Haydock Colliery No 13 Pit Explosion – Haydock – 1850

HAYDOCK No.13. Haydock, Lancashire. 8th. November, 1850.

The colliery was owned by Messrs. Turner and Evans. There were about twenty men and boys in the pit at the time of the explosion and four ponies. Ten were killed and several others injured. All the ponies were found to be dead.

There was great difficulty in preventing the men from working with candles. At the inquest one of the men said they had never been told not to use candles. There was no regular examination of the mine in the morning and the appointment of a fireman was suggested and the locking of safety lamps.

The accident was put down to gas coming from old workings and the Mining Almanac stated that eleven were injured. The Inspector’s Report states that 4 men killed in an explosion in the Rushy Park Mine.

REFERENCES
Annals of Coal Mining. Galloway. Vol. 2. p. 5488
Mining Journal Vol. xx, p.540.
Mining Almanac. 1851.

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