1877 Accidents January to June

1877 Fatal Accidents - January to June

Notes - The information in this page is mainly 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. Many accidents are not listed in these reports and additional names have been added from newspaper reports and other sources - these are indicated by a shaded gray background.

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Information from Appendix to Inspectors Report											Extra Information
Year	Month	Day	Colliery	Location	Owner	Name	Occupation	Age	Category	Cause	Extra Information
1877	January	5	Springside	Dreghorn	A Kenneth & Sons	Robert Murray	Brusher	47	Falls of coal & roof	Fall of roof
1877	January	6	Salsburgh	Shotts, LKS	Coltness Iron Co.	James Murray	Miner	35	In Ironstone mines	Fall of roof at face. Died on 27th
1877	January	6	Tigethaugh	Denny	Wm Baird & Co	Wm McMenemy	Oncostman	65	In shafts	By the cage striking him whilst crossing the end of the pit
1877	January	8	Polbeth	West Calder, Edinburgh	Youngs Paraffin Light and Mineral Oil Co Ltd	Robt. Martin	Brusher	41	In Shale mines	By breaking of incline rope
1877	January	8	Camp	Dalziel, LKS	J. Williams & Co	Dugald Lawson	Oversman	40	In shafts – falling from part way down	Fell from a “bunton” while repairing shaft	Newspaper report
1877	January	8	Greenfield	Hamilton, LKS	Hamilton Coal Co.	Thos. Docherty	Collier	22	Falls of Coal	At face, after firing a shot. Stoop and room	Newspaper report - Hamilton pages
1877	January	10	Cowden	Dalkeith, Edinburgh	Marquis of Lothian	Alex. Bennet	Collier	21	Falls of Coal	At face, while shearing head coal
1877	January	11	Polbeth	West Calder, Edinburgh	Youngs Paraffin Light and Mineral Oil Co Ltd	Thos. Martin	Miner	42	In Shale mines	Fall of shale
1877	January	14	Backmuir	Hamilton, LKS	Clyde Coal Co Ltd	David Berry	Oversman	--	Explosion of Firedamp	While making alterations in air. The fireman with Berry's consent, went into a place with a naked light, and exploded gas which might have been looked for.	Newspaper report - Hamilton pages
1877	January	15	Maryville	Bothwell, LKS	John Hendrie	Peter Dunnachie	Drawer	20	Underground- by tubs and trams	Run over by tub containing rails which he was taking down a “dook”	Newspaper report- Bothwell pages
1877	January	23	Home Farm	Hamilton, LKS	Hamilton, McCulloch & Co	David Hinds	Collier	34	Underground – irruptions of water	By water and mud, sand, &c bursting into the workings from the surface near the River Clyde	Newspaper & Inspectors report - Home Farm page
						Jno McGregory	Collier	51
						John McNeil	Collier	39
						Jno McAllister	Collier	50
1877	January	24	Kirkwood	Coatbridge	John Hendrie	William Hendry	Collier	24	Falls of coal & roof	Fall of coal
1877	January	27	Garscadden	Duntocher	J & N Robson	Robert Proctor	Collier	20	Falls of coal & roof	Fall of coal
1877	January	30	Gartshore	Kilsyth	W Baird & Co	James Mooney	Brusher	30	Explosions	Explosion of firedamp	The first [explosion of firedamp] will probably be considered an unusual disaster. The operations in the pit were at the time principally confined to the "dip." It appears that on the night of the accident, and whilst the "brushers" were at work, the water courses in close proximity to the shafts (upcast and downcast) had overflowed in consequence of the heavy fall of rain which prevailed at that time, and to such an unusual extent that the water forced its way into both shafts. The effect of this was to render inoperative the upcast shaft, which slowly produced stagnation of air in the workings. I understand that the persons employed under ground at the time first discovered the change in the air about midnight. The ventilation, which previous to the fall of water in the upcast shaft was adequate, would gradually become insufficient, and the circumstances of the case were explained by Jardine, the neighbour of the deceased as follows:—" On discovering the change in the ventilation I was aware that something was wrong, but supposed it might be occasioned by some neglect of a trap door, which I knew, if left open, partially allowed the air to pass to the upcast without travelling round the working faces. I left my neighbour with the intention of examining the door, or discovering where the fault lay, but on leaving I cautioned him about remaining long if I did not return soon." The explosion took place shortly after, and I have no doubt was occasioned by the naked light of deceased coming in contact with the air around him which had become explosive. Jardine was the only one who knew of the deceased being left in the workings, and probably he was the only one who could form a correct idea of how the explosion took place, but in the scramble and confusion caused by the blast, and the rush of water, which at the time was forcing its way down the "dook," every one appears to have considered it a struggle for life, and Jardine, I understand, was one of the first who reached the pit bottom. It was some hours before the pit was in a state to admit of a search being made for the unfortunate sufferer who was found dead not far from where his neighbour had left him.
1877	February	2	Niddrie	Liberton, Edinburgh	Benhar Coal Co Ltd	Ed. Curran	Collier	22	In shafts – falling from part way down	Fell from a mid-working; “edge coals”
1877	February	14	Garrion Gill	Cambusnethan, LKS	Coltness Iron Co.	Wm Stewart	Driver	17	Underground- by tubs and trams	Run over by tubs on horse-road	Newspaper report - Cambusnethan pages
1877	February	17	Dykehead	Hamilton, LKS	Summerlee Iron Co	Will. Mitchell	Collier	22	Falls of Roof	At face. Stoop and room	Newspaper report - Hamilton pages
1877	February	20	Garscadden No 2	Duntocher	Merry & Cunninghame	Robert Mallison	Joiner	31	Above Ground	By a log of wood falling on him	A joiner, engaged with two neighbour workmen dressing a log of wood for a pithead frame, overbalanced whilst in the act of turning it, and missing his footing it fell upon him. He was severely injured, and died from the effects of his injuries.
1877	February	21	Riskend	Kilsyth	W Baird & Co	Alex. Rankine	Miner	25	Explosions	Explosion of firedamp	Happened whilst the sufferers, the fireman being one of them, were engaged removing an accumulation of firedamp which had taken place in a part of the mine in consequence of a downfall of water from a lodgement in the upcast shaft caused by the accidental stoppage of pumping operations, and which deranged the ventilation. The time chosen for performing the necessary work of removing the firedamp was at night when the workmen were absent, at which time there was danger to the fewest possible number of persons, and apparently there was nothing objectionable in the method. If no other than safety lamps had been used, as required by general rule No. 7, the firedamp would in all probability have been removed without accident.
1877	February	21	Riskend	Kilsyth	W Baird & Co	John Carr	Fireman	36	Explosions	Explosion of firedamp
1877	February	21	Goatfoot	Galston	Boyd, Gilmour & Co	Robt Bowman	Collier	26	Falls of coal & roof	Fall of coal
1877	February	27	Lochend	New Monkland, LKS	James Nimmo & Co	Malcolm Barnes	Labourer	37	In shafts – falling into shaft from surface	He ran a hutch into the shaft at the low scaffold when the cage was not there.
1877	February	30	Allanton	Cambusnethan, LKS	Morningside Coal Co	John Jamieson	Wright	--	In shafts – falling from part way down	Fell down shaft while endeavouring to go down the slides to adjust the cage
1877	March	1	Gartcraig	Shettleston	Gartcraig Coal Co	Jas. Williamson	Collier	30	In shafts	Was dashed down the shaft at an unusual velocity into water, by the machinery getting out of gear
1877	March	1	Kingshaw Limestone	Carluke, LKS	Shotts Iron Co	Thos. Paton	Drawer	13	Metalliferous mines	Fell from mid-working	Newspaper report
1877	March	2	Newlands	Bothwell, LKS	Dunn Brothers	Jas. Docherty	Drawer	16	In shafts – falling from part way down	Fell from a mid-working.
1877	March	8	Portland No 5	Galston	Eglinton Iron Co	James Anderson	Collier	50	Falls of coal & roof	Fall of coal
1877	March	14	Lumphinnans	Ballingry, FIF	Lumphinnans Iron Co	And. Clark, sen	Collier	59	Falls of Roof	At face. Long wall
1877	March	14	Lumphinnans	Ballingry, FIF	Lumphinnans Iron Co	And. Clark, jun	Collier	28	Falls of Roof	At face. Long wall
1877	March	17	Glenlogan No 11	Lugar	Eglinton Iron Co	John McMouldren	Pony driver	17	Miscellaneous	Was run over by a “race” of hutches
1877	March	24	Hattonrigg	Bothwell, LKS	Mossend Iron Co	Wm. Glen	Shaft-man	35	In shafts – falling from part way down	Fell out of cage while repairing shaft	Newspaper report- Bothwell pages
1877	March	28	Blantyre	Blantyre, LKS	Wm Dixon Ltd	William Neilson	Labourer	36	On surface- miscellaneous	Crushed by log of timber while unloading wagons	Newspaper report - Blantyre pages
1877	March	29	Souterhouse	Coatbridge	Souterhouse Coal Co	Alex. Neilson	Manager	45	Above Ground	Boiler explosion	Happened at Souterhouse Colliery, near Coatbridge. At the time of the accident the engineman was in the act of winding the cage with the manager on it to the surface. By the explosion of one of the boilers he lost control of the machinery, and the cage, which was near the surface, was drawn over the pullies, and the manager either fell off the cage, or, in attempting to get out, stumbled into the shaft and thence to the bottom, a depth of 116 fathoms. The engineman was severely scalded, and died from the effects of his injuries soon after. At the request of the Procurator Fiscal, Mr. Stevenson, Engineer, Airdrie, made an examination of the boiler immediately after the accident, and reported " the cause of the disaster appears to me to have arisen from a deficiency of water in the boiler which exploded. The water evidently had been allowed to fall to within six inches of the bottom of the boiler. The indications of the water lines and the fire lines are quite distinct, and one of the plates showing these indications was cut out and retained for reference if required."
1877	March	29	Souterhouse	Coatbridge	Souterhouse Coal Co	Wm Miller	Engineman	27	Above Ground	Boiler explosion
1877	March	31	Bredisholm	Bothwell, LKS	Provanhall Coal Co	Jas. Timmins	Collier	52	Falls of Roof	At face. Long wall
1877	March	31	Gartshore	Kilsyth	W Baird & Co	Bernard Ryans	Screeman	55	Above Ground	Got entangled with a loaded waggon whilst shifting it	A " trimmer" or screeman, whose, business along with others, was to see the waggons properly loaded, and to shift them from the loading place or screen into a lye a short distance from the pit, was in the act of shifting a loaded waggon, and when attempting to place a " sprag " between the spokes of one of the wheels he missed his footing, or in some way got caught by the " sprag " when revolving with the wheel, and was thrown upon the rails, and fatally injured by the waggon passing over him.
1877	April	13	Allanton	Hamilton, LKS	Austine & Co	John McManus	Roadsman	58	Underground – suffocation by gases	Suffocated by smoke and gases from an underground fire	Newspaper report - Hamilton pages
1877	April	14	Cowdenbeath	Beath, FIF	Cowdenbeath Coal Co.	Geo. Sinclair	Brusher	22	Falls of Roof	At face. Long wall
1877	April	16	Royal George	Cambusnethan, LKS	Coltness Iron Co.	Thos. Brown	Collier	30	Falls of Roof	At face of stooping	Report by J. T. Robson, Assistant Inspector of Mines. I examined into, and saw where this accident occurred on the 19th instant. It occurred in the splint coal workings, which are now confined to the removal of the pillars or "stooping.'' The seam is about six feet thick, and the pillars are 14 to 16 yards square. It appears that deceased and four other colliers worked in the "dook" portion of the workings. When they left the place on Saturday evening they expected that work for a day or two might still be got off the part of the pillar they were engaged at, and they left the roof supported on props so that they might commence on Monday morning. When they went in on Monday morning the oversman, James Anderson, and fireman, John Moreland, accompanied them, the fireman having previously inspected the colliers' working places and roadways. They did not think it safe to work any more coal off, and the oversman gave instructions to draw as much of the wood out as they could with safety. The props could have been taken out without much extra risk, but the road for retreat was not so safe, and the oversman mentioned this circumstance to the colliers, and particularly to David Faries, the most experienced of them. It appears, however, that deceased went forward and commenced to draw them out, when the roof round about gave way and he was caught by a falling crown while endeavouring to pass out. He was not killed immediately, but owing to the quantity of debris which fell, and the time which it took to extricate him - about two hours - he was dead by that time. Deceased had, it appears, on several occasions drawn props, but never before commenced the drawing. I think he had not paid sufficient attention to the surroundings. The pit is now nearly finished in the "stooping," and the roof has always been rather a difficult one to deal with, nevertheless no accident of any moment ever occurred previous to this one. The custom has always been for the colliers to put up the timber in their working places and to remove it when necessary, for which they are paid so much per ton for the coal worked and so much per hundred props taken out. The oversman informed me that himself or one of his firemen always gave instructions as to the quantity of props to be removed, and invariably examined the places before any were drawn out. (Figure) Newspaper report - Cambusnethan pages
1877	April	20	Limerigg	Slamannan, STI	Jno Nimmo & Son	Agnes Hamilton	Pithead assistant	19	In shafts – falling into shaft from surface	Fell down shaft from top scaffold
1877	April	23	Bathville	Bathgate, Linlithgow	James Wood	Arch. Auld	Collier	--	Falls of Coal	At face. Long wall
1877	April	25	Blair	Dalry	Merry & Cunninghame	Wm Anderson	Mason	46	Above Ground	Fell from a stalk which he was building, by a needle breaking, which supported the scaffold he was standing upon
1877	April	27	Knockterra	Cumnock	Eglinton Iron Co	David McCulloch	Boy	14	Above Ground	Was run over by empty waggons at the scree	A boy about fourteen years of age was employed to assist on a pithead, and his principal work was to push the empty hutches on to the cage when the full ones were removed. On the day of the accident, the waggon trimmer had occasion to shift empty waggons from the " lye " to the scree, for the purpose of loading. On this lye there is a gentle incline, so that the waggons, when once put into motion, unless controlled, move slowly into the scree. The deceased had gone with the trimmer to shift some waggons, and whilst doing so part of the train of empty waggons left behind had got in motion and come in contact with the one deceased was attempting to " drag," which caused him to lose his hold, and, falling on the rails, he was run over before the waggons could be stopped. It was the trimmer's duty to shift the waggons when required. He needed no assistance, and according to the explanation given by the pitheadman he had reproved deceased more than once for leaving the pithead and interfering with the waggons whilst being shifted.
1877	April	30	Boag	New Cumnock	Lanemark Coal Co	Hugh Smith	Fireman	30	Falls of coal & roof	Fall of roof; injured 24th, died 30th
1877	May	2	Prestongrange	Prestonpans	Prestongrange Coal and Iron Co Ltd	Alex. Chapman	Collier	40	Falls of Coal	At face. Long wall
1877	May	11	Pencaitland	Pencaitland, Haddington	Deans and Moore	John Hogg	Collier	--	Falls of Roof	Fall of roof. Stoop and room
1877	May	12	Bogend	Kilwinning	Eglinton Iron Co	John Rodman	Bottomer	20	In shafts	Was injured at a midworking
1877	May	12	Polkemmet	Whitburn, Linlithgow	Coltness Iron Co.	Dan. McNair	Assistant bottomer	14	In Ironstone mines	Struck by a piece of ironstone falling down shaft
1877	May	12	Thornton	Kilmarnock	A Finnie & Son	Wm Mitchell	Labourer	76	Above Ground	Was partly run over by a waggon in a “lye” whilst disloading wood	A labourer, upwards of 75 years of age, whilst disloading pit-wood from a truck or waggon in a siding or " lye'' received injuries which were at the time not considered serious but proved fatal some time after. It appears that the locomotive engine-driver connected with the colliery had occasion to shunt waggons in to the " lye" where the truck with wood was being disloaded, and seeing the deceased and his neighbour upon the truck, he gave the usual signal before doing so, which they acknowledged. The survivor explains that he remained on the truck, but the deceased after getting off it and clear of the rails, on observing a length of wood partly on one of the rails, attempted to remove it, but got entangled with it and the waggon put in motion by the locomotive.
1877	May	15	Greenfield	Hamilton, LKS	Hamilton Coal Co.	John Wilson	Driver	15	Underground – by machinery	Crushed by wheel of endless rope
1877	May	24	Auchinraith			James Shaw					Newspaper report - Blantyre pages [4 year old child playing at pithead]
1877	May	28	Prestongrange	Prestonpans	Prestongrange Coal and Iron Co Ltd	Geo. Sneddon	Oversman	51	Explosion of Firedamp	Want of sufficient ventilation
1877	June	1	Rosehall	Coatbridge	R Addie & Sons	John Morgan	Collier	22	Explosions	Explosion of firedamp	Occasioned by a certain amount of irregularity. It appears that deceased, on the day of the accident, after completing his day's work, had inadvertently gone in to a place, not at the time being worked, where he expected to find some tools belonging a neighbouring workman, which it was reported he had arranged to remove. According to the 75th special rule of the Colliery, "All workmen are prohibited from entering or remaining in any place throughout the whole mine where not absolutely required by duty to be at the time." This is a very proper and necessary regulation, which the deceased unfortunately failed to observe. However, there is an equally important general rule No 4., and bearing upon the management, which provides for fencing off places "not in course of working and extension." The place where the explosion happened had not, I understand, been worked for two months or thereby, and for eight days or more before the accident the brattice, which had been led in to the face for the purpose of ventilation while being worked, had been removed. On this being done, it was clearly the duty of the person directing the alteration to erect a fence at the entrance, and had this precaution been observed the accident would in all probability have been prevented.
1877	June	8	Kirkwood	Coatbridge	John Hendrie	David Fairlie	Collier	18	Falls of coal & roof	Fall of coal
1877	June	11	Broomhill	Dalserf, LKS	D McNaughton & Co	Geo. Hamilton	Collier	13	Falls of Roof	At face. Long wall	Newspaper report - Dalserf pages
1877	June	11	Arniston	Cockpen, Edinburgh	Arniston Coal Co. Ltd	David Love	Oversman	39	In shafts – whilst ascending or descending by machinery	Caught by a bunton while descending
1877	June	13	Drongan	Ayr	Merry & Cunninghame	Alex. Tomkins	Collier	50	Falls of coal & roof	Fall of roof whilst engaged securing it
1877	June	21	Lochend	New Monkland, LKS	James Nimmo & Co	Chas. Durris	Brusher	25	Falls of Roof	At face. Long wall
1877	June	22	Douglas No 3	Johnstone	Merry & Cunninghame	Geo. McNair	Assistant pitheadman	18	Above Ground	Was struck by a winding rope which broke

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Last Updated 6th September 2008