Moss House Colliery

This was at Rainford and referred to in the Inspector’s reports of 1873 and 1888 as being owned by Thomas Baird and Co. There is no mention of the colliery after the 1890s.

24th. February 1866.
THE EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN.
At an inquest into the death of a 12 year old girl, Ellen Hampson, who was killed at the Moss House Colliery, it was stated that she came from a large family and got a job at the pit to assist three other girls that were levelling slack as it was screened. They had to remove the trucks they were filling and replace them with empties. She had been working for about an hour on the first morning. She went to an empty waggon and lifted the brake to allow it to run to the screen. As it approached the place where she wanted it, she tried to put on the brake but she was not strong enough and the buffer struck her in the chest and crushed her against a stationary waggon. She was conveyed home, but lingered until Thursday. She had worked at the pit two years before her age and the Inspector; Mr. Higson thought it reckless conduct to set a girl to do this work. The jury returned a verdict of ‘Accidental Death’ and said that they regretted that such a young girl should be allowed to do such work. (St. Helens Standard)

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