Garnant Colliery Shaft Accident – Cwmaman – 1884

GARNANT. Cwmaman, Glamorganshire. 16th. January, 1884.

The colliery was the property of the Garnant Collieries Company and John Haigh was the manager of the colliery and had been in the post since July 1882. The colliery was worked on two shifts with about 136 men on the day shift and 50 on the night shift. The night shift left work between three and four in the morning and the day shift went in about 7 a.m. On the day of the accident, the day shift was going to work three hours earlier so that the colliers could attend a funeral.

David Jenkins, the banksman at the colliery arrived for work at 3.30 a.m. on the morning of the accident ready for the men to commence work at 4 a.m. The engineman was already there, the night banksman was still here and some of the men had already descended when he arrived. When he got to the bank, he saw that the hitcher and two or three men were ready to go down and Jenkins lowered them. Doors were then put around the cage as a horse was to be lowered and this was done without incident.

The next winding was the one on which the accident occurred. Jenkins saw eight men enter the cage and Thomas Michael lowered them without the permission of Jenkins. The signal was given to the signalman who lifted the cage off the keps. Jenkins did not know who gave the signal. Thomas Michael was near the level and Jenkins gave the signal to stop. There was a bang and the cage disappeared down the shaft.

All the victims were listed as colliers. They were:

• David Roberts aged 36 years, wife and 4 children.
• Thomas Bevan aged 35 years, wife and 3 children.
• William Lake aged 29 years, wife and 3 children.
• Thomas Richard aged 35 years.
• John Evan Jones aged 32 years, single.
• John David James aged 21 years, single.
• Evan Roberts aged 16 years.
• Thomas Roberts aged 14 years.
• Daniel Rees aged 12 years.
• Edward Morgan aged 14 years.
• Thomas Michael, left a wife.

The inquest into the deaths of six of the men was held at the Raven Hotel, Garnant by Mr. James Rowlands, the District Coroner and all interested parties were represented. The bodies were identified by John Davies, the overman at the colliery. He had arrived at the colliery about ten minutes after the accident when the cage containing the bodies had been brought to the surface.

The “keps”  were found to be in good order and there had been no complaints from the men about the cage which had been used as a horse cage and had a crossbar fitted with bolts for tying the horse’s heads. The morning of the accident, though dark, there was nothing to interfere with the banksman seeing the top of the shaft. There was evidence that the rope was of good quality material and was in good condition.

David Jenkins of Prospect Place, the banksman at the colliery had been employed there since 1874 gave his account of the accident. He said:

I arrived at the colliery at 3.30 on the morning of the accident to be ready for the men to commence work at 4 o’clock; the engineman was here ready. The night banksman had not left when he came and some of the men commenced to go down before he arrived. When I got to the bank I saw the hitcher and two other men ready to go down and I let them down. A horse and a man went down next. Doors were put around the cage for the horses. The next load was the men who were killed. I saw only eight go into the cage. I did not let the cage down, Thomas Michael did so. I did not give him authority to do so. The signal was given to the signalman who lifted the cage, opened the keps and passed it down. I do not know who gave the signal. The cage caught when the top of it was level with the collar board of the top of the shaft. Thomas Michael had turned aside a little and I gave the signal to stop. Michael had the handle of the level loose before the cage stopped. The engineman stopped at once but the breakage and the knock came together. The lever was easy to work and came to its place with a sharp pull.

Thomas Bartlett, a haulier, said he saw the men go into the cage and Thomas Michael, who had been in the job for only a week, operate the lever

Mr. Wales, the Inspector thought the rope had broken due to it being weak at the point of breakage and not strong enough to carry the load and not by any jerk or fall. The rope was fully examined by experts who gave their evidence at the inquiry. They were of the opinion that the fracture was caused by a sudden load.

The Coroner summed up for an hour and a half and the jury, after a similar period of time, returned the following verdict:

That the accident took place due to the breaking of the rope caused by a jerk, the cage having caught the fangs (or keps) in consequence of the mismanagement of the lever working them. We consider the conduct of Thomas Michael reprehensible but not culpable.

The Coroner said that the verdict was one of “Accidental Death” and the public who were present appeared to regard the result as satisfactory.

REFERENCES
The Mines Inspectors Report.
The Colliery Guardian, 25th January 1884, p.134.
“And they worked us to death” Vol.2. Ben Fieldhouse and Jackie Dunn. Gwent Family History Society.

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