Dykehead Colliery Fire – Hamilton – 1861

DYKEHEAD. Hamilton, Lanarkshire. 7th. August, 1861.

The colliery was the property of Wilsons and Company and was on the Dykehead Estate about three miles from Hamilton. It was also known as the Summerlee Colliery. The pit was about forty fathoms deep. Woodwork underground caught fire and the ventilation was deranged causing the deaths of thirteen colliers.

The man at the pit top was surprised when he saw smoke coming from the shaft at about 1.30 p.m. Within ten minutes flames rose to the height of a two-storey house and could be seen two miles away in Motherwell. Attempts to put out the flames from the surface and attempts to get the forty men and boys out of the pit were made. Fire-engines from Motherwell went to the scene and continued operations until 4 p.m. A rope was then lowered down the shaft with the hope that the men could attach it to them and be drawn up. This proved to be too slow and the men in the pit were very weak.

Two men, Andrew Hunter and another named Harvie gallantly volunteered to descend and were relieved at intervals by other volunteers. Twenty-eight men were got out of the pit by this method. All of them were totally exhausted and McLeod Nelson (Robertson) was found to be dead.

News of the disaster had spread and a crowd estimated at 1,600 people had gathered around the pit. At about 6 p.m., Mr. Austine, coalmaster of Hamilton, directed that poles be thrown across the mouth of the pit and by means of a tarred cloth attached to these and let down as a temporary vent, the smoke was carried off to give some relief to the men still down the pit.

Mr. W.G. Simpson of Dundas Simpson and Company, directed operations for the driving of a mine through the waste from his mine to the Summerlee workings. This was done, and the bodies recovered.

All those who lost their lives were listed as colliers:

• McLeod Robertson.
• Neil Thompson.
• McLetchie Baxter.
• John Potter.
• David Hamilton.
• Alexander Hamilton.
• Thomas Currie.
• Thomas Miller.
• John Craig.
• Hugh Craig.
• Thomas Potter.
• David Maxwell.
• Francis Cassey

The Government Inspector, Mr. Williams, visited the pit but could not go down as the pit had been sealed to contain and extinguish the fire. It was thought that the woodwork at the shaft bottom was too close to the furnace.

REFERENCES
Mines Inspectors Report, 1861. Mr. Williams.
Colliery Guardian, 17th August 1871, p.107.

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