| Year | Month | Day | Name of Colliery | Where situated | Owners name | Person(s) killed | Occupation | Age | Category (if given) | Cause of death and remarks | Extra details |
| 1865 | July | 4 | Currymire | Kilsyth | W Baird & Co | Daniel Berrie | Miner | 26 | Ironstone mines – miscellaneous | Suffocated by going into an abandoned working | |
| 1865 | July | 5 | Annbank No 4 | Ayr | T T Gordon | Arthur Murphy | pitheadman | 35 | Above ground | Was struck by the bell crank of the pumping machinery | |
| 1865 | July | 8 | Blackbraes | Stirling | James Russell & Son | John Forsyth | Brusher | 42 | Miscellaneous | He fired a shot with a “squib” it went off before he was out of danger and he was killed by falling stones | |
| 1865 | July | 11 | Raith | Fife | Lochgelly Iron Co | Hugh Roddie | Onsetter | 30 | Miscellaneous | He was “hanging on” at the bottom of an incline and a stone from the top rolled down and broke his jaw. He died in Edinburgh Infirmary | |
| 1865 | July | 14 | Coney Park | Denny | John Barr | George Watson | ---- | 16 | Falls of coal and roof | Fall of coal | |
| 1865 | July | 18 | Penston | Haddington | John Deans jun | Peter Fiergrieve | Collier | 45 | Falls of roof | Fall of top coal | |
| 1865 | July | 22 | Coltness | Lanark | A G Simpson | Donald Stewart | Boy | 14 | In shafts | Fell down pit from surface. He ran a hutch into pit and fell after it. The self acting wicket was out of repair and was not working | |
| 1865 | July | 23 | Portland | Hurlford | Eglinton Iron Co | Mark Greir | pitheadman | 60 | Above ground | Was crushed at the screen between two waggons | |
| 1865 | August | 1 | Ravenscraig | Lanark | James Anderson & Co | James Reilly | Collier | 30 | In shafts | Crushed between cage and door head. He was putting a hutch on the cage when the engineman mistaking the signal lifted the cage | |
| 1865 | August | 3 | Wellington Pit, Wishaw | Lanark | Merry & Cunningham | James Mackay | Collier | 30 | Falls of roof | Fall of roof at face | |
| 1865 | August | 7 | Dalkeith Colliery | Edinburgh | Duke of Buccleuch | James Kay | Collier | -- | In shafts | Fell off cage while ascending pit | |
| 1865 | August | 9 | Holmes | Kilmarnock | Robert Brown | James Campbell | Collier | 23 | Falls of coal and roof | Fall of roof | |
| 1865 | August | 12 | Arneston | Edinburgh | John Christie | James Ross | Collier | 17 | Falls of roof | Fall of coal from side of working | |
| 1865 | August | 12 | Holmes | Galston | John Horne | Matthew Borland | Drawer | 15 | Falls of coal and roof | Fall of roof | |
| 1865 | August | 22 | Palacecraig | Airdrie | William Baird & Co | John Hamilton | Collier | 35 | Falls of coal and roof | Fall of roof | |
| 1865 | August | 28 | Cuttlehill | Fife | Henderson & Wallace | Wm Adamson | Driver | 13 | Miscellaneous | Found under the wheels of the hutch. He had apparently slipped his foot and fallen in before the wheels | |
| 1865 | August | 28 | Lucknow | Stevenston | Merry & Cunningham | William Kilpatrick | Assistant fireman | 36 | Explosions | Explosion of fire damp |
The deceased was sometimes employed to assist the fireman Brown,
and on the morning of the accident I understand that they were
in the act of examining the state of the colliery, when a quantity
of fire-damp was ignited at one of their lights. The duties of a fireman are most important, and ought to be performed with the greatest of care. It is understood that his examination in the morning is made strictly with a safety lamp, and when it is considered that the ventilation of a mine is subject to many derangements, such as from damaged stoppings, trap doors partly left open, air-courses partially closed, &c., and from either of which the ventilation may be suddenly diverted, the necessity for such an arrangement will be at once apparent. In the present case I have no doubt that the fireman and the deceased had, contrary to the regulations of the colliery, been making their examination with an unprotected light, when they unexpectedly came in contact with a body of fire-damp. |
| 1865 | August | 30 | Kirkwood | Coatbridge | John Hendrie | Charles Dawson | Collier | 30 | Explosions | Explosion of fire damp |
The workings of this colliery, in the Splint coal seam, situated
to the rise of No. 1 pit, are limited; they had been resumed
a short time before the accident, and were confined to the places
marked on sketch
A B C D E F. It was the duty of the fireman to examine the working places before the shift (a night shift) of workmen were allowed to commence to their work. I understand that the fireman, on the night of the accident, had made his usual examination, and informed the deceased and others regarding the state of the ventilation, in their working places, before they were allowed to enter them. The deceased and his neighbour worked in the " end" F, and with the exception of the "plane" E it does not appear that the fireman had discovered fire-damp in any other working place. It was explained by some of the workmen, that after working or being in their places about an hour, they had met in the " end" F to smoke, or otherwise, and after remaining there for some time, the deceased left them, as they understood, to go round into the place K to "chap the coal," (a customary and rough mode of judging from the sound of the thickness of solid coal existing between two places near to each other,) when shortly after an explosion of fire-damp took place. Two of the workmen state decidedly that the deceased went down the "plane" from them as if he had been going to the place K, and that he had no time to go anywhere else, judging from the time he left them till the time the explosion took place. The fireman asserts there was no fire-damp in the place K when he examined it, and he never knew of fire-damp being lodged in it; and he was of opinion that the deceased, instead of going down the "plane" as described by his neighbour, had gone up the " plane " and into the fire-damp which he had cautioned them regarding at E. I made a careful examination of the works, and in particular with the view of testing these reports. I could not discover fire-damp between the level M and the place K, and as the opening between these two points along the solid coal formed the aircourse, it is difficult to conceive how fire-damp, at least in quantity, could be lodged at the place K. Assuming that the brattice and stoppings were entire, and judging from the position in which the body of the deceased was found at N, the theory that the fire-damp was ignited to the " rise," it may have been at E, seems to me the most likely one. |
| 1865 | August | 30 | Pencaitland | Haddington | John Deans jun | George Duncan | Engineman | 52 | In shafts | He went down in pit by means of a ladder to the top of the pumps about 18 feet from the surface and was suffocated by choke damp issuing from an old coal waste. He went down against orders | |
| Andrew Cairns | Labourer | 36 | Went to rescue Duncan and fell beside him. Cairns worked at the same pit as Duncan and seeing him lying so near the surface he thought he was unwell and went down the ladder to assist him and was also suffocated | ||||||||
| 1865 | September | 7 | Trodigal | Campbelton | John Smellie & Son | Andrew Ballantyne | Engineman | 25 | Above ground | Came in contact with the pumping crank while in motion | |
| 1865 | September | 14 | Victoria Pit, Wishaw | Lanark | Wishaw Iron Co | John Winning | Sinker | 33 | Explosions | Explosion of fire damp | The fourth accident occurred in the same pit on the 14th of September, when John Winning was killed. After the previous accident the splint coal workings had stood until pumps were put in to draw the water. The deceased was one of the workmen engaged in putting in the pumps in the shaft. He went down on the cage to the splint coal with a naked light and ignited some fire-damp there and was killed. |
| 1865 | September | 18 | Pather Colliery | Lanark | Boyd & Spencer | Pat Killan | Collier | 65 | Falls of roof | Fall of roof | |
| 1865 | September | 20 | Armadale | Linlithgow | Monkland Iron Co | Francis Higgins | Drawer | 33 | Ironstone mines – falls of roof | Fall of fireclay off roadside as he was passing by | |
| 1865 | September | 22 | Gartshore No 7 | Kilsyth | William Baird & Co | John Fingland | Collier | 30 | Explosions | Explosion of fire damp |
According to the regulations of the colliery, the fireman had
examined the pit on the morning of the accident, and reported
to the workmen regarding the condition of their places. The workings
were but limited, and the level to the west of the pit, and an
"end" off it, had been abandoned for some time previous
to the accident, and it was well known that fire-damp existed
in them. It appears that the contractor or person in charge of the pit had arranged with the deceased, Fingland, to commence and work in the "end" off the level above referred to, for the purpose of forming a connexion with a place to the "rise," and thus extend the circuit of ventilation. A pair of "fanners," rather a primitive contrivance, had been constructed at the foot of the "end," on the side of the level, for the purpose of forcing air into it and dislodging the fire-damp. The deceased, Fingland and Brown, and the contractor, were, I believe, the only persons in the level, and near to the foot of the "end," when the explosion happened. The "fanners" had only been in operation for a short time, less than a quarter of an hour. There was no open or unprotected light in the place, the only light used being a Davy lamp. There might have been a difference of opinion as to how the accident happened, seeing that the dislodged gas was understood to pass off in to the return current and clear of any open lights, and in consequence of the strong current of air it could scarcely pass any other way ; but James Fingland, brother of one of the deceased, who commenced to work in the room to the " rise " about a quarter of an hour before the explosion, states that there was no fire-damp in his place when he commenced to work, and this is confirmed by the fireman, that on passing with his lamp on his head, about six feet back from the face of his place, he observed the fire-damp to ignite at it, " flare along the roof,'' and immediately after the explosion took place. As all the other parts of the pit were well ventilated, I cannot think that the contractor did this negligently, but otherwise it betokened a want of judgment. No doubt he expected to dislodge the fire-damp and keep it clear by the action of the fanners, till once a connexion was made with the place to the rise," when of course the circuit of air would be extended. Under the circumstances the proper way would have been to lead a current of air into the abandoned opening with brattice, (which by the way was very much fallen) and practically speaking, there was no other secure way. The contractor, Hamilton, has been severely burned, but apparently he was the only person to blame. |
| John Brown | Boy | 14 | |||||||||
| 1865 | September | 23 | Balgray | Maryhill | Montgomery & Fleming | John Fleming | Engineman | 40 | Above ground | Fell down from the shaft from the pithead framing | |
| 1865 | September | 30 | Boyleshole | Tollcross | Colin Dunlop & Co | John Kerr | Collier | 56 | Falls of coal and roof | Fall of coal | |
| 1865 | September | 30 | Overton Station | Lanark | Waddel & Louden | John Curson | Collier | -- | Falls of roof | Fall of coal. This man had only been 2 years in pits | |
| 1865 | October | 11 | Dumbroider | Stirling | John N Buchanan | John Jervie | Collier | -- | Falls of roof | Fall of roof | |
| 1865 | October | 21 | Corkerhill | Pollokshaws | Sir John Maxwell | John Barbour | Pony driver | 16 | Falls of coal and roof | Fall of roof | |
| 1865 | October | 23 | Eastfield | Rutherglen | T G Buchanan | William Jones | Boy | 15 | Falls of coal and roof | Fall of stones from the side of a mine | |
| 1865 | October | 28 | Kipps-byre, Bredenhill | Lanark | Dr Robertson | Robert Beveridge | Sinker | -- | In shafts | Drowned in a sinking pit by the failure of the foundation of a dam | Two men were drowned in a sinking pit at Bredenhill near Airdrie. It was an old ironstone pit which was being sunk from the ironstone to the "Virtue-well coal, and the sinking had proceeded 14 fathoms. There was no growth of water below the ironstone, and a dam was made in the strata at the level of the ironstone to collect the water, which was pumped up thence to the surface by a 6-inch pump, driven by the steam engine. The dam was constructed in the usual way, but it turned out that it was founded on a "slip" which ran through the shaft, and the shattered strata had gradually crumbled away without sufficient attention having been paid to it, and one morning it gave way, and the water running out, filled the pit to a depth of 20 feet while three men were in the bottom. One of the men saved himself by swimming until the kettle came down for him, the other two were drowned. Newspaper report - New Monkland pages |
| William Mitchel | Sinker | -- | |||||||||
| 1865 | November | 1 | Todd's Pit | Calder | W S Dixon | David Hamilton | Collier | 23 | Falls of coal and roof | Fall of coal | |
| 1865 | November | 3 | Netherhouse | Baillieston | John Young | Barney Riggins | Bottomer | 45 | In shafts | By falling down the shaft from the main to the splint coal |
There were two seams of coal being worked in this pit, the main
at 33 fathoms, and the " Wee " at 44 fathoms. The deceased
was bottomer in the main coal seam. It was his duty as bottomer
to see the coals properly placed upon the cage, and to give the
signals when men or materials required to be raised or lowered.
There was no fixed scaffold in the shaft at the level of the
main coal ; but when the cage required to be lowered to that
level " faulding boards," constructed in the shaft,
were brought into operation by the bottomer for the cage to rest upon. The accident was occasioned by the unfortunate sufferer pushing a loaded hutch of coal forward into the pit before the cage was lowered to receive it, and falling to the pit bottom with it a distance of 11 fathoms. Mid-workings are dangerous, and where two seams are worked out of one shaft, if practicable, it should be arranged to have a scaffold over one of the divisions of the shaft, at the upper or mid-working, leaving the other open but fenced off, so as to prevent any person from falling into it. |
| 1865 | November | 3 | Quarter Iron Works | Lanark | Colin Dunlop & Co | John Swanbrick | Collier | 45 | Falls of roof | Fall of roof. He had only been 2 years in pits | Newspaper report - Hamilton pages |
| 1865 | November | 4 | Govan | Glasgow | W S Dixon | John Biggins | Collier | 40 | Falls of coal and roof | Fall of roof | |
| 1865 | November | 6 | Drumpeller | Coatbridge | Trustees of the late John Wilson | George Hyslop | Collier | 35 | Falls of coal and roof | Fall of roof | |
| 1865 | November | 15 | Opencast | Coatbridge | William Baird & Co | Wm Wetherspoon | Collier | 45 | Falls of coal and roof | Fall of coal | |
| 1865 | November | 16 | Chalmerston Mine | Dalmellington | Dalmellington Iron Co | John Barclay | Collier | 30 | Falls of coal and roof | Fall of roof | |
| 1865 | November | 17 | Canobie | Canobie | Duke of Buccleuch | John Armstrong | Roadsman | 46 | Falls of coal and roof | Fall of roof while taking out wood | |
| 1865 | November | 25 | Sunnyside | Lanark | Archibald Russell | William Peebles | Labourer | 50 | In shafts | Fell down pit from surface. He fell with a hutch when the cage was up at the upper scaffold | |
| 1865 | November | 27 | Armsheugh | Irvine | Merry & Cunningham | Charles Ferrie | Fireman | 59 | Explosions | Explosion of fire damp |
There were two firemen, Ferril and McLeish, employed to examine
this colliery before the workmen were allowed to enter to their
work. It appears that these men had been lowered into the mine early on the morning of the accident, and they had proceeded together to a part of the mine where branch roadways led into their different districts. From the explanation of McLeish, the deceased (Ferrie and Yuile, a brusher) parted with him there, and at that time they were carrying open or unprotected lights with them. He (McLeish) went straight in to the working places, not far distant, but had not examined more than three or four of them when an explosion of fire-damp took place; he did not see the flame, but felt the effects of the blast. Judging from the place where the deceased were found, I am of opinion that the explosion took place before they (Ferrie and Yuile) reached the face of the working places. Apparently they had been proceeding with their open lights to a known platform, about nine or ten yards beyond where the accident happened, and where the air was in part split. As the mine in which they were travelling formed the direct and main airway, they must have assumed that the ventilation would be satisfactory and safe, at least to that point, the platform referred to. It scarcely admits of a doubt that they had continued to use their unprotected lights after parting with McLeish, as the safety lamp, which had been trimmed with a new wick, was afterwards found near to them and had not been lighted. Examining a pit in the morning with an unprotected light seems such an absurdity, that were it not for such proofs as the present, it might be doubted whether any person accustomed to mining could be found foolhardy enough to do it. |
| Charles Yuile | Brusher | 45 | |||||||||
| 1865 | November | 28 | Cluny | Fife | William Clark | James Clark | Drawer | 18 | Falls of roof | Fall of roof in the drawing road | |
| 1865 | November | 28 | Drum Park | Baillieston | James McKenzie | John Summerville | Assistant engineman | 19 | In shafts | By falling from a platform in the shaft while assisting to change a “clack” | |
| 1865 | November | 28 | Wemyss | Fife | Mr Wemyss | George Dryburgh | Labourer | 66 | Above ground | Crane ran amain and the handle struck him. He did not understand its action, and threw it into “single instead of double power” | |
| 1865 | November | 29 | Holmes | Galston | John Horn | James Angus | Roadsman | 61 | Falls of coal and roof | Fall of roof |
The deceased were roadsmen. It appears that on the day of the
accident they had been engaged making a roadway through a part
of the " waste " which had been abandoned for a considerable
time. Though the roof at this place was comparatively good there was a thin " ply " immediately above the coal, which generally required to be supported or taken down. The deceased were at the time of the accident engaged taking this part of the roof down. I understand that McMeiken had driven out one of the old supports originally placed to secure it, when immediately after a part of the thin ply fell upon him. August [sic] and a neighbouring workman, Wilson, had without delay bravely rushed in to rescue their companion, when a second fall of roof took place which covered them all. McMeiken and Angus were fatally injured, but Wilson escaped, though severely bruised. |
| John McMahon | Roadsman | 40 | |||||||||
| 1865 | December | 2 | Ponessan | Dalmellington | Dalmellington Iron Co | James Kean | Sinker | 20 | Ironstone mines – in shafts | Fell accidentally into the shaft | |
| 1865 | December | 14 | Cambuslang | Cambuslang | Archibald Russell | Thomas Wilson | Roadsman | 36 | Falls of coal and roof | Fall of roof | |
| 1865 | December | 14 | Plan | Kilmarnock | John McKnight & Co | William Stewart | Collier | 22 | Falls of coal and roof | Fall of coal | |
| 1865 | December | 18 | Auchenheath | Lanark | James Ferguson & Co | David Russel | Drawer | 19 | Falls of roof | Fall of roof at road head | |
| 1865 | December | 18 | Twechar | Kilsyth | W Baird & Co | Robert Ralston | assistant pitheadman | 19 | Ironstone mines – in shafts | Pushed a hutch into the open shaft and fell down with it | |
| 1865 | December | 19 | Sunnyside | Lanark | Archibald Russell | Joseph Young | Drawer | 14 | Miscellaneous | Fell in before wheels of hutches while riding on them against orders | |
| 1865 | December | 20 | Kenmure | Bishopbriggs | Wilsons & Co | Thomas Hamilton | Drawer | 21 | Ironstone mines – explosions | Explosion of fire damp |
The sinking at this mine had been completed a short time before
the accident, and the works were of a preparatory kind, consisting
of an exploring mine, with two levels (just commenced) off it. Referring to the sketch, A is the face of the exploring mine, and 13 C are the levels being opened up off it. The ventilating arrangements were simple. The air passed along one of the divisions of the mine, separated from the return by a wall of brickwork. It was directed in to the level B by a screen placed across the return at d, and from that it was returned to the upcast shaft at the pit-bottom. One of the persons injured had, I understand, a contract to drive the levels B C two shifts in the 24 hours. He had two miners and a drawer working in the level C on the morning of the accident, and the shift of men appointed to relieve them had just reached their place, C, a few minutes before the explosion took place. I do not know that the two men who worked in the level C during the night had been aware of any defect in the ventilation, and I understand that their drawer had drawn the materials worked out by them to the pit-bottom in the usual way. While filling the material into the hutches they required to lift or partially open a screen placed in the brick wall at e. From the explanation of the oversman and Kelso, one of the men injured, the screen e was rolled up when they went in at the time the shift should have changed. |
| 1865 | December | 21 | Broomhill Mine | Denny | William Baird & Co | James Thomson | Roadsman | 24 | Explosions | Explosion of fire damp | By Rule XXI. of the special rules of the colliery it was the duty of the fireman, Ramsav, to examine the works in the morning before the workmen were allowed to enter them, "and in case fire-damp or other impure air shall be discovered in any working place, road, or level, the fireman shall, in the first instance, thoroughly clear the same of such impurity, if that can be done easily, and shall thereupon report to the colliers that the working places are apparently safe; but if the impurity cannot be readily or at once cleared out the colliers shall not be permitted to enter any such working places, roads, or levels until the impure air shall have been by further appliances entirely dispelled," &c. But instead of observing this important regulation, I understand that after a number of the workmen had entered to their work he commenced with some others to dislodge a quantity of fire-damp, which had accumulated during the night in a "plane" and "end," by " wafting" it out, and coming in contact with an unprotected light placed a short distance back from the face of the "plane" an explosion was produced, by which he and the persons assisting him were severely burned, and the deceased, Thomson, a roadsman, died from the effects of it a few days afterwards. |
| 1865 | December | 25 | Portland | Hurlford | Eglinton Iron Co | Richard Watson | Engineman | 25 | Above ground | By the bursting of a boiler | |
| 1865 | December | 26 | Comrie | Perth | Forth Iron Co | James Currie | Pony driver | 16 | In shafts | Windlass rope broke when he was descending a blind pit. The rope had been 6 months underground and was quite useless | |
| 1865 | December | 29 | Barleith No 5 | Hurlford | John Galloway & Co | John Strathdee | Drawer | 16 | Miscellaneous | Was run over by a hutch upon a “rise” road | |
| 1865 | December | 30 | Bonhar | Linlithgow | George Simpson | Roger Blair | Labourer | 45 | In shafts | Fell down pit from surface. Wicket under repair | Newspaper report |
