OLD DUFFRYN. Aberdare, Glamorganshire. 1st. August, 1845.

The colliery was owned by Mr. Powell and was referred to as the Upper or Old Duffryn Colliery. It had been won about three years before the accident and was about 3 miles from Aberdare and 6 miles from Merthyr. The downcast shaft was 828 feet deep and used for pumping. The return air went along the main roads. The upcast shaft was the furnace shaft 14 feet by 9 feet. The colliery was worked by lighted candles and the old stalls were systematically walled up. The gas was supposed to have been driven out of an old stall when the roof fell and to have ignited at the candles of the men working further up the heading.

There were about 140 men in the mine at the time but only twenty-nine lost their lives, most of them from suffocation. The blast was confined to one heading of the mine and occurred about 11 a.m. on a Saturday. Three horses were killed and the bodies of some of the victims were not recovered until the following Monday. The explosion was spoken of as “only a commencement in the valley of Aberdare.”

Those who lost their lives were:

  • Howell John David aged 20 years, single.
  • Thomas Davies aged 78 years, widower.
  • William Edwards.
  • Thomas Evans, left a widow and 2 children.
  • William Evans aged 31 years.
  • John Evans aged 22 years.
  • David Evans aged 9 years.
  • James James aged 23 years, single.
  • David Jenkins aged 37 years, single.
  • David Jones aged 32 years, single.
  • David Jones aged 27 years, left a wife and child.
  • John Jones aged 17 years.
  • Evan Lewis aged 19 years, single.
  • William Llewellyn aged 18 years, single.
  • David Morgan aged 30 years, single.
  • Richard Morris aged 30 years, single.
  • Joseph Phillips aged 19 years, single.
  • Thomas Rees aged 23 years.
  • Thomas Smith aged 19 years, single.
  • George Thomas aged 33 years, single.
  • Evan Thomas aged 14 years.
  • Rees Williams aged 24 years, single.
  • Howell Williams aged 28 years, single.
  • John Edwards aged 35 years, left a widow and 2 children and father of William.
  • James Thomas aged 42 years, left a wife and 2 children.
  • David Thomas aged 10 years, son of James. Burnt to a cinder.
  • Nicholas Evans, a lad, was said to be badly injured which would bring the number up to the 28 victims that was reported.

Mr Powell of Newport met the funeral expenses and at the inquest, the jury returned a verdict that:

The men met their deaths accidentally present system of ventilation at the Duffryn is as perfect as can be admitted but is inadequate to ensure the safety of those working there and we strongly recommend that a system that will prevent the gas oozing out of the coal and old, abandoned workings and roads be adopted as soon as possible.

 

REFERENCES
Annals of Coal Mining. Galloway. Vol.2, p.115.
Mining Journal. Vol. xv, p.397, 421.
“And they worked us to death” Vol.1. Ben Fieldhouse and Jackie Dunn. Gwent Family History Society.

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

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