Rainford Collieries

There have been many collieries in the Rainford area. The Rainford Colliery was situated one mile south of Rainford Junction and is mentioned in the Victorian Inspector’s Reports. In 1894 it employed 580 people and had two groups of collieries Nos. 1 and 2 and Nos. 3 and 4. For many years the colliery was owned by the Rainford Coal Co. but when it closed in 1928 it was under the ownership of Bromilow Foster and Co.

19th. May 1860.
Henry Evans collier was caught in fall of roof at the Moss Hall Coal Co. and is in a precarious state. (Prescot Reporter)

12th. April 1862.
BREACH OF THE RULES.
Two brothers John and Joseph Jones at the Rainford pit of Hardy and Company were charged with a breach of Special Rule blasting with powder in a dangerous place. They blamed the fireman for not displaying a danger notice but they were found guilty and sentenced to fourteen days in jail. (Wigan Observer)

11th. December 1863.
There was a fatal accident at the Victoria Colliery when Peter Robinson was descending the shaft in the hoppet when the chain broke thirty yards from the top and he fell down the shaft. (Wigan Observer)

29th. April 1865.
On Saturday at the colliery owned by Harding and Co. Henry Cotton aged 42 years, a collier was working with his son Peter in the No 7 pit when a large quantity of coal fell on them. The inquest was held on Monday at the Rainford Junction Hotel when a verdict of ‘Accidental Death’ was reached. (Wigan Observer)

14th. July 1865.
On Saturday morning an accident occurred at the colliery owned by Thomas Wallays to a boy named Charles Birch aged 13 years the son of James Birch a brickmaker of Dentons Green. He was a drawer in the Rushy Park Mine and was working when a portion of the roof fell on him. On removing the debris it was found that he was quite dead. The inquest was held at the house of Mr. Littler in Dentons Green on Monday and returned a verdict of accidental death. (St. Helens Standard)

1st. August 1865.
Stealing Colliers Picks.
At the Police Court on Monday Mr. James Leadbetter, a collier in the employ of Messrs. Harding at Rainford was brought into custody charged with stealing a pick, the property of Richard Rothwell and another charge of stealing a pick belonging to Henry Kenyon. Mr. Marsh defended and in the first case, it was said that he worked in the No.8 pit and was engaged about three weeks ago when he lost a pick. He left in the usual place and found it in the possession of the defendant. The pick in court was identified as the property of the Rothwell. On being charged the defendant said that it was a mistake. The second charge was them taken and Henry Kenyon said that he missed the pick from here it was usually left. It was found along with other picks in the engine room. Mr. Marsh examined the prisoner at some length. The underlooker was called and he said that the prisoner identified all the picks in the engine room as his. P.C. Shaw charged Kenyon theft of the picks and he was committed for trial at the sessions and released on bail. (St. Helens Standard)

24th. February 1866.
Employment of Children.
At an inquest, if 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 o the first morning and 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)

5th. January 1867.
Fatal Accident.
The accident occurred at the White Moss Colliery Rainford on Wednesday. It appears that two men Ellis Pye and Thomas Jones both colliers were engaged at the shaft and had a trellis for the purpose of hoisting pipes to the surface. Two lengths had already been taken to the top and they were in the act of raising the third when the clamp slipped and the third pipe fell. They were knocked off the platform by a tub which the falling pipes had cause to swing and they fell to the bottom of the shaft. Ellis Pye was a married man and was dead when they got him to the surface Jones was severely injured to the head and side and is in a very precarious state. (St. Helens Newspaper and Advertiser)

6th. February 1867.
At eleven am on Thursday Robert Charlesworth a collier of Ormskirk Road Rainford was in the act of picking out dirt from a box when a fall of roof injured his head and chest at the No.5 pit in the Seven Foot mine. The roof is supposed to have been loosened by a shot which he fired a little time before. Verdict accidental death. (St. Helens Standard)

30-01-1869.
THE RAINFORD COLLIERY EXPLOSION.
On Saturday the fire was extinguished and the bodies of Whalley and Burrows were found and brought to the surface. It seems strange to say that they were in a good state of preservation. Burrows was black and there was debris on him but he was a little disfigured. (St. Helens Standard)

01-01-1869
Joseph Heaton who worked at the Victoria Colliery at Rainford was charged under the master and Servants Act of leaving work without notice. He was fined 40/- with costs or if he could not pay, six months in jail. (St. Helens Standard)

03-04-1875
DRUNKEN FATE OF COLLIER.
James Lackland went to the home of another collier in Skelmersdale when he was drunk, James Howard had four children and could not light the fire. Lackland having three pounds of gunpowder with him throwing a handful onto the fire which wrecked the house and severely burnt all that were in. Lackland was taken into custody. (St. Helens Standard)

29-05-1869
An inquest was held at the Wheatsheaf Inn in Rainford into the death of William Lee aged 55 years who was a waggon greaser at the Rainford Coal Co. He was seen on Friday leaning against a waggon and he was later found between the buffers and it is supposed that the poor fellow was unable to get out of the way in time. Verdict accidental death. (St. Helens Standard)

29th. July 1871.
Case Of Rainford Colliers Leaving Their Work.
James Winstanley, William Tabener, James Heyes were charged with leaving their work at the Victoria colliery without giving notice. Heyes gave evidence that the colliery had lost money by their action. A man had been killed and the men said that the place was not safe and they would not work there. William Heyes said it was not a place for men to work in. A verdict was given against Heyes of £4. 10s., Tabener £3. 10s. and Winstanley £3 10s. and costs or 12 months in jail. (Prescot Reporter)

30th. March 1872.
Shocking Death In Coal Pit. On Wednesday a man named Edward Ablett, collier employed at White Moss, Skelmersdale, near Ormskirk was killed while he was moving a number of trucks when suddenly several tons of roof gave way and he was buried by the debris. When he was extricated the body provided a most horrible spectacle. The body was taken to the Fox and Goose to await the inquest. He had worked at the colliery for only a few months. (St. Helens Newspaper and Advertiser)

19th. April 1873.
Assault in Coal Pit.
Israel Taylor which did not appear was charged with assaulting James Chadwick at a colliery at Rainford. Taylor was ejected from the colliery by the complainant when Taylor struck him. Taylor was fined £1 with costs in his absence. (Prescot Reporter)

29th. November 1879.
Victoria Colliery Company, Rainford.
It was reported that work at the colliery had just been completed sinking from the Rushy Park mine to the Arley at the No.4 pit, a distance of sixty-one and a half yards. Much of the work went through stone and rock and was completed in six weeks and three days. The coal opened out is of superior quality and useful for shipping or house fires. It is thought that a pit in the neighbourhood had never been sunk so quickly through good machinery and tackle and the number of men employed. (Prescot Reporter)

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