1871 Deaths January to June

1871 Deaths listed in Mine Inspectors Report

January to June

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 extra details are from the main body of the report.

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Year	Month	Day	Name of Colliery	Where situated	Owners name	Person(s) killed	Occupation	Age	Category (if given)	Cause of death and remarks	Extra details
1871	January	1	Riggside	Douglas	James Swann	Alex Gold	Collier	27	Miscellaneous	Run over by a truck on an engine plane. He was riding on it against orders.
1871	January	5	Redding	Falkirk	Redding Colliery Co	Alex Gray	Pit-head man	43	In shafts	Ran hutch into shaft, and fell after it.
1871	January	7	Bogend	Kilwinning	Eglinton Iron Co	James Bruce	Collier	50	Falls of Coal and Roof	Fall of coal while engaged taking it down
1871	January	11	Greenbrae			Robert Smith					Newspaper report
1871	January	13	Arniston	Gorebridge	John Christie	---- -----	Engineman	25	Above ground	Waggon ran amain and struck him
1871	January	13	Greenfield	Hamilton	Hamilton Coal Co.	Robert Brown	Collier	30	Falls, Coal and Roof	Fall of roof at stoops	Newspaper report
1871	January	16	Gavieside			John Shaw					Newspaper report
1871	January	16	Gavieside			John Shaw, jun					Newspaper report
1871	January	17	Kilsyth			David Tait					Newspaper report
1871	January	19	Twechar	Kilsyth	William Baird & Co	Nathaniel Wilson	Miner	40	In Ironstone mines – falls of ironstone and roof	Fall of ironstone and roof at face
1871	January	20	Raw	Coatbridge	Wm Baird & Co	James Carson	Collier	25	Falls of Coal and Roof	Fall of roof at face
1871	February	2	Grange	Kilmarnock	Robert Yeats &Co	William Connor	Collier	23	In shafts	Fell off cage while ascending	Newspaper Report
1871	February	6	Cornsolloch	Hamilton	Messrs Cochrane	Andrew Penman	Collier	60	In shafts	Fall of cage while ascending shaft	A miner fell off the cage while ascending the shaft. There was no defect in the cage or slides to account for the accident. Newspaper report
1871	February	17	Drumpeller	Coatbridge	Henderson & Dimmack	Ambrose Turner	Collier	67	Falls of Coal and Roof	Fall of roof at face
1871	February	18	Quarter	Hamilton	Colin Dunlop & Co	Hugh Black	Collier	14	Falls, Coal and Roof	Fall of coal at face while holing	Newspaper report
1871	February	21	Cleland	Holytown	William S Dixon	Nicholas Reid	Collier	22	Falls, Coal and Roof	Fall of coal at stoops	Newspaper report
1871	February	23	Cadder	Bishopbriggs	Carron Iron Co	John Cleland	Boy	14	In Ironstone mines – in shafts	Fell down the shaft from the surface
1871	February	23	Chapel	Wishaw	W S Aitken	Andrew Muir	Overman	30	In shafts	Drawing pumps with an old worn out crane rope; it broke while he was on it.	At Chapel Colliery the manager of the pit was killed by a crane rope breaking. I examined the rope; it was old and worn out. It turned out that the deceased was warned that the rope was unsafe, yet he deliberately made use of it instead of a better one, which he could have had with little trouble. Newspaper report
1871	February	25	Coltness	Wishaw	A G Simpson	George Todd	Collier	30	Falls, Coal and Roof	Fall of roof
1871	March	1	Garriongill	Wishaw	Coltness Iron Co.	Hamilton McGill	Collier	25	Falls, Coal and Roof	Fall of roof at face
1871	March	13	Common	Cumnock	William Walker	Samuel Crosbir	Collier	50	In shafts	Crushed between the cage and the shaft, caused by misunderstanding of signals	The pit where this unfortunate occurrence took place had just been sunk, and the deceased and his neighbour had been engaged forming a water lodgement and other preparatory work near to the pit bottom. I understand that on the morning of the accident they had finished a night shift and had signalled to be raised to the surface. As explained by the engineman he was engaged at the boiler fires at the time the signal was given, but a few minutes after he went in to the engine house, and not being aware that the signal was to raise men, he started the engine and after " backing" it raised the cage. The deceased's neighbour, who was at the pit bottom, reports that the signal made was to raise men, and as the ordinary back signal arrangement had not been completed, it was the practice for the engineman, before lifting away the cage, to slightly raise it, and afterwards set it back, which was the acknowledged signal for men to get on to the cage. In this case the deceased and his neighbour when they saw the cage being set back attempted to get on to it, but it was not put back sufficiently, and they did not succeed in getting quite on. The deceased got crushed between the cage and the shaft, but his neighbour escaped by throwing himself back out of the cage. The defect in this case lay in the back signal, and if a right back signal had been in use, in all probability the accident would not have happened.
1871	March	14	Cornsilloch	Hamilton	Messrs Cochrane	Robert Kirkwood	Collier	30	Falls, Coal and Roof	Fall of roof at face	Newspaper report
1871	March	15	Balbardie	Bathgate	Mr Walker	James Green	Roadsman	25	In Ironstone mines – above ground	Jammed between waggon and frames
1871	March	16	Dovecotwood	Kilsyth	Brown & Rennie	Hugh Johnstone	Collier	50	Falls of Coal and Roof	Fall of roof
1871	March	17	Green	Wishaw	Wishaw Iron Co	George Stewart	Brusher	60	In shafts	Engineman lifted the cage without signal before he got off, and crushed him between the cage and side of pit.	Newspaper report
1871	March	17	Hill of Beath	Dunfermline	Ord Adams	John Hunter	Collier	30	Falls, Coal and Roof	Fall of roof in main road	Newspaper report
1871	March	21	Springside	Dreghorn	Archd Kenneth	Alex McDonald	Collier	36	Above ground	Crushed on one of the colliery lyes between two loaded waggons
1871	March	24	Barleith	Hurlford	John Galloway	James Garven	Collier	18	Falls of Coal and Roof	Fall of roof
1871	March	28	Govan	Glasgow	W S Dixon	James Park	Collier	56	In shafts	Fell from a “mid-working”	The deceased was a small contractor at the colliery. He was engaged driving a stone mine off the shaft, and shortly before the accident he had returned to the shaft from it, for the purpose of being raised to the surface. While standing close to the side of the shaft, awaiting the return of the cage, he in some way overbalanced himself and fell to the bottom a distance of 40 feet.
1871	March	28	Mount Vernon	Baillieston	John Young	Robert Park	Collier	17	Falls of Coal and Roof	Fall of coal	Newspaper report
1871	March	30	Limeridge	Slamannan	Forrester & Robson	John Pettigrew	Collier	13	Falls, Coal and Roof	Fall of coal at face	Newspaper report
1871	March	31	Shawfield	Wishaw	John Wilson	William Cairns	hillman	20	Above ground	Crushed by waggons at screens
1871	April	3	Rosehall	Coatbridge	Robert Addie & Sons	William Jenkins	Miner	43	In Ironstone mines – falls of ironstone and roof	Fall of roof
1871	April	7	Thrashbush	Airdrie	Thrashbush Coal Co	Willm Carsewell	Collier	60	Falls, Coal and Roof	Fall of roof at face
1871	April	11	Quarter	Hamilton	Colin Dunlop & Co	Francis Cadzow	Labourer	15	In shafts	Fell from pit head. No gates	Newspaper report
1871	April	15	South Boig	N Cumnock	Lanemark Coal Co	John Penman	Boy	14	Explosions	Explosion of fire damp.	On the morning of the accident, the fireman in making his examination discovered firedamp in an advanced section of the work at A Fig. 1, and extending a few feet back. He properly kept the workmen out of it, and I understand placed a fence at B so as to prevent any person entering it. The manager who visited the pit shortly after, and when acquainted with the state of the ''heading," directed that the "plane" C should be pushed through without delay upon the "end" D, and the deceased, father and son, were also appointed to construct a trap-door at E to be in readiness, so that when the places C D were connected, the ventilation might be carried direct to the face of the heading at A. As to the cause of the explosion, it seems certain that the deceased either ignited the gas at the fence B or inside of it nearer to the heading. In support of this view the boy's cap was found in the inside of the fence, and as workmen had been passing the point referred to, B, frequently on the morning of the accident with open lights, the inference is that the gas lay beyond the fence, and could only be reached by passing within it. Apparently the range of safety did not extend far beyond the fence. According to the fireman it could not exceed nine yards; under such circumstances it would have been better to supply the deceased with safety lamps to work with, and prohibit persons from passing near to the fence with open lights till after the gas was dislodged.
1871	April	15	South Boig	N Cumnock	Lanemark Coal Co	James Penman	Collier	40	Explosions	Explosion of fire damp.
1871	April	18	Cairnhill	Airdrie	Wm Baird & Co	James Henderson		28	Falls of Coal and Roof	Fall of roof
1871	April	18	Haughead	Hamilton	Merry & Cunningham	Hugh Silver	Collier	40	Falls, Coal and Roof	Fall of roof at stoops	Newspaper report [gives name as James Salfridge]
1871	April	20	Corsehill	Kilwinning	Eglinton Iron Co	John Watt	Foreman engineer	45	Above ground	Falling down an old shaft which was in the act of being filled up	At Corsel Colliery, near Kilwinning, while a "gang" of labourers were engaged filling up an old shaft, and restoring the surface, part of the woodwork, engine framing, and "barring" fell in, with a quantity of the surrounding stuff, and choked up the mouth of the shaft for about 20 feet. After some delay, and a few unsuccessful attempts to force away the rubbish and clear an opening, a run of water convenient to the pit was diverted from its course and allowed to play upon it. During the experiment two men actually went on to the top of the rubbish immediately over the pit, and with a pinch or rod commenced to partially move the stuff, with the view of aiding the water to force an opening, when it suddenly fell away, and they were hurled into the shaft with it. It is difficult to conceive a more rash and inconsiderate act, than for two men to place themselves upon a body of loose stuff, their only support, suspended in a shaft 50 fathoms deep, and to deliberately exert themselves to force it away.
1871	April	20	Corsehill	Kilwinning	Eglinton Iron Co	John Faulds	Labourer	20	Above ground
1871	April	26	Glengyron	Cumnock	Eglinton Iron Co	Hugh Carruthers	Miner	38	In Ironstone mines – miscellaneous	By gunpowder while blasting
1871	May	13	Fernigare	Hamilton	Archd. Russell	Jas Miller	Collier	55	Falls, Coal and Roof	Fall of coal while holing	Newspaper report
1871	May	15	Woodhead	Bathgate	Coltness Iron Co.	Wm McAlpine	Miner	18	In Ironstone mines – falls, coal and roof	Fall of roof
1871	May	20	Motherwell	Motherwell	M Fitzpatrick	John Watson	Collier	27	Falls, Coal and Roof	Fall of roof at stoops
1871	May	24	Kirkwood	Coatbridge	John Hendrie	James Wallace	Collier	34	Falls of Coal and Roof	Fall of coal	Newspaper report
1871	May	29	Redan	Stevenston	Merry & Cunningham	William Scott	Drawer	13	Falls of Coal and Roof	Fall of roof
1871	May	30	Kipps	Airdrie	Robertson & Eddie	John Wallace	Collier	45	Falls, Coal and Roof	Fall of roof while working at stoops	Newspaper report
1871	June	2	Drummore	Musselburgh	Deans and Moore	James Greig	Collier	14	Falls, Coal and Roof	Fall of coal while working at stoops
1871	June	10	Pather	Wishaw	Coltness Iron Co.	Daniel Hamilton	Collier	15	Falls, Coal and Roof	Fall of roof on road
1871	June	13	Craigston	Cumnock	Eglinton Iron Co	James Frew	Miner	33	In Ironstone mines – falls of ironstone and roof	Fall of roof
1871	June	13	Lochgelly	Lochgelly	Lochgelly Iron Co	Archd Hodge	Collier	15	Falls, Coal and Roof	Fall of roof at face
1871	June	24	Bogleshole	Tollcross	James Dunlop & Co	Richard Gray	Collier	58	Falls of Coal and Roof	Fall of coal
1871	June	27	Chapelside	Airdrie	Ferrier & Strain	Pat Strain	Collier	25	In shafts	Fall of strata from side of shafts	One man was killed while ascending the shaft, by a piece of loose strata falling from the side of the shaft. An engine had been started underground a few days before, and the exhaust steam ascending the upcast shaft had acted injuriously on the soft strata. The steam is now carried to the surface in pipes.
1871	June	--	Eastfield	Rutherglen	T G Buchanan	Patrick O'Neil	Bottomer	19	In shafts	Crushed in the shaft by the cage being lifted without a signal	The deceased was the bottomer, and at the time of the accident he was engaged placing a hutch upon the cage. From some cause, the hutch not being quite on, it was found necessary to draw it back, and the deceased was in the act of pushing it back when, without a signal, the cage was raised, and he was crushed between the cage and the side of the shaft. The usual steps were taken to prosecute the engineman for culpable neglect of duty, but a link in the chain of evidence was found to be wanting after the trial was fixed and witnesses cited, and ultimately the case was abandoned.
1871	June	30	Motherwell			James Maxwell					Newspaper report

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Last Updated 6th April 2007