HEATHFIELD. Wolverhampton, Staffordshire. 9th. February, 1848.
The colliery was the property of Messrs. Salter and Raybould. Seven men who had been working during the night were replaced at 6 a.m. by twenty-nine others and soon after they had descended, the explosion took place. The shock was felt throughout the neighbourhood and flames shot from the shaft. A man who had fixed his candle under the coal was supposed to have caused the explosion and was found buried under an enormous mass of coal. Another account gave the cause as a sudden outburst of an enormous amount of gas and yet another to the negligence of a doggy. Several were injured and sixteen died as a result of the explosion. Thirteen escaped and five horses were killed.
Those who lost their lives were:
- John Lowe.
- Henry Broadway.
- John Casetty.
- Robert Harper.
- Richard Bullock.
- William Noak.
- Walter White.
- George Bird.
- J. Taylor.
- William Johnson.
- James Sudley.
- John Grice.
- Joseph Halford.
- Absolom Sleator.
- Charles Horton.
- P. Taylor.
The inquest was held before Coroner G. Hinchcliffe at the Dartmouth Hotel when the jury returned the verdict that:
That it had been caused through the negligence of John Meek, the doggy, that the men lost their lives and therefore we return a verdict of manslaughter against him.
Meek, aged between 30 and 40 years, was bound over to appear at the next Staffordshire assizes.
REFERENCES
Annals of Coal Mining. Galloway. Vol.2, p.99.
Mining Journal. Vol. xviii, p. 70, 85, 97.
Mining Almanac for 1849.
Information supplied by Ian Winstanley and the Coal Mining History Resource Centre.
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