| Year | Month | Day | Name of Colliery | Where situated | Owners name | Person(s) killed | Occupation | Age if given | Category of Accident | Cause of death | Extra Details? |
| 1863 | January | 10 | Govan No 2 Pit | Glasgow | W D Dixon | William Mannel | Brusher | 36 | Miscellaneous | Explosion of gunpowder | |
| 1863 | January | 13 | No 3 Chapelhall | Airdrie | Monkland Iron Co | James Torrance | Brusher | 20 | Falls of roof | The Virtue Well coal roof which he was brushing fell upon him | Newspaper report |
| 1863 | January | 21 | Clackmannan | Clackmannan | Clackmannan Coal Co | John Allan | Collier | 33 | Falls of roof | Neglected to prop up roof at face | |
| 1863 | January | 22 | No 3 Cleland | Holytown | W S Dixon | John Yuile | Contractor | 27 | Falls of roof | A piece of Pyotshaw coal 20' by 15' by 3' fell upon him as he was taking out the props which kept it up | Newspaper report - Cambusnethan pages |
| 1863 | January | 29 | Chapel Colliery | Wishaw | William Aitken | Jas McLean | Collier | 18 | Falls of roof | Fall of top coal at face | Newspaper report - Cambusnethan pages |
| 1863 | January | 30 | Oakley | Dunfermline | Forth Iron Co | John McLay | Fireman | -- | Ironstone mines – miscellaneous | Suffocated by choke damp while going round workings | |
| 1863 | January | 31 | East Drumoyne | John Crawford | Newspaper report | ||||||
| 1863 | February | 7 | George Pit, Fordell | Dunfermline | G W M Henderson | Joan Muir | Pit-head woman | 50 | In shafts | Ran an empty tub into the pit and fell after it. Recommended sliding gates | Newspaper report |
| 1863 | February | 10 | Balgrayhill | Lanarkshire | John | McCartney | Newspaper report | ||||
| 1863 | February | 11 | Pather | Wishaw | Boyd & Spencer | Thos Straton | Collier | -- | Falls of roof | Fall of stones from roof at face | Newspaper report - Cambusnethan pages |
| 1863 | February | 12 | Bredisholm | Baillieston | Provanhall Coal Co | Archd Young | Collier | 31 | Falls of roof | A piece of Pyotshaw coal 24' by 22' by 4 which he was preparing to take down fell upon him | |
| 1863 | February | 12 | Nitshill | Hurlet | G & T Coates | Michael Docherty | Collier | 63 | Falls of coal and roof | Fall of coal | |
| 1863 | February | 16 | Woodhill No 5 | Kilmarnock | Merry & Cunningham | William McHarq | assistant pitheadman | 62 | In shafts | Fell down the shaft when pushing a hutch in to the wrong side |
The pit was protected on one side by a moveable guard. The deceased
was pit-headman, and in a state of absence unknowingly pushed
an empty hutch into the wrong side of the shaft, and fell to
the bottom with it. If a simple guard had been placed upon the open side of the shaft, similar to what was placed upon the other, which would probably have cost 5s., this unfortunate occurrence would have been prevented. |
| 1863 | February | 18 | Enterkine | Ayr | J T Gordon | Hamilton McGill | Engineman | 23 | Above ground | By getting entangled with the fly wheel when putting the winding machinery into gear |
The machinery at this pit is of the usual description, and it
is fitted up so that it can be used either to pump water or to
wind coals. It would appear that on the night of the accident there was a shift of workmen employed in the pit. A signal had been made from below to put the winding machinery into gear. The deceased had gone direct to the gearing, which is outside of the engine-house, for the purpose of shifting the drum shaft into gear, and while in the act of doing so he had leaned upon one of the arms of the fly-wheel which set it in motion, and the steam not being shut off, the engine immediately got into action. In consequence of the sudden movement of the fly-wheel, the deceased must either have lost his balance, and fallen into the recess where the fly-wheel works in, or got entangled with the fly-wheel, and been dragged round with it. A person who was in the engine-house at the time observed the accident, and very properly rushed to the handle of the engine and stopped it, but before this could be done the deceased was dragged right round the fly-wheel pit, a narrow contracted opening, and jammed between the fly-wheel and the side of the engine-house. In this case there must have been some overlook on the part of the engine man, in not thoroughly shutting off the steam before leaving the engine ; but it is proper to observe that there had also been some overlook on the part of those intrusted with the management. According to the 14th general rule, it is provided that "the fly-wheel of every engine shall be securely fenced." And if such a fence had been constructed around the fly-wheel in question, in all probability this distressing occurrence would not have taken place. |
| 1863 | February | 19 | Quarry Pit, Calder | Coatbridge | W S Dixon | Thomas Walker | Pony driver | 15 | Ironstone mines – in shafts | Fell out of the cage, apparently when attempting to step off it, at a mid-working |
There was some mystery about how this accident happened. The
deceased, who was a pony driver, was descending to his work on
the morning of the accident, in company with another lad, Scobbie,
also engaged driving a pony underground. They had got properly on to the cage at the pitmouth, and were being lowered in the usual way, but when passing a "mid working" it is supposed that the deceased had either stumbled or mistaken it for the bottom, and in attempting to step off the cage fell past it and to the bottom of the shaft. What was most singular, Scobbie, the boy who accompanied the deceased, never saw him after leaving the surface, although they were both observed passing a mid working, and did not discover that an accident had taken place till the cage was lowered upon his companion at the pit bottom. |
| 1863 | February | 21 | Barbauchlaw | Bathgate | Monkland Steel Co | Robert Livingstone | Miner | -- | Ironstone mines – in shafts | A hutch fell out of an upper seam upon him while he was ascending the pit. Gates put on | |
| 1863 | February | 24 | Shaws | Hamilton | Robt G Cooper | Andw. Brown | Oversman | -- | Falls of roof | Fall of roof at face while he was examining it | Newspaper report - Dalserf pages(actually 11 February 1863) |
| 1863 | February | 26 | Robroyston No 2 | Bishopbriggs | Colin Dunlop & Co | Thomas Kean | Sinker | 45 | Ironstone mines – in shafts | Fell out of the barrel and to the bottom of the shaft a distance of 8 fathoms | There were three persons on the "kettle" at the time the accident happened. It was in the act of being lowered, and had reached to within eight fathoms of the bottom. Nothing unusual had taken place, such as the kettle being driven against the walls of the shaft or otherwise ; and the only way in which those who accompanied him could account for it, was to suppose that he had lost his hold of the chains during some momentary fit of sickness. |
| 1863 | March | 2 | Redding | Mary Bain | Newspaper report | ||||||
| 1863 | March | 4 | Gauchland | Galston | Gauchland Coal Co | Alexander Kerr | Collier | 24 | In shafts | By a small bolt falling from the pit mouth upon the deceased when crossing the shaft |
There is always a certain amount of risk in crossing a shaft,
from the falling of loose stones, coals, &c., or, as in this
case, from things falling from the surface at the pit-mouth,
and when persons employed underground have occasion to go from
one side of a shaft to another, the proper way is to pass by
a roadway or opening formed round the end of the shaft for that
purpose. In this case there was an opening around the end of the shaft, though not very complete ; but underground workmen, and " bottomers" in particular, persons specially appointed to see that the shaft arrangements are carried out, very often cross the shaft in preference to going a few feet round about. The system is absurd, and the present case is a forcible illustration. |
| 1863 | March | 5 | No 1 Morningside | Wishaw | Shotts Iron Co | Jas Watson | Collier | 24 | Falls of roof | A piece of roofstone 9' x 4' x18' at face, in Virtue Well seam (Longwall) fell upon him | Newspaper report - Cambusnethan pages |
| 1863 | March | 11 | Dysart | Dysart | Lord Rosslyn | Peter Adamson | Collier | 12 | Falls of roof | Fall of top coal 5' x15' x 15' while the boy was passing under it with his tub | |
| 1863 | March | 13 | Drummellier | Denny | William Baird & Co | David Gillespie | Boy | 15 | Ironstone mines – falls of ironstone and roof | Fall of roof while engaged “holing” | Newspaper report - Stirlingshire pages |
| 1863 | March | 13 | Gauchland | Galston | Gauchland Coal Co | Duncan Ramage | Collier | 19 | Falls of coal and roof | Fall of roof at the face | |
| 1863 | March | 16 | Lawhill | Lanarkshire | NK | Robert Russell | Many thanks to John Graham for supplying these details Newspaper report - Cambusnethan pages | ||||
| 1863 | March | 26 | Dixton No 19 | Cumnock | William Baird & Co | James Donally | Drawer | 27 | Ironstone mines – falls of ironstone and roof | Fall of roof in a drawing road | Newspaper report - Ayrshire pages |
| 1863 | April | 4 | No 5 Polkemmet | Bathgate | Shotts Iron Co | Hugh Allan | Miner | -- | Ironstone mines – falls of roof | Fall of roof at face | Newspaper report |
| 1863 | April | 7 | Kinneil | Bo'ness | George Wilson & Co | William Brown | Miner | -- | Ironstone mines – falls of roof | Fall of roof at face | Newspaper report - Lothians pages |
| 1863 | April | 10 | Hurlford | Hurlford | John Howie | James Wallace | Collier | 29 | Falls of coal and roof | Fall of coal at the face | |
| 1863 | April | 14 | Ayr, Sheep Park pit | Ayr | J T Gordon | Edward McEwen | Collier | 35 | Falls of coal and roof | Fall of roof | |
| 1863 | April | 22 | Drumbathie | Airdrie | Drumbathie Coal Co | ----- | Pit-head man | 50 | In shafts | Ran a tub into a pit 30 feet deep and was killed by falling down after it | Newspaper report - New Monkland pages |
| 1863 | May | 2 | Galston | Galston | John Horne | Edward McGhee | Collier | 23 | Falls of coal and roof | Fall of coal | |
| 1863 | May | 6 | Polkemmet | Bathgate | Monkland Steel Co | Pat Ryder | Sinker | -- | Ironstone mines – in shafts | The kettle catched on buntons while ascending in a sinking pit, and he was pitched out, and fell to the pit bottom | |
| 1863 | May | 8 | Lochgelly | Lochgelly | Lochgelly Iron Co | Robert Beveridge | Drawer | 14 | Falls of roof | A piece of top coal in the Splint-and-Parrot seam fell upon deceased as he was passing under | |
| 1863 | May | 19 | Bredisholm | Baillieston | John Young | Thomas Flinn | Boy | 13 | Falls of coal and roof | Fall of roof | |
| 1863 | May | 25 | Walliford | Musselburgh | C & A Christie | Willm Howie | Collier | 34 | Falls of roof | A piece of top coal in “Great Seam” worked by “stoop and room” fell upon him as he was taking it down | |
| 1863 | May | 30 | Greystone-lea | Wishaw | Shotts Iron Co | M Canobie | Fireman | -- | Above ground | A plug was driven into the end of a steam-pipe to prevent the steam which was escaping through a leaky valve, blowing into a cistern he was cleaning. The pressure blew the plug out and he was burnt by the steam and water that followed. Died this day. | |
| 1863 | June | 2 | Armsheugh No 1 | Irvine | Merry & Cunningham | Daniel Symm | Collier | 33 | Falls of coal and roof | Fall of coal and roof | |
| 1863 | June | 3 | Binniehill | Slammanan | A C Brown | John Shaw | Drawer | 14 | In shafts | Fell from Lady Grange seam to splint seam, a distance of 27 fathoms. Bottomers put on since | |
| 1863 | June | 9 | Struthers | Kilmarnock | John Gilmour & Co | John Easton | Dep. Foreman | 35 | Explosions | Explosion of fire damp |
The workings in this pit, on account of troubles, were limited,
and of an exploratory kind. The accident took place in an abandoned part of the mine. No person had occasion to travel in it; and it was well known to the fireman that it contained fire-damp. The deceased was acting as deputy overman, as least he was engaged attending to the details of management. It would appear that on the day of the accident he and the regular fireman had gone in to the abandoned part of the mine above indicated, and, according to the fireman's explanation, for the purpose of taking out a part of the "brattice," employed in this case to direct the current of air to the face of the place known to contain firedamp; and while they were thus engaged the gas was ignited at one of their unprotected lights. They were both burned, and the deceased died from the effects of it. |
| 1863 | June | 16 | Barbauchlaw | Bathgate | Monkland Steel Co | William Strang | Miner | -- | Ironstone mines – falls of roof | Fall of coal and stone | |
| 1863 | June | 16 | Briggend, Elderslie | Johnstone | W S Dixon | John Provan | Miner | 35 | Ironstone mines – in shafts | Was struck upon a scaffold by a stone while engaged stripping the shaft | |
| 1863 | June | 19 | Shotts Iron Works | Motherwell | Shotts Iron Co | Williamson Barton | Drawer | 16 | Ironstone mines – falls of roof | Piece of stone fell on him while passing with his loaded hutch. He died on 16th July | |
| 1863 | June | 25 | Armsheugh No 1 | Irvine | Merry & Cunningham | Patrick Madden | Boy | 16 | In shafts | By the cage being raised while he was putting a hutch upon it |
According to the special rules of this colliery, there is a person
stationed at the pit-bottom, whose duty it is to see the hutches
with the loads placed safely upon the cages, and to give the
necessary signals to the engineman, when men or materials require
to be raised. The deceased had on the day of the accident pushed forward his hutch in the usual way, for the purpose of placing it on the cage, when a boy, who worked on the opposite side, also pushed forward his hutch for the same purpose, and the two hutches met together on the cage ; of course neither of them getting properly on it. I understand that the bottomer, who was usually stationed at the opposite side from the deceased, went to assist him to place his hutch properly upon the cage. Unfortunately, the poor lad, in his anxiety to get the hutch properly into its place, went upon the cage, which was suddenly lifted, and he, getting entangled with it and the sides of the shaft, received such injuries as proved fatal immediately afterwards. There are defined signals by which the engineman is guided in his movements, and the persons employed underground trust implicitly to these signals. In the present case the cage had been lifted through the culpable neglect of the engineman in failing to observe these important precautions. He was charged by the Procurator Fiscal of Ayr with culpable homicide. The case was brought before the sheriff substitute of Ayr and a jury. They found the charge proven, and he was sentenced to one month's imprisonment. |
| 1863 | June | 26 | Cambusnethan | Wishaw | D & J Sneddon | Sam. McCutcheon | Collier | 22 | Falls of roof | Killed while knocking out props to “let down” the “falling” under the Pyotshaw coal | |
| 1863 | June | 29 | Cowdenbeath | Dunfermline | Forth Iron Co | Robert Watson | Collier | 55 | Falls of roof | A piece of top coal 4 ½' x15' x 15' which he was trying to take down fell upon him | |
| 1863 | June | 30 | Gartshore No 1 | Kilsyth | W Baird & Co | James Carrol | Inclineman | 17 | Ironstone mines – miscellaneous | Was jammed between the empty and full load |