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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Northumberland => Topic started by: Geordie Mag on Tuesday 18 January 11 21:22 GMT (UK)
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I have found among family papers a very scrappy newspaper cutting, without a date or any identification of the newspaper, headed "Explosion at Fallowfield lead mine". This states that there had been an explosion at Fallowfield on the Monday morning and that William Little (my g.g. uncle I think) of Lantern House Acomb and William Davison, also of Acomb, had been injured. I have found out from the Mines website that Fallowfield had in fact ceased being used as a leadmine in 1846 and had been used for extracting wetherite since then. However it had closed in1911 (although another site says 1913), possibly beacuse of increased competition. However I can find no mention anywhere of this explosion. Does anyone know when it happened?
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I can only find three deaths for this pit one in 1873 and two in 1909,no mention of explosions,
The Durham mining museum has some very interesting information on the pit for you to look at,
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GM,
Was your gg uncle a leadminer or a coalminer ? From your knowledge of him can you not estimate a time window for the explosion ?
Michael
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Have you read this?
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/NORTHUMBRIA/1998-07/0901593154
http://www.dmm.org.uk/colliery/f909.htm
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Thanks for the links and interest- I shall browse and report if I find anything significant. William was born about 1849. In the 1881 census, he is living at Acomb and recorded as a lead miner, which suggests he was not at Fallowfield at the time. His brother, my g. gradfather, was however a coal miner. Little being a common name, there are several deaths recorded for William Littles in the Hexham district (assuming he was there at his death). The most likely seems 1905. I have some of my grandfather's diaries, but the earliest is about 1911, so no information there.
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Were the only casualties the two injured men?
If so I'm thinking that this was more likely to be a shot blasting accident rather than the kind of explosion that qualifies as a disaster and gets a mention on dmm.
Also more likely to be reported in a local newspaper than one of the larger ones. Maybe you could track down which paper this would be.
Christine
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Good thinking C-side.
Geordie mag try here:
http://www.northumberland.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=2041
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The Newcastle Courant, June 1, 1877 has a short item about an explosion in the Fallow Field Mine in which 8 or 9 men were severely burned. Most severely burned was Wm. Little, Lantern House.
If you send me your e.mail address via PM can send you image of the article.
regards
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Item forwarded - hope it's more than the newspaper article you're already holding. At least we have a date
regards
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The Newcastle Courant article does indeed seem to refer to the same incident, so many thanks for that, but in much greater detail. It says William Little was severely injured and that John Maddison of Hexham, George Davison of Acomb, W. Eddy of Fallowfield and George Hall of Fallowfield were "much burnt". Several others were "slightly burnt". The men were taken home and 2 doctors from Hexham came out to see to them.
Having found the cutting with my grandfather's papers, I had assumed that the explosion must have taken place around the turn of the century, so I had been looking in the wrong places. Unless he was extremely precocious (he was 2 years old in 1877!) he must have found it in old family papers as well.
Anyway, William did survive, since he is recorded in the 1881 census. He can't have been in very good shape though.
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It is possible that the article you originally referred to came from the Hexham Courant.
Now that there is a more precise date I'll have a look at the microfilm at the library.
Jennifer
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That would be very kind. Thank you. The article says that the explosion took place on the preceeding Monday. I feel, however, that the Hexham Courant would give more details not fewer. You would think it would be in their interests to name as many names as possible to increase local sales. Usually that's the policy with local papers now, and it can't have been that different then.
I have been wondering whether my grandfather had some very early memory/sense of the turmoil caused by the explosion and that's why he kept the cutting. His parents also lived in Acomb, but at a very early age he was sent off to live with his grandparents in Hexham, where they had The Bush Inn. Were they getting him out of the way? No knowing; just speculation brought on by the early date!
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Hexham Courant, Saturday 2nd June, 1877
EXPLOSION OF GAS AT FALLOWFIELD MINES, NEAR HEXHAM
SEVERAL MEN SERIOUSLY HURT
On Monday morning, an explosion of gas occurred at Fallowfield Lead Mines near Hexham, by which five men were seriously injured and several others slightly burnt. The men had resumed work between six and seven o’clock, and there were about twelve men in the Windy Hill shaft at the time the accident took place. One of the men named William Little, who lives at Lantern House, near Acomb, was very seriously hurt about the head, face and legs, his face being almost literally covered with blood. John Maddison, a married man living in Gilesgate, Hexham, was seriously burnt, as was also George Davison of Acomb; Wm. Eddy, Fallowfield, was burnt about the face and back of the head, and one of the hands, also slightly on the legs. Geo. Hall of Low Engine House, Fallowfield, was also seriously burnt. Other five men in the shaft at the time were only slightly burnt. One of the injured men stated that the explosion took place soon after they entered the shaft. He says Maddison went forward with a lamp which “brought the gas onto the candles”, and the explosion followed. Some of the men not so far forward as Maddison, when they heard the report of the explosion, flung themselves on the ground, and thus partly escaped being burnt. The injured men were quickly removed to their respective homes, and were promptly attended by Dr Stewart (Hexham), Mr Rowlands (Humshaugh), Dr Kendall, Dr Fox and Dr Farmer of Hexham. The names of the five men most seriously hurt are:-
Wm. Little of Lantern House, married
John Maddison of Gilesgate, Hexham, married
George Davison, Acomb, married
Wm. Eddy, Fallowfield, married
Geo. Hall, Low Engine House, Fallowfield, married
The names of the men slightly burnt are:-
Wm. Telford, Wall, single
Daniel Waldon, Cockshaw, Hexham, single
Thos. Brown, Acomb, single
Edward Eddy, Fallowfield, single
Other two men, named Jos. Brown and T. Little were just in the act of entering the shaft when the explosion took place, and so escaped unhurt.
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Nice detective work JenB. ;D
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Although Fallowfield was mainly a lead and witherite producer there were also seams of coal cut by the workings, which coal was used to fire the boiler of the pumping engine. That might account for the presence of gas.
Peter
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Wow - that is wonderful. Thank you very much.JenB, a problem well solved. It also brings in another member of the family, as the T Little, who was just entering the mine, would be the youngest member of the family, Thomas. By the 1881 census, he was living in York and working as a night watchman, so I guess he made the very sensible decision after the explosion to get away and find safer work. The information about the coal seams does make more sense of the story, Peter, because drowning and rockfalls were the usual hazards in lead mines, not gas explosions. Since my g grandfather was a coal miner, I wonder if he was working there as well. I always assumed he was working in one of the coal mines further up the N. Tyne. The detailed description does bring home the danger that all miners faced as they entered new sections of workings. There must have been a constant sense of fear.
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The only thing left to solve (although irrelevant ;D ) is which newspaper the original cutting came from.
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Well - yes. I must admit that the identity of the original newspaper has been slightly exercising my mind. (However, the word 'slightly' is an important qualifier here! ) I have in fact an impressive collection of other newspaper cuttings about a variety of topics, all carefully saved by my father, but I never have to worry about their provenance as my father was a journalist and newspaper librarian and therefore most careful in dating all cuttings as well as naming the source. That is what intrigued me about the cutting in question - it obviously pre-dated my father (he lived through the 20th century almost in its entirety).
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I'll have a quick look at The Hexham Herald microfilm next time I'm in the library ;D
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You are kind - but don't worry about it. I have all the key information now. I am still surprised that after such a horrific accident William a) obviously survived for quite a few years and b) was still working as a lead miner 4 years after the accident. Case of having to keep going, I suppose.
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I coudn't resist having a look at the Hexham Herald and there's an even longer article there, including much more detail of the actual circumstances leading up to the explosion; I thought you'd be interested to read that part of the article:
Hexham Herald, 2nd June 1877.
Maddison states that he and William Little were the first to enter the mine shortly after 6 o’clock in the morning. It was his (Maddison’s) duty to go forward into ‘the rise’ and examine the workings in order to ascertain whether or not they were clear of gas before the men went into work. On the morning in question he went in advance of the men into the rise as he had been previously in the habit of doing. He blew out his candle as soon as he had 'fettled’ his Davy lamp and went forward through the canvas erected for the purpose of splitting the air, up to the last holing. It was difficult to see the road he was climbing with the scant light of the Davy lamp, and one of the men said “Will you have a candle handed up”. As there was a good current of air, and he did not suspect the presence of explosive gas, never having known gas to accumulate in that part of the workings before, he consented to have a lighted candle handed up. As soon as the lighted candle was handed up, by one of the men, a number of whom were sitting below, not four feet from the place where he was standing, the gas exploded, and he was knocked down and rendered insensible. He soon recovered consciousness, and crawled along the level to the shaft in the dark, not daring to strike a light till near the shaft foot. Wm Little, one of the miners most severely injured, arrived at the bottom of the shaft in company with George Craft, another of the miners who had gone down shortly after the explosion took place, about the same time as he did. Oil was freely poured over the burns sustained by the unfortunate miners, and their wounds were covered up to protect them from the action of the air previous to their being brought up the shaft. A trap door was wrenched away and other damage has been done to the mine.
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That is really quite chilling isn't it? it gives a horrible sense of the daily anxiety of going into a mine and not knowing what would happen. I wonder what sort of oil got poured into their burns? Actually, I'm not sure I want to know! I see the current journal of the NDFHS has an article on Kate Middleton's descent from a miner at Fallowfield. The 18th and 19th century miners would all have been a bit bemused by that.
Thank you very much. That article really helps to flesh out the details of everyday life. My grandfather apparently started off going intoa local mine when he left school, but hated it and only lasted a few weeks. He went off to work for the North British Railway at Wall station. A very wise career move for a 12 year old.
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I have posted 3 photos of the explosion here - https://www.flickr.com/search/?w=36891793@N08&q=fallowfield%20
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Thank you for posting the photos. I like the 2 little men waving from the top of the chimney - there may have been a disaster, but they weren't going to miss their moment in the limelight.