1863 Deaths July to December

1863 Deaths listed in Mine Inspectors Report

July to December

This table is compiled from appendices to the reports of the Inspector of Mines and Collieries - William Alexander for the Western District of Scotland and Ralph Moore for the Eastern District of Scotland. Unless stated otherwise, the extra details are from the main body of the report.

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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	July	6	Arniston	Dalkeith	John Christie	----- Black	Roadsman	--	Falls of roof	He was “gearing” a road when a large stone fell upon him
1863	July	9	Govan No 4	Glasgow	W S Dixon	Bernard Boyce	Brusher	60	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of stones at the face
1863	July	11	Woodside	Hamilton	Jas Smith & Son	Thos. Melvin	Drawer	45	In shafts	He fell down to a lower seam. The scaffold had been removed unknown to him during the previous night and had not been replaced by the oversman
1863	July	13	Braehead	Baillieston	Chas Tennant & Co	H McRory	Collier	--	In shafts		see below
1863	July	13	Braehead	Baillieston	Chas Tennant & Co	Wm Nocher	Collier	--	In shafts		Mrs. Nochar, mother to William Nochar, who was killed on 13th July 1863, by over-winding at Braehead Colliery, sued Messrs. Charles Tennant & Co., the proprietors, for damages in name of reparation and solatium, for the loss, sustained by her on account of the death of her son. Sheriff Henry Glassford Bell, of Glasgow, the judge, in his award "Finds that the pursuer is a widow, of 56 years of age, and the deceased, who was 20 at the time of his death, resided with, and contributed to, his mother's support; the wages he was earning, and which he shared with the pursuer, being about 20s. a week : finds said pursuer entitled to reparation both for loss and in name of solatium, and assesses the same at the sum of £80 sterling, for which decerns against the defenders : Finds them also liable in expenses, allows an account thereof to be given in, and remits the same to the auditor of the court, to tax and report." (1865 report)
1863	July	13	Curriemire No 2	Kilsyth	W Baird & Co	William Walker	Boy	11	Ironstone mines – explosions	Explosion of fire damp
1863	July	25	Inglestone Mine	Denny	W Baird & Co	Archibald Neil	Oversman	53	Ironstone mines – explosions	Explosion of fire damp	The deceased, Robert Neil [sic], took the responsible charge of the mine and it was his practice to examine the works in the morning before the workmen were allowed to enter to their working places. He was alone when the explosion took place. But it is supposed that he had taken it for granted that a certain district of the working would be free of fire-damp, and in making his examination of it had not taken the precaution to use his safety lamp. Neil was an experienced workman. Unfortunately the mistake made by him is too common among underground firemen. They, perhaps, from experience, find that a certain district of a mine is generally free of fire-damp, and trusting to it think it unnecessary to use a safety lamp till within a reasonable distance of where fire-damp is known or may be anticipated; forgetful that some temporary derangement, it may be at a main trap door or aircourse, may render a district of the mine dangerous which under ordinary circumstances would have been quite safe. The proper way to examine a mine in the morning is to assume that danger may exist in any part of it, and on no account to introduce an unprotected light till after every accessible and working place has been carefully examined.
1863	August	9	Wemyss	Kirkcaldy	J E Wemyss MP	P Matthieson	Roadsman	55	In shafts	Squeezed by cage in pit. Want of proper signals
1863	August	12	Struthers	Kilmarnock	John Gilmour & Co	Andrew Buntin, sen	Bottomer	50	In shafts	By falling from a mid-working to the bottom of the shaft	In this pit there were two seams being worked; the "upper," at 46 fathoms, and the "lower," at 62 fathoms. The deceased was bottomer at the upper seam, where he had been employed for a few weeks, and previous to that he had been stationed at the pit-bottom or lower seam. There was no person near when the accident happened; but a drawer who was approaching the pit-bottom with a loaded hutch heard a noise as of some one falling down the shaft, and saw the glare of a light. From the fact of the deceased's flask being found close to the side of the pit without the stopper, it is supposed that at the time of the accident he had been in the act of collecting water from the side of the shaft in to his flask, and in doing this he had either overbalanced or otherwise missed his footing, and fell down the shaft a distance of 16 fathoms.
1863	August	12	Westcommon	Glasgow	Wilson & Co	Alex Bryson	Foreman engineer	36	Ironstone mines – above ground	Got entangled with the machinery while taking measurements of some of the working parts	The deceased was a foreman mechanical engineer, and at the time of the accident he was engaged making measurements of part of the machinery for the purpose of introducing some new fittings. The engine, which had been stopped to enable him to make the measurements, was started as soon as they were made, and it appears that he had gone out of the way to a safe distance to jot the necessary markings, &c., but on returning it is supposed to make a check measurement he had either missed his footing, or got entangled with part of the revolving machinery, and received such injuries as shortly after proved fatal.
1863	August	12	Westmuir	Glasgow	Robert Gray & Co	Archibald Burns	Collier	46	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of coal
1863	August	13	Sunnyside	Wishaw	Archibald Russell	John Allan	Collier	30	Falls of roof	Fall of roof while taking out pillars
1863	August	19	Eglinton No 9	Kilwinning	Archd Kenneth	James Blane	Collier	50	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of coal and roof
1863	August	26	Bartonholm No 3	Kilwinning	Eglinton Iron Co	John Blue	Drawer	13	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of roof
1863	August	28	Cuttlehill	Dunfermline	Henderson & Wallace	Alex Penman	Collier	19	Falls of roof	Fall of roof. A piece of stone fell out between 2 “lipes”
1863	September	1	Abercorn No 5	Johnstone	Merry & Cunningham	William Broadby	Miner	33	Ironstone mines – falls of ironstone and roof	Fall of ironstone at face
1863	September	1	Craigston No 1	Cumnock	W Baird & Co	Robert Neil	Miner	22	Ironstone mines – falls of ironstone and roof	Fall of roof at the face
1863	September	1	Dalharco No 1	Dalmellington	Dalmellington Iron Co	Alex Bell	Collier	55	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of coal
1863	September	2	Ayr, Sheep Park pit	Ayr	J T Gordon	Hugh Tannock	Drawer	20	Explosions	Explosion of fire damp	In this case it is supposed that the accident happened at a point leading into a working place, but which had been abandoned for two or three weeks previous to the accident. It was known that a limited quantity of fire-damp sometimes lay in a high part of the roof there. Tannock, one of the deceased, had been observed going in toward this place, when shortly after the explosion happened. According to the second general rule of the statute, it is provided that "All entrances to any place not in actual course of working and extension, and suspected to contain dangerous gas of any kind, shall be properly fenced off so as to prevent access thereto." The Procurator Fiscal has instituted proceedings against the managers of the colliery, but up to this time no decision has been given.
1863	September	2	Ayr, Sheep Park pit	Ayr	J T Gordon	John McLean	Collier	40	Explosions	Explosion of fire damp
1863	September	7	Hawhill No 3	Baillieston	James McKenzie	Charles O'Neil	Labourer	30	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of roof
1863	September	8	Gartshore No 1	Kilsyth	W Baird & Co	William Thompson	Engineman	22	Ironstone mines – above ground	Got entangled with the machinery when oiling it	The mechanical arrangements at this mine are of the usual description. There are two steam engines; one is used for pumping water, and the other for winding purposes. The deceased was one of the enginemen. It appears that at the time of the accident he was about to leave off his shift ; and, according, to the information of the fireman he observed him put the pumping engine in motion, and take up the, oil "pourie," apparently with the view of oiling some part of the machinery, when a few minutes after he heard a cry, and on going to the pumping engine, which had suddenly stopped, he found the deceased lying jammed partly between the "wheel" and the "pinion," fearfully mangled. Judging from the position in which the body was found, drawn in between the wheel and pinion, it appeared to me that while in the act of oiling the shafting of the pumping engine he had slipped or missed his footing, and in coming in contact with the revolving wheel had by it been drawn into the face of the pinion as above described. The present case is a very fair illustration of how such accidents are produced. The machinery a few moments before the accident happened was standing. It appears the deceased had considered that it required to be oiled, but before performing this simple operation he put it in motion, without apparently thinking of the increased risks to which he was exposing himself by doing so.
1863	September	9	Dysart	Dysart	Lord Rosslyn	Jas Cunninghame	Collier	66	Falls of roof	This old man went in below some top coal he was trying to take down and it fell upon him
1863	September	11	Balquhatstone	Slammanan	John Watson jun	Alex Gairdner	Collier	29	Falls of roof	A piece of the sandstone roof of the Cox-rod coal fell upon him at his wall face
1863	September	28	Bredisholm	Baillieston	Provanhall Coal Co	P Gallochar	Collier	14	Falls of roof	A piece of Pyotshaw which the men had just left off working fell upon him as he was passing under
1863	October	10	Vogrie			William Duncan			Not listed		Newspaper report - Lothians pages
1863	October	15	Drumpeller No 9	Coatbridge	Trustees of the late John Wilson	Patrick Mooney	Pony driver	15	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of stones at the face
1863	October	15	No 2 Linwood ironstone pit			William Anderson			Not listed		Newspaper report - Stirlingshire pages
1863	October	21	Kersland No 2	Dalry	W Baird & Co	John Walsh	Miner	20	Ironstone mines – falls of ironstone and roof	Fall of ironstone while “holing” under it
1863	November	3	Corsel	Kilwinning	Eglinton Iron Co	Thomas Bingham	Collier	31	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of roof
1863	November	3	Dalkeith	Dalkeith	Duke of Buccleuch	Robert Watson	Drawer	13	Falls of roof	A piece of coal in the “Beefie” seam came over on this boy by the negligence of his uncle who was working with him
1863	November	4	Hurlford No 12	Hurlford	Allan, Gilmour & Co	Robert Rowley	Roadsman	26	In shafts	Fell down the shaft while assisting to change a cage
1863	November	4	Woodhall	Airdrie	Merry & Cunningham	M Easton	Collier	20	Falls of roof	Killed by a stone falling on him after he had knocked out the prop which kept it up
1863	November	5	Morningside	Wishaw	Shotts Iron Co	L Hawthorne	Drawer	13	Falls of roof	A piece of coal in “Virtue Well” seam fell over upon him at the face
1863	November	12	Palace Craig No 6	Airdrie	William Baird & Co	James Condie	Collier	20	Explosions	Explosion of fire damp	The deceased worked in a "wall" adjoining to one where a small quantity of fire-damp lay in a high part of the roof. The place had been stopped on account of the fire-damp for two days, and the necessary precautions were taken to prevent any person from entering it. It appears that he had been engaged in his place on the day of the accident for at least seven hours, but had afterwards, for some purpose, gone into the adjoining wall with his naked light, and ignited the fire-damp which lay there. He was burned, it was supposed not seriously, but died from the effects of it a few days after.
1863	November	12	Pather	Wishaw	Boyd & Spencer	A Russell	Collier	23	Falls of roof	Roof fell upon him while taking out coal stoops	Newspaper report - Lanarkshire pages NB Death certificate and newspaper give name as Archibald Livingstone
1863	November	18	Whifflat No 14	Coatbridge	Trustees of the late John Wilson	John Rae	Brusher	45	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of roof
1863	November	18	Binniehill Colliery			Alexander Burt		7	Not listed		Newspaper report - Stirlingshire pages
						Archibald Thomson		40
						Robert Craig		24
1863	November	19	Dennymill	Denny	Robert Addie	James Currie	Boy	12	Ironstone mines – above ground	Breakage of one of the pit ropes, by which the deceased was struck on the pithead	Newspaper report - Stirlingshire pages
1863	November	20	Bredisholm	Baillieston	Provanhall Coal Co	Bernd Divine	Collier	22	Falls of roof	Fall of roof in Pyotshaw workings. No props up.
1863	November	21	Cadder No 3	Bishopbriggs	Carron Iron Co	Peter Drummond	Miner	35	Ironstone mines – falls of ironstone and roof	Fall of roof at the face
1863	November	26	Crofthead	Wilsontown	W S Dixon	H O'Niel	Miner	--	Ironstone mines – in shafts	Cage catched while he was descending and he was pitched out on to a scaffold. He died in the infirmary
1863	November	27	Craigston	Cumnock	William Baird & Co	John Donoughie	Collier	35	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of coal at face
1863	November	27	Haughead	Hamilton	Merry & Cunningham	Henry Wilson	Collier	19	Explosions	Explosion of fire damp shaft below scaffold on which he was standing. Not ventilated	From 1866 report: During last year Mrs. Wilson, the mother of a young man who was killed by an explosion of fire-damp, in 1863, in Messrs, Merry and Cunninghame's pit at Haugh-head, near Hamilton, sued that firm for damages for the loss of her son, and a jury awarded her £100. The defenders applied for and got a new trial in January last, but the jury again gave a verdict in her favour for £100. Newspaper report - Hamilton pages
1863	November	27	South Dean	Kilmarnock	Robert Brown	Allan Reid	Collier	27	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of coal at face
1863	November	28	Drumpeller No 11	Coatbridge	Trustees of the late John Wilson	Henry McConnel	Collier	19	Falls of coal and roof	Fall of coal at face
1863	December	2	Kinneil	Bo'ness	George Wilson & Co	Charles Brown	Miner	--	Ironstone mines – explosions	Explosion of fire damp. Neglect of 2nd General rule
1863	December	3	Drumgray	Airdrie	Drumgray Coal Co	James Marshal	Engineman	--	Ironstone mines – above ground	Found dead among the wheels of his engine
1863	December	4	Kinneil	Bo'ness	George Wilson & Co	George Sheddon	Miner	--	Ironstone mines – explosions	Explosion of fire damp. Neglect of 1st General rule
1863	December	5	Morningside	Wishaw	James Bennie	Richard Kyle	Drawer	14	Falls of roof	Fall of roof in the drawing road
1863	December	9	Greenbank	Dalry	Merry & Cunningham	Arthur Hill	Miner	22	Ironstone mines – miscellaneous	Jammed between the roof and the hutch he was assisting to lower	The deceased had been assisting one of the regular drawers to lower a hutch of ironstone upon one of the usual drawing roads. The drawer at the time of the accident was behind, and he in front of it. The roadway was not steep, and a loaded hutch could be easily controlled by two stoppers. It is assumed that the deceased had accidentally struck his head against the roof, and before he could recover himself it had got jammed between the roof and the descending hutch.
1863	December	15	Carronhall	Falkirk	Carron Iron Co	Margaret Rankin	Pit-head woman	55	Above ground	Fatally injured by waggon wheel running over her at pit mouth	Newspaper report
1863	December	16	Greenhill	Holytown	Robert Young	John Lithgow	Sinker	--	Ironstone mines – in shafts	The winding drum was not properly kept in gear, and the wheels got clear, and he was killed by the rope falling upon him	The accident at Greenhill from the engineman neglecting to secure the engine in proper winding gear, is more noticeable from the fact that in January of this year just one month afterwards, a precisely similar accident occurred at the same pit also attended with loss of life. There was nothing unusual in the arrangement of the machinery, and it was all new and in good order. The proprietor at once stopped all operations after the second accident until a second engine was erected for pumping, which did away with the necessity of throwing the winding apparatus out of gear for that purpose. There can be no doubt that there is less risk of accidents when there are separate engines for pumping and winding on a sinking pit. Newspaper report - Bothwell pages
1863	December	21	Hashwood No 3	Dalry	Merry & Cunningham	Donald McDonald	Sinker	46	Ironstone mines – in shafts	The drum shaft got in motion when “out of gear” and the rope and kettle were dashed to the bottom upon the deceased, a distance of 123 fathoms	The engineman had on the morning of the accident wished to change the position of the rope with relation to the "lift" of the engine ; and in cases of sinking pits this change, to regulate the position of the " lift " to suit the power, requires to be made occasionally. At the time of the accident the engineman and pit-headman had been engaged making one of these changes. They had ungeared the pinion or driving wheel, with the wheel upon the drum shaft; and the sinking kettle attached to the end of the rope, it is presumed, was rested on the scaffold at the pit mouth. The rope was composed of wire, round, and as usual had a piece of chain attached to the end of it for the purpose of forming connections. As the drum and the top of the "strike board" where the kettle rested were near the same level, it may be assumed that if the rope had been of a uniform weight, and laid on the pulley, it would have had little or no tendency to cause a movement of the drum. But the chain attached to the end of the rope being of greater weight, in the present case perhaps a hundredweight, it appears that this excess with the drum shaft out of gear, was sufficient to produce motion. This movement, which at first must have been very slight, would gradually as the chain lowered increase, till once the "kettle" would be drawn over into the shaft, when the velocity would go on progressing. The engineman and pit-headman had observed the movement of the drum, and had taken steps to prevent the descent of the rope by endeavouring to put the machinery into gear. The rapid rate at which the drum shaft was revolving, however, prevented this being accomplished. Consequently the whole length of the rope was uncoiled from the drum, upwards of 800 feet, and with the kettle were dashed to the bottom, where three sinkers were engaged. One escaped without much injury, but the other two were killed upon the spot. The engineman and pit-headman had made great exertions to stop the machinery and were found after the accident lying among the broken parts of it severely injured. The neglect in this case of not taking the necessary precautions to prevent the drum from getting into motion when uncontrolled and out of gear was evidently the cause of accident.
1863	December	21	Hashwood No 3	Dalry	Merry & Cunningham	Thomas Brown	Sinker	26	Ironstone mines – in shafts
1863	December	22	Stevenson	Stevenson	Merry & Cunningham	John Ward	Collier	18	Above ground	Crushed by getting entangled with the pumping crank	In this case the sufferer was a collier, and on the day of the accident he had occasion to leave his work for the purpose of going to the surface. On quitting the cage at the pitmouth, it is supposed to go in to the engine-house, instead of passing by the usual gangway, he had gone round the end of the pumping machinery, and in some way got in contact with the revolving crank which works on the end of the pumping shaft, from which he received such injuries as must have proved immediately fatal. From the position in which the body was thrown it was some time, probably not less than half an hour, before the accident was discovered.
1863	December	25	Coltness	Wishaw	A G Simpson	Alex Gibb	Drawer	14	In shafts	Knocked off cage by stone while ascending pit
1863	December	29	Annbank No 4	Ayr	J T Gordon	John Log	Labourer	22	Above ground	Missed his footing while engaged assisting the engineman to start the winding machinery	The deceased, who was an assistant pit headman, had gone on to the drum shaft wall for the purpose of assisting the engineman to start the engine, which at the time had been standing on the "centre." On leaving the machinery, after assisting to put it in motion, his foot appears to have slipped, and he fell down upon the arms of the revolving drum, a distance of 4 1/2 feet or thereby, by which he received such injuries as proved fatal.

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Last Updated 21st September 2009