BARDSLEY. Ashton-under-Lyne, Cheshire. 2nd. February, 1858.

The colliery was owned by the Bardsley Coal Company and the explosion took place in the Victoria and Diamond pits at the colliery. The explosion affected both seams and was the result of large quantities of gas being given off and occurred in the Two-Feet and Peacock Seams which were also known as the Upper Bent and the Lower Bent Seams which were seven yards apart. The Upper Seam was 18 to 27 inches thick and the Lower Seam about 28 inches thick. They were both fiery mines and worked at 470 yards deep.

The Inspector commented:

The expense attendant upon working such thin seams at so great a depth is a strong inducement to get a large quantity of coal to cover the general charges, and seems to have led the managers to have more places of work going on than there is air to ventilate and which ought to have been remedied either by larger airways or delaying some of the openings until the mines became somewhat drained of firedamp.

After he had made an inspection of the colliery in September 1856, Joseph Dickinson, the Government Inspector, had cautioned the underlooker, Mr. William Hibbert, that the mine was not ventilated as to the first general rule and no work should go on in a place where the air was foul. He acted on information he had received that the pit was in a dangerous state.

The were proposals to install a furnace and boilers for a steam engine underground and Mr. Dickinson thought that both should have been fed by fresh air with the return air brought into the pit out of reach of flame and fire.

The Inspector received another complaint about the colliery on 4th. August 1857 and again cautioned the underlooker and his brother, James who was his assistant, and gave notice to the owners in writing that:

  1. Both the upper and lower mines are giving out firedamp rapidly and it was visible in the return air, especially of the lower mine. I concluded that there was too much work going on for the quantity of air.
  2. The safety lamps should be locked and one lamp which I examined was so much scooped out to catch oil escaping, that no base was left at the bottom of the gauze ring to rest on and when the lamp was closed the gauze could be moved up and down.
  3. Double sets of air-doors are wanted at three important points.
  4. The ventilation should not depend upon gobbing, except for a short bratticing.
  5. (As to fencing mouthings). A few weeks after this, on the 30th. October I was again at the colliery, after the new furnace was lighted and saw that a steam blast had been put into the upcast shaft, and ascertained that the ventilation had been increased.

Between the 30th October, 1857 and the explosion, James Hibbert had become the underlooker when his brother took charge of another colliery belonging to the same company, the colliery was in a very bad state with the air, on occasions firing at lamps, airways being small in places and having so much rubbish in them as to lessen the ventilation and safety lamps unlocked.

The managing partner of the colliery was an experienced man but the seldom went down the pit and was supposed to be unaware of the dangers. His son and a surveyor finished their day’s work and came up the pit a few minutes before the explosion. The underlooker, James Hibbert and his brother William had been helping in the surveying work along with two firemen, one of whom was killed.

The men who died were:

  • George James.
  • Forrester Brierly.
  • Jonah Taylor.
  • Samuel Taylor.
  • Joseph Taylor
  • Edward Taylor.
  • Joseph Lomas.
  • John Brierly.
  • Ralph Mirtle.
  • William Quarmby.
  • Isaiah Ingham.
  • John Roberts.
  • William Yardley.
  • Joseph Barber.
  • Peret Knight.
  • Lames Lees. snr.
  • Thomas Stafford.
  • Thomas Robinson.
  • James (surname unknown), a stranger.
  • Joseph Bankcroft.
  • Jonathan Wardle.
  • Two Ibbotson, brothers.
  • Samuel Ogden.
  • Stringer.
  • Samuel Hamston
  • and two others.
  • Thomas Shaw.
  • Samuel Stepney.
  • Kavanagh
  • Isaac Berry.
  • John Hewitt.

Those seriously hurt and probably died-

  • Jonah Graves,
  • Hopkins,
  • S. Robinson,
  • Thomas Cooper.

Forty-five of the fifty-three victims that were killed were burnt.

The explosion caused a loss to the owners of £3,000 who were fined £5 for a breach of the First General Rule. The Inspector concluded his report:

Under such circumstances and the heavy responsibilities attaching, it did not seen desirable to proceed for the small penalty.

 

REFERENCES
Mines Inspectors Report, 1858. Mr. Joseph Dickenson.
The Colliery Guardian, 6th February, 1858. p.82.

Information supplied by Ian Winstanley and the Coal Mining History Resource Centre.

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