NEW DUFFRYN. Aberdare, Glamorganshire. 12th. December, 1850.

Mr. Powell’s colliery was near Newport and had recently been opened out. The colliery was adjacent to the Letty Shenkin Colliery and the Old Duffryn Colliery in the Aberdare Valley where explosions had occurred. The workings were not extensive and were near the shaft. No preliminary drivage had been made with the result that there was gas in the workings. The ventilation was also dependent on a very large number of doors which were the only separation between the intake and the return air currents. It was also vulnerable to a sudden and complete stoppage by falls of roof which were very likely to occur.

The “Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian”  reported:

At about three o’clock this afternoon an explosion occurred in the New Duffryn Pit. At present all is confusion and consternation and people do not know what to say. It is said that there were about fifty-four persons down the pit of whom only three have been brought up uninjured. But here comes the evil, the engine is broken and they cannot get down from the surface to render assistance to the poor fellows. Three of the men who were saved say that they were nearly suffocated in coming to the mouth of the pit and they give a very poor account of those behind. The agent of the colliery, Mr. Meredith, had only just gone down and he now shares the fate of those below.

The winding engine being useless makes me suppose the delay will prove a serious cause of danger as the only means of communication is now a bucket wound by a crab and it takes half an hour to go up and down and then only very few can be brought up. The explosion was terrific for in this neighbourhood it is well known what such sounds signify.

The explosion was put down to a sudden outburst of gas from the roof of one of the stalls when there was weighting of the roof. The whole of the mine was charged with firedamp at great pressure, ignited at a naked light.

William Jones was not underground and was killed by the force of the blast as he had been sent to get an axe and had to cross a bridge over the shaft. He was doing this when the pit exploded and his father saw the explosion send the whole pit top flying through the air. His son was crushed in the wreckage.

The “Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian”  lists those who lost their lives as:

  • Edmund Beard aged 22 years, hitcher, married with no children.
  • William Davies aged 17 years, son of John.
  • William Sanders aged 12 years, door boy, son of Daniel.
  • William Jones aged 17 years, sawyer, son of John. Killed at the top of the pit.
  • David Thomas aged 23 years, single. Died from the effects of the fire on the 14th.
  • James Morgan aged 20 years, collier. Died on the 14th.
  • James Burgam aged 24 years, collier, single, left a wife and three children. Died on the 16th.
  • Matthew Tingle aged 35 years, collier, left a wife and six children. Died on the 19th.

Those who were injured were;

  • Henry Jenkins, fireman, married with five children.
  • William Meredith, underground agent.
  • Thomas Meredith, collier, son of William.
  • Richard Wiggle, collier, married with five children two of whom were also burnt.
  • George Meredith, collier, married with five children two of whom were burnt.
  • Peter Price, collier, single.
  • John Ruck, collier, married with a child.
  • James Williams, collier, married with one child.

The “Guardian”  does say that the injured were “not fatally injured” but as the official total of victims ads 13, it is probable that some of the injured died later.

Another list records those who lost their lives as:

  • Edmund Beard aged 22 years
  • James Burgam aged 24 who left a wife and three children
  • William Davies aged 17 years, haulier
  • William Jones aged 17 sawyer
  • James Morgan aged 20 years
  • William Sanders aged 12, doorboy
  • David Thomas aged 23 years, single
  • Matthew Tingle aged 35 years left a wife and six children

Those who survived the blast were:

  • Henry Jenkins, fireman
  • William Meredith
  • Mr. Powell’s agent
  • Thomas Meredith, son of William
  • Peter Price
  • George Ready
  • John Ruck
  • Richard Wiggle

At the inquest held before Mr. Overton, the District Coroner, Harry Jenkins, the fireman said:

The roof was breaking up and was likely to fall, Ruck, George Ready and several others were propping it up while I was engaged in culling a new air road. When we were so engaged, part of the roof fell and a blower came out against my candle and an explosion took place. I had been in the stall for only five minutes before and there was no gas then. I am quite sure that it was from my candle that the gas took fire. I had my lamp with me but it did not give sufficient light to enable me to remove the plates. The roof of the stall had shown symptoms of falling and that was the treason I had taken up the plates. I hung my lamp to show if there was any gags in the stall and I am quite sure there was none until the roof fell.

All the doors were swept away in the explosion and a large part of the pit was immediately filled with afterdamp and as the men tried to get out, they met this gas in the east level. The Report concluded that:

The ventilation of mines can only be maintained, or speedily restored in the event of an explosion, in so far a the air courses are of a permanent nature and so arranged as to force the air to split itself and to take a determinate course, without the intervention of doors or other easily destructible barriers.

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

 

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