Brereton Colliery Explosion – Brereton – 1861

BRERETON. Brereton, Staffordshire. 6th. February, 1861.

The colliery was the property of The Earl of Shrewsbury and was near Rugley. Seven men were killed in an explosion of firedamp. It was known that there was gas in the mine. A fault had been struck and water had flooded the lower seams of the colliery and the water was rising.

A few days before the explosion the water had cut off all communication between the two shafts and prevented the shaft in which the disaster took place being ventilated. The manager of the colliery were aware of the situation but took no steps to restore the ventilation. Safety lamps were not used to make an inspection as was demanded by the Special Rule 17 and he thought that gas might have accumulated under the scaffold.

The explosion took place shortly after the undermanger had visited the sump and the scaffold was blown out and completely demolished. Two bodies were found in the sump and the rest in the workings near the shaft. Only the man who was working on the scaffold showed signs of being burnt. The gas that was thought by the manager to be under the sump had escaped as the debris was removed and fired a workman’s candle. The afterdamp had suffocated the five men in the headways.

Those who died were:

• John Gough, aged 54 years, collier, married.
• J. Gough, aged 15 years, collier.
• Daniel Clarke, aged 54 years, collier, married with eight children.
• Thomas Kent, aged 48 years, collier married with seven children.
• T. Burgess, aged 32 years, collier.
• John Burgess, aged 36 years, collier, married with seven children.
• Edward Kent, son of Thomas.

The undermanager of the colliery stated that he never used a safety lamp and indeed did not understand them. Mr. Baker strongly recommended that other means should be taken than natural ventilation and that furnaces should be adopted at the colliery.

The jury returned a verdict of “Accidental Death” and added:

That the deceased persons met their deaths through an explosion of firedamp occasioned by an accumulation of gas under the stage of scaffold, which would have been prevented by having the pits properly ventilated.

The Inspector, Mr. Baker, commented:

This accident illustrates the necessity of using competent men to supervise the working of mines and of carefully maintaining a complete and uninterrupted ventilation in every part of the mine workings by artificial means.

As a result of the accident the manager and the undermanager were summoned before the magistrates and fined. The manager was found guilty of a violation of the 1st. General Rule and fined the sum of 10/-. The undermanager was charged with a violation of the Special Rules 3 and 17 and fined £20 and one shilling. Under the direction of the Secretary of State, Sir G.C. Lewis, the fines were distributed among the families of the people who lost their lives. Mr. Baker and J. Whitgreave, one of the Justices, made the payments.

REFERENCES
The Mines Inspectors Report, 1861. Mr. Baker.
The Colliery Guardian, 16th February 1861. p.107.

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