SHERIFF HILL. Gateshead, Durham. 19th. July, 1819.
A fatal accident from the explosion of firedamp occurred on Monday last in Sherriff Hill Colliery near Gateshead and thirty-seven persons, principally boys, besides a great many horses perished by this calamity. The explosion took place half an hour before the pit finished work, otherwise, the loss of life would have been greater. About twenty men and boys were in others parts of the mine and they escaped with slight injuries by the blast and the afterdamp. The accident was attributed to two boys having deserted their posts. They were appointed to take charge of two doors, which they were ordered to keep closed and from the circumstance of their being found in a distant part of the mine, there was every reason to believe they had not attended to the instructions given them. Most of the men had left work and ascended the shaft. The shockingly mutilated remains of the sufferers prove the tremendous force of the explosion. The newspapers reported:
The mine was always considered one of the best ventilated on the banks of the Tyne and the safety lamp was not considered necessary to be used, as the danger was never apprehended. The fatal experience will now perhaps point out not only the propriety of using the lamp in every colliery but also the access of its general adoption.
REFERENCES
Annals of Coal Mining. Galloway, Vol.2, p.495.
Sykes’ Local Records.
A History of Coal Mining in Great Britain. Galloway
Sketches of the Collieries of Northumberland and Durham. T.H. Hair.
Durham Advertiser.
Information supplied by Ian Winstanley and the Coal Mining History Resource Centre.
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