing that he remained unusually long, went down a "stair" pit to learn the cause of delay, and on reaching the machinery found him lying crushed between the fly-wheel and a cutting formed in the pavement, in which the lower part of the fly-wheel revolved. It is supposed that the deceased had, after being lowered to the bottom of the pit, proceeded down the dook to examine the state of the water in it. His lamp was found about mid-way down, and it is presumed that it had fallen or the light gone out, and in afterwards approaching the machinery without a light, he had unexpectedly got entangled with it. The deceased was 68 years of age, and though he was considered competent, it would have been more satisfactory if a younger person had been appointed to perform the duties. Newspaper report
1868	February	10	Newton	Cambuslang	J P Kidston	Richard Sneddon	Manager	62	Above ground	By falling a few feet off a scaffold at the pit head
1868	February	14	Grougar No 3	Galston	Portland Iron Co	John Cowan	Boy	13	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of stone at face	Newspaper Report
1868	February	15	Drumpeller No 2	Coatbridge	Wilsons & Co	William Eccles	Miner	40	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of roof while forming a lodgement off a sinking pit
1868	February	26	Neilston No 1	Kilsyth	James Wallace & Co	Joseph Jarvie	Collier	40	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of coal at face
1868	February	28	Bredisholm No 4	Baillieston	Charles Tennant & Co	William Frame	Boy	15	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of roof at face while engaged undermining
1868	March	1	Govan No 3	Glasgow	W S Dixon	Archd Maxwell	Collier	19	In shafts	Fell out of the cage while being raised	The deceased at the time of the accident was being raised on the cage, along with other three workmen, and when about mid-shaft he fell from it suddenly to the bottom of the pit, a distance of 42 fathoms. I learned afterwards that the unfortunate sufferer had been subject to convulsive attacks, and it is supposed that he had been seized by one at the time the accident happened. It would be prudent I think to prevent such persons from going into mines unless under special regulations.
1868	March	2	Blackbraes	Falkirk	James Russell & Son	James Weir	----	55	Falls of coal and roof	-------
1868	March	2	Greenfield	Hamilton	Hamilton Coal Co	Wm McInnis	Collier	23	Falls of coal and roof	He was underholing, and 4 tons of coal rolled over on him. The seam was 4 feet high.	Newspaper report
1868	March	7	Kilwinning No 2	Kilwinning	Eglinton Iron Co	Thomas Elliot	Boy	15	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of roof about 10 faths from the face
1868	March	9	Kirkwood No 2	Coatbridge	John Hendrie	Thos Mackie	Drawer	23	Miscellaneous	Was run over by a loaded hutch
1868	March	12	Carnbroe No 8	Holytown	Merry & Cunningham	R Montagu	Collier	31	Falls of coal and roof	He was underholing the lower leaf of a 3 feet coal under 3 feet of the upper leaf, which fell upon him. He lived 3 days afterwards
1868	March	17	Darngavil No 5	Airdrie	Pat Rankin	B Montagu	Drawer	13	Falls of coal and roof	He worked with his father and brother, and was passing along the face when the roof fell upon him. Seam 3 feet
1868	March	17	Neilston No 1	Kilsyth	James Wallace & Co	David Shaw	Collier	12	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of roof at face
1868	March	19	Capeldrae	Lochgelly	Robert Aytoun	Wm Munro	Collier	23	Falls of coal and roof	He was working under a mass of top coal which fell upon him. Seam 6 feet thick, in 2 leaves.
1868	March	30	Drumpark No 1	Baillieston	Drumpark Coal Co	James Weir	Drawer	14	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of coal at face
1868	April	7	Hillhead No 2	Airdrie	William Baird & Co	Pat Fowley	Collier	18	Miscellaneous	Explosion of gunpowder
1868	April	7	Parkhead	Motherwell	John Watson	---- Hanigan	Collier	--	Explosions	Burned by an explosion of gas from the goaf. Six men were burned. He died some weeks afterwards.	There is not a great quantity of fire-damp in the "goaf" of the Wishaw and Hamilton coal fields, but I have more than once detected it, and the only death from explosion of fire-damp last year was caused, I had reason to believe, from a fall of roof, driving out some gas which was in the "goaf," upon the naked lights of some men working at pillars (stoops), one of whom was the deceased.
1868	April	8	Armsheugh	Irvine	Merry & Cunningham	James Holdon	Collier	45	Explosions	Explosion of fire damp	According to the special rules of the colliery, it was the duty of the fireman to descend the pit before the colliers shift commenced, and to proceed through every drawing road and along the whole coal-faces and working places in the colliery, and minutely examine the same, &c. It appears that the fireman did descend the shaft on the morning of the accident, and, as the pit was not expected to be worked fully for the day, according to his own statement, he examined only two or three of the working places. He afterwards had occasion to go with the deceased, who was to assist him to make some changes in one of the usual working places, but which had not been examined, and ignited a quantity of fire-damp, by which the deceased was severely burned and died from the effects of it. The fireman in this case was charged by the Procurator Fiscal of Ayr with culpable homicide, as also culpable neglect of duty ; he was tried by the sheriff and a jury, when he pled guilty to culpable neglect of duty, and was sentenced to four months imprisonment.
1868	April	11	Commonhead	Airdrie	Colville & Gray	Jas McDermot	Collier	40	Falls of coal and roof	Was underholing, when a blade of sandstone 6 inches thick, 8 feet by 7 feet, fell on him. Seam 30 inches. Roof sandstone. Overman warned him to put up props.
1868	April	16	Airdriehill	Airdrie	Jas Black & Son	Jno Rankine	Brusher	22	Falls of coal and roof	He was building the roadside when a stone fell out of the roof by a lipe upon him. Seam 4 feet. Roof sandstone.
1868	April	20	Easter Glentore	Airdrie	Robert Hunter	Dd. Hunter	Manager	40	Above ground	Fall of sand and gravel in a mine near the surface. Mine not properly wooded.
1868	April	21	Grangemouth	Falkirk	Grangemouth Coal Co	W Chalmers	Brusher	36	Falls of coal and roof	He was preparing to blast down the roof, 12 feet back from the face, when it fell upon him. Seam 3 feet. Roof shale.	Newspaper report
1868	April	29	Meiklehill	Kirkintilloch	James Gairdner	George McKay	Collier	22	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of roof while repairing a roadway
1868	May	1	Muirhouse	Wishaw	Archd Russel	Jno Yuil	Driver	11	Miscellaneous	This boy was passing along with a train of tubs when the roof fell upon him.
1868	May	5	Bartonholm No 2	Kilwinning	Eglinton Iron Co	John Johnston	Collier	23	In shafts	Fell down the shaft while attempting to leap off the cage after it was raised a little above the usual level	In this case, the cage had been lifted a little higher than the usual landing when men were being raised, and the deceased, who was on it along with two neighbouring workmen, leaped off while it was in motion, and on to the platform at the pit-head, where unfortunately he overbalanced and fell back into the shaft. The other workmen remained upon the cage, and got off it safely a few feet higher up. There was something unsatisfactory and irregular with regard to the signals, and though a bottomer was employed to see the hutches placed carefully upon the cage, and to make the necessary signals, he had frequently allowed the workmen to make the signals themselves. The engineman excused himself by saying that only one signal had been made, and in consequence thereof, less caution was observed than if he had been aware that men were being raised upon the cage.
1868	May	13	Greenhill	Holytown	Robert Young	Pat Cairney	Collier	25	Falls of coal and roof	A piece of top coal weighing half a ton fell upon him. The seam is 8 feet thick in 2 leaves, the first leaf was 4 feet in advance, and he was working at it.
1868	May	14	Lumphinnans	Lochgelly	Lumphinnans Iron Co	W Brown	Collier	43	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of roof by a lipe. The seam was 30 inches. Roof a seam of coal 6 feet thick.
1868	May	18	Hurlford No 12	Hurlford	Allan Gilmour & Co	James Turnbull	Collier	24	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of coal when in the act of taking it down
1868	May	21	Bells Dyke	Airdrie	Dundas Simpson	Sam Morton	Collier	26	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of roof (sandstone) while taking out pillars. Seam 4 feet.
1868	May	25	Stottencleugh Mine	Muirkirk	Eglinton Iron Co	Wm McWhirter	Boy	14	Miscellaneous	Injured by a hutch upon a drawing road and died a few days later
1868	June	2	Canobie	Canobie	Duke of Buccleuch	James Forrat	Foreman engineer	42	Above ground	Was crushed when loading machinery into a railway waggon	The deceased was the foreman engineer at the colliery ; he was engaged with others at the time of the accident loading some machinery into a railway waggon, when a crank weighing about six cwts., suspended by a crane rope, canted suddenly while being lowered, and the deceased was crushed under it.
1868	June	2	Kilgramie	Girvan	Joseph Whitefield	Hugh Croally	Collier	60	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of coal and roof
1868	June	6	Mossend	Holytown	Mossend Iron Co	R Bennie	Drawer	15	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of roof at pit-bottom. Not properly supported.
1868	June	16	Bogleshole No 4	Tollcross	James Dunlop & Co	Pat Newman	Brusher	23	Miscellaneous	While engaged blasting with gunpowder
1868	June	16	Espieside No 3	Coatbridge	Wm Baird & Co	James Easton	Collier	37	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of coal, died a week after the accident
1868	June	18	Whitehill	Airdrie	Henderson & Dimmack	A Sommerville	overman	--	Miscellaneous	Crushed by cage at pit-bottom when stepping on.
1868	June	27	Redan	Stevenson	Merry & Cunningham	Frank Mullen	Collier	30	In shafts	Fall from a scaffold while repairing the guide rods in the shaft	It appears that the " guide rods," or wooden conductors, in the shaft had got displaced by. the guides upon the cage getting out of place. The deceased and two others, the oversman being one of them, had been engaged for 12 or 14 hours before the accident happened making the necessary repairs upon the shaft, and for that purpose a scaffold was suspended by chains from the bottom of the cage, and hanging about 20 feet below it, for them to stand upon. With the exception of their tools, there was no other weight upon the scaffold except two guide rods, the one 18 and the other 9 feet in length. I understand that the 18 feet length rested upon the scaffold at one end, and was lashed to one of the chains about 8 feet above the level of the scaffold. The accident was occasioned by the scaffold breaking or giving way right along the centre. The oversman and his neighbour kept their places, or rather held on by the sides of the scaffold, and after great exertions reached the cage by climbing up the "buntons," but the deceased fell from the scaffold to the bottom, a distance of 80 yards. The construction of the scaffold was faulty, and since the accident, cross bars of iron have been added for the purpose of strengthening it. There was some uncertainty as to the real cause of accident. I was of opinion that it had been occasioned by the guide rod 18 feet long, above referred to, getting displaced or hanging out at the top, and when the cage was raised, such as was being done when the accident happened, it came in contact with the mid wall, and forced the scaffold asunder.
1868	July	1	Cairnhill No 5	Airdrie	Wm Baird & Co	R Hamilton	Sinker	32	In shafts	Fell off the kettle while being raised in the shaft
1868	July	14	Strone	Kilsyth	Richard Brown	Alex Lorimer	Manager	36	Explosions	Explosion of fire damp	The deceased, who was the general manager, had on the day of the accident gone in company with the fireman to examine a block of coal near to the pit bottom, with the view of advising as to the mode of working it out. There was an air-course near to it, and as they had occasion frequently to go into the place it was not considered necessary to use the precaution of making an examination with a safety lamp before entering it, and they used open lights. In the course of their examination they ignited a small quantity of gas at a " cutter." The space where they had to travel in was contracted; the fireman made his way out and escaped, but the deceased unfortunately got affected by the gases and combustion, and was left behind. The flame from the cutter communicated with the dry wood, coal, and other loose materials in that part of the mine, not more than 80 or 100 yards from the pit bottom, and though repeated attempts were made to reach the deceased, they proved unsuccessful, and as a last resource the shafts and outlets were closed. Trivial though the matter appeared to be at first, it was some weeks after before the fire was subdued, and when an exploration was made, what was supposed to be the charred remains of the deceased were found not more than 60 yards from the pit bottom. Apparently he had got stupefied or confused by the sudden rush of flame in the contracted course and missed his way.
1868	July	15	Skellyton	Larkhall	Hamilton & McCulloch	A Fleming	Driver	--	Falls of coal and roof	Hutch got off rails and knocked out a prop, and the roof fell upon him.
1868	July	16	Common	Cumnock	William Walker	James Park	Collier	43	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of roof at face
1868	July	16	Espieside No 5	Coatbridge	Wm Baird & Co	Nicol Stewart	Collier	30	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of roof
1868	July	25	Skellyton	Larkhall	Hamilton & McCulloch	J Loudon	overman	40	In shafts	Was leaning over pit mouth at low scaffold, when the cage came down, and knocked him in to the pit.
1868	August	3	Stonecrags Coltness	Wishaw	Coltness Iron Co	Jas Thomson	Collier	20	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of roof (coal). Seam 9 feet high.
1868	August	6	Limerigg	Slamannan	Robert Baird	Thos Maxwell	Sinker	--	In shafts	Struck on head by the plumb-bob (about 4 lbs) falling off the end of the line. He died 10 days afterwards
1868	August	10	Stevenston	----	Stevenston Coal Co	Jas Clark	Collier	40	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of coal of side of a stoop while taking out pillars. Coal 3 feet thick. Roof sandstone
1868	August	24	Dalquharran	Maybole	T F Kennedy	Thos McClusky	Sinker	44	In shafts	Fell from a kettle while descending the shaft
1868	August	29	Auldhouseburn	Muirkirk	George Vallance	Wm Stevenson	Collier	67	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of coal while engaged taking it down
1868	August	29	Byrehill	Kilwinning	Eglinton Iron Co	Robt Perrie	Collier	69	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of coal at face
1868	September	14	North Boig	N Cumnock	Lanemark Coal Co	Adam Dickie	Engineman	23	Above ground	Found crushed under the crank of the pumping shaft	The deceased was engaged as an assistant engineman. It appears that on the night of the accident he had gone to his work in the usual way, there was no one along with him at the time, and about half an hour after he had entered upon his shift he was found lying crushed under the crank of the engine. It was imagined that he had been working about the valve of the "feed pump," when by some overlook on his part his dress had got entangled with the crank of the engine, and he was drawn round with it and crushed against the sides of the recess formed in the floor, in which the crank revolved.
1868	September	16	Lochgelly (Raith)	Lochgelly	Lochgelly Iron Co	Will. McCaig	Collier	50	Falls of coal and roof	These men were sitting at breakfast about 20 feet back from the face of their room, when the roof (about 12 inches of coal) fell suddenly upon them
1868	September	16	Lochgelly (Raith)	Lochgelly	Lochgelly Iron Co	Jno Yeats	Collier	52	Falls of coal and roof
1868	September	22	Dalharco No 2	Dalmellington	Dalmellington Iron Co	James Dickson	Brusher	28	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of roof while engaged taking it down
1868	September	23	Carron	Falkirk	Carron Iron Co	W Wilson	Driver	12	Miscellaneous	Fell when running between his horse and a race of tubs, and the hutches ran over him
1868	September	23	Polkemmet	Bathgate	Sholla Iron Co	Jas O'Brien	Labourer	31	Ironstone mines – miscellaneous	Fell in among machinery, taking a “short cut” to the pithead from the engine house.
1868	October	2	Dalkeith	Dalkeith	Duke of Buccleuch	---- Hope	Engineman	70	Above ground	He stepped on the connecting rod when the engine was in motion and got his foot jammed between it and the wall. This man had worked the same engine for 30 years and it is said had frequently been so reckless as to do what at last cost him his life
1868	October	9	Orbiston	Bell's Hill	Mossend Iron Co	D Hanigan	Sinker	31	In shafts	He was working in the bottom of this sinking pit, and something fell down and struck him on the head
1868	October	10	Addiewell	Lothians		William Robertson			Not listed		Newspaper report
1868	October	12	Parkhead	Motherwell	John Watson	Robert Wilson	Manager	52	Above ground	Explosion of a steam boiler	There were two steam-boiler explosions last year, one at Bo'ness, and the other at Motherwell. Both were high pressure boilers, 5 feet diameter, 3/8 in. plates; the former was 20 years and the latter 15 years in use. It did not appear that either of them had been short of water, and, excepting the worn-out condition of the boilers, there was nothing to account for the explosions.
1868	October	19	Opencast No 2	Coatbridge	Wm Baird & Co	George Clarkson	Collier	48	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of coal at face
John Thomson, 34, killed Oct 24 1868 - see Newspaper Report
1868	October	24	Prestongrange	Prestonpans	Sir George Suttie	R Sneddon	Collier	60	Falls of coal and roof	He was underholing and the coal rolled over upon him. Seam 52 inches worked longwall.
1868	October	24	Whitehill	Dalkeith	Archd Hood	D Dubie	Pony driver	15	Miscellaneous	Run over by tubs
1868	October	28	Binniehill	Slamannan	John Watson	J McEwan	Collier	22	Falls of coal and roof	Roof fell on him while holing. Coal 26 inches thick	Newspaper report
1868	October	30	Blackbraes	Falkirk	Jas Russel & Son	J Chalmers	Collier	35	In shafts	They were descending the pit to examine something at the bottom, when the rope (a round wire) broke.	A breakage of a wire rope with a weight of 5 cwts., resulted in the loss of two lives. The rope was afterwards tested and bore a breaking strain of ten tons. The drum and pulley were only five feet diameter, which is rather small for wire ropes, but the working load was only 12 cwts., and it had only raised 8,000 tons. I could not account for the failure. Newspaper report
1868	October	30	Blackbraes	Falkirk	Jas Russel & Son	John Sneddon	Collier	22	In shafts
1868	November	6	Portland No 5	Hurlford	Eglinton Iron Co	Alex McDonald	Hillman	54	In shafts	Fell down the shaft by pushing a hutch into the wrong division of it	In this case the deceased was an assistant pit headman, he had been to the "bing" with a hutch of coals, and on returning with the empty hutch instead of putting it on to the cage to be returned in the ordinary way, he pushed it into the wrong division of the shaft, and fell to the bottom with it. Such accidents occur, I believe, through a kind of forgetfulness or momentary absence, and happen to experienced workmen. There is no way of preventing them but by introducing moveable guards at the pit-mouth, which form a perfect protection when the cage is not there.
1868	November	11	Cleugh	Wilsontown	Wm Darling's Trustees	Jas Watson	Collier	30	Falls of coal and roof	He worked in a place out of hearing of neighbours
1868	November	12	Haywood	Wilsontown	Haywood Coal Co	M Steel	overman	45	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of roof while knocking out props
1868	November	13	Benhar	Linlithgow	George Simpson	A Hailstones	Drawer	14	Miscellaneous	Knocked against a prop by collision with another drawer, injured internally and died next day.
1868	November	13	Prestongrange	Prestonpans	Sir George Suttie	Thos Archibald	Drawer	14	Falls of coal and roof	The roof fell on him while pushing his tub out main road.
1868	November	16	Neilston No 2	Kilsyth	James Wallace & Co	James Britton	Collier	19	Explosions	Explosion of fire damp	It appears that a stone mine had been in the course of extension for a considerable time, but for a day or two previous to the accident it had been discontinued on account of an excess of gas. The roadway leading into deceased's place passed by the end of the stone mine. It seems to have been well known to him, and those who worked in the same limited district with him, that fire-damp existed in the mine, and that it had been partially stopped until an opening, a small " blind pit," could be put down upon the end of it to form a better circuit for the air. Notwithstanding, the deceased went into within a few feet of the face of the mine with an open light, and ignited the gas by which he was burned; at first, it was not supposed to be seriously, but he died from the effects of it about a week after. It is difficult to know whether in this case a fence would have prevented the accident. By the second general rule it was the duty of the owner to use such a precaution, but he failed to do so.
1868	December	2	Tennochside	Coatbridge	Monkland Iron Co	D Hannan	Sinker	23	In shafts	He was struck by a stone which fell off side of pit
1868	December	3	Wellwood	Muirkirk	Eglinton Iron Co	Hugh McLachlan	Collier	45	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of coal at the face
1868	December	5	Stepends	Airdrie	Summerlee Iron Co	J Parkes	Collier	43	Falls of coal and roof	Was holing his coal when stone fell from roof. Seam 30 inches
1868	December	9	Neilston No 2	Kilsyth	James Wallace & Co	Thos McKay	Collier	30	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of roof at the face
1868	December	22	Sheardale	Clackmannan	James Wingate	J Wingate	Manager	27	In shafts	He was descending a pit on a crane rope, the end of which was insufficiently attached (by himself) to the barrel. It surged, and he fell off.
1868	December	28	Solesgirth	Kirkintilloch	James Wallace & Co	Jas Gilmour	pitheadman	16	In shafts	Fell down a (sinking) pit
1868	December	30	Rigside	Douglas	James Swann	A Wilson	Miner	40	Falls of coal and roof	A piece of stone fell off wall side and killed him

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Last Updated 23rd June 2007