SOUTH WALES.  Abertillery, Monmouthshire. 18th. December, 1876.

The colliery had four shafts, three in Cwmtillery and one sunk to the deep of the present workings in the Blaina Valley and was the property of the South Wales Colliery Company who had carried out extensive operations in the district. The pit was well ventilated and a there had been no explosion for over twenty years, it was considered as one of the safest.

The mine employed 400 men and boys about as the explosion took place on a Monday there were not so many down the pit. The fireman, Evans, had inspected the workings and reported that all was safe but early in the shift, an explosion took place

One of the shafts at Cwmtillery was the upcast shaft and the colliery was ventilated by a furnace at the bottom of the upcast shaft. The workings where the explosion which claimed 23 lives took place were ventilated by a fresh air current from the Rose Hayworth Pit which was the one in the Blaina Valley, and after passing through the workings was conveyed to the upcast shaft. The coal was worked by the longwall method and a full and proper examination of the workings had been made before the men went to work on the day of the disaster.

Mr. John Jones, the manager, went down with a party of volunteers and found that the brattice cloth had been blown down in the main roadway where lay the bodies of two horses. By 11 a.m. eleven bodies had been brought to the surface and shortly after this, all the bodies of the victims were recovered.

The men and boys who lost their lives were:

  • Thomas Ashman aged 33 years, single.
  • Seth Freeguard aged 13 years.
  • William Goodwin aged 42 years, father of William.
  • William Goodwin aged 15 years.
  • Thomas Hunt aged 31 years.
  • Henry Hyers aged 18 years, single.
  • John Jeffreys aged 39 years.
  • William Mason aged 22 years, single.
  • Alfred Moore aged 41 years, married.
  • Thomas Morse aged 30 years.
  • Israel James Pike aged 55 years.
  • Samuel Pritchard aged 16 years, stepson of Stephen Stephens.
  • Henry Purnell aged 38 years.
  • George Stephens aged 40 years, married.
  • Stephen Stephens aged 44 years.
  • James Tyler.
  • Robert Wellington.
  • Charles Swain aged 13 years..
  • Tom Roach aged 13 years.

Brought out of the pit in “a pitiable condition” were:

  • John Dacey,
  • John Dando,
  • John Griffiths,
  • John Jones aged 22 years, single,
  • John Jones aged 30 years, married,
  • William Lewis,
  • John Llewellyn,
  • Daniel Samuel,
  • George Wakeley, a boy,
  • John Henry Wales.
  • A John Griffiths was buried on the 13th July 1877 and may have been another victim of the disaster.

Also injured were:

  • George Capel,
  • Silas Capel,
  • William Flicker,
  • Richard Jones,
  • Thomas Miles,
  • James Morgan,
  • Charles Taylor,
  • William Walkley, a boy.

The Inspector, Mr Cadman, went into the workings affected by the explosion soon after the event and came to the conclusion that the explosion had taken place in Talgarth’s stall in Ralph’s heading. He said:

I was much surprised to find that very little damage had been done to the workings and, with the exception of a few doors being blown down, and some evidence of fires, hardly anything indicated that such a terrible event had occurred. There were really no falls of importance, and I had no difficulty in making an examination of the whole place.

After an inquiry that lasted several days, the jury returned the following verdict:

We have carefully considered the evidence, practical and scientific, and have come to the unanimous conclusion that the occurrence was totally accidental and that the deaths were consequent upon burning and afterdamp. We also recommend that the day and night firemen should go down the pit before the men and report on its state.

 

REFERENCES
Colliery Guardian, 22nd December 1876, p.986, 2nd February 1877, p.172.
Mines Inspectors Report, 1876.
”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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