ROUNDS GREEN NEW PIT. Oldbury, Staffordshire. 17th. November, 1846.
The pit was in Newberry Lane and the property of Mr. North of Wednesbury. Shortly after twenty-five men had descended the pit on a Tuesday morning, a section of the men was found to be filled with firedamp. The mine was worked with naked lights and the subsequent explosion killed nineteen and another was not expected to survive. There were men in the shaft being wound down at the time of the blast. As the flame came up the shaft they were blown 30 feet into the air and two fell down the shaft to their deaths. Mr. North went down the pit and found the two men T. Roden and W. Henshaw at the bottom of the shaft.
Among the twenty who died were:
- T. Roden
- W. Henshaw
- Joseph Troth
- Jacob Boden
- John Windmill
- Samuel Boden
- Job Holland, butty.
The inquest was held at the Talbot Arms, Oldbury when a verdict of “Accidental Death” was returned on account of the imperfect ventilation of the pit. The accident was made the subject of a special government inquiry.
REFERENCES
Annals of Coal Mining. Galloway. Vol.2, p.97.
Mining Journal. Vol. xvi, p.494, 503.
Information supplied by Ian Winstanley and the Coal Mining History Resource Centre.
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