Easton Colliery Explosion – Bristol – 1886

EASTON. Bristol, Gloucestershire. 19th. February, 1886.

The colliery was the property of Leonard Boult and Company which was in the eastern suburbs of Bristol. An explosion occurred in the seam which was known locally as the Fiery or Smith’s Coal Vein which resulted in the deaths of eight persons. The seam was reached by an incline from the downcast shaft, at the end of which a level branch was driven back to cut the coal, on which a level was driven from the west to east and a road down to the deep, which was known as the crosscut.

There were only a limited number of men employed in the seam and an examination of the workings was made by the fireman with a Davy lamp between five and six in the morning and he reported the workings free from gas. The men then began to descend to their work and shortly afterwards the explosion took place. Very little damage was down to the pit. A door was blown out and some brickwork was displaced.

The Government Inspector, Mr. Thomas Cadman and his assistant, Mr. Bain made a thorough examination of the pit. There was evidence to show that the seam was relatively free from gas and it was the custom for the colliers to work with naked lights. The fan was working as usual and there was nothing to show that the ventilation had been deranged between the time of the fireman’s inspection and the explosion. Explosives were used in the mine but only when there was no working and there had been no shots fired.

The explosion seemed to have occurred on the dip road near the crosscut. This conclusion was arrived at by the way in which the door was blown and indications of charring and coking of the coal dust. The Inspector thought that there might have been a sudden outburst of gas from the surrounding strata or from the old workings.

Those who died were:

• George Bennett aged 45 years, hewer
• William Clarke aged 33 years, hewer
• Samuel Long aged 40 years, hewer
• Robert Smith aged 32 years, hewer
• Isaac Rawlings aged 29 years, trammer
• Charles Bryant aged 21 years, trammer. He was injured in the explosion and died on the 22nd
• Henry Bennett aged 32 years, trammer. He was injured in the explosion and died on the 22nd
• Henry Gay aged 34 years, trammer. Injured in the explosion and died on the 25th

At the inquest into the men’s deaths, the jury returned a verdict of “Accidental Death”. The Inspectors recommended that the mine should be worked with locked safety lamps and the management of the colliery agreed with these measures. In his report on the accident, Mr. Cadman commented:

Notwithstanding the loss of life that had been suffered, considerable difficulty was experienced in getting the colliers to work with locked lamps, and those who went in were principally the men who had been in the Welsh coalfield or in some of the fiery mines in Somersetshire where they had been accustomed to use locked lamps.

REFERENCES
Mines Inspectors’ Report. 1886.
The Colliery Guardian, 26th. February 1886, p.335, 5th. March, 1886, p.382.

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