NESHAMS. Newbottle, Durham. 19th October 1821.

Six men were suffocated by noxious gases in which their candles continued to burn and so gave them no warning. One of the brattices erected close up to an old working was broken and gas came from the old workings. Among those who died were Steel and Curry who left large families.

The local burial registers record:

Buried 20th October.

  • James Burnip of Newbottle, aged 36.
  • Matthew Anderson of Newbottle aged 50.

Buried 21st October.

  • Robert Smith of Philadelphia aged 47
  • Robert Currey of Nesham’s, Cross Row, aged 45.
  • George Beaney, of Houghton, aged 32.

The burial Register states that they were “accidentally suffocated in the coal mine called Elizabeth Pit.”

 

REFERENCES
Annals of Coal Mining. Galloway, Vol.1, p.504.
Sykes’ Local Records.
Report from the Select Committee on Accidents in Mines. 4th September 1835. 1,853.

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

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