Aberaman Colliery shaft accident, 1883

A stone falling from the unwalled side of the Aberaman shaft tipped the ascending cage on 15 June 1883 and threw two hauliers to their deaths; the jury censured the colliery's officials.

Cause

Stone fell from an unwalled stretch of the shaft side onto the ascending cage, tipping it.

What happened

At about five on the morning of Friday 15 June 1883 the night shift was being drawn up the shaft of the Powell Duffryn Company's Aberaman Colliery. Some fifty or sixty yards above the Nine Feet landing, stone falling from the side of the shaft struck the top of the cage carrying the hauliers Gwilym Howells, 32, and Rees James, 20, with Abraham Burgess and Henry Harris. The cage tipped. Howells and James fell out and were killed at the bottom; Burgess would have followed them had Harris not caught hold of him.

At the inquest the manager, in his first post, admitted that there were not twenty yards of walling all the way round the shaft above the Nine Feet, and the deputy inspector of mines, W. Randall, said the shaft was practically unwalled and in places dangerous, above all where the stone had come from. The pitman described the sides as loose, scaly shale. The jury found that the shaft's admittedly dangerous condition was due to the pitman's carelessness and to the indifferent way the manager and agent had done their duty.

Investigation & inquiry

The inquest heard that the shaft was largely unwalled and dangerous; the jury censured the pitman, manager and agent.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• Two night hauliers, Gwilym Howells, 32, and Rees James, 20, fell to their deaths down the Aberaman shaft on the morning of 15 June 1883. ^1,2,3
• Stone falling from the unwalled side of the shaft struck the top of the ascending cage and tipped it, throwing the two men out. ^1,2,3,4
• The deputy inspector told the inquest the pit was practically unwalled above the Nine Feet landing and in places dangerous. ^3,4
• The jury blamed the dangerous state of the shaft on the carelessness of the pitman and the indifference of the manager and agent. ⁴

Related terminology

Mining terms this disaster is structurally linked to, with the nature of the relationship.

• Cage (contextual relationship)
  Named 4 times in this record, first in the summary: “…from the unwalled side of the Aberaman shaft tipped the ascending cage on 15 June 1883 and threw two hauliers to their deaths; the jury…”
• Deputy (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…of walling all the way round the shaft above the Nine Feet, and the deputy inspector of mines, W. Randall, said the shaft was practically…”
• HM Chief Inspector of Mines (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…all the way round the shaft above the Nine Feet, and the deputy inspector of mines, W. Randall, said the shaft was practically unwalled and in places…”
• Haulier (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…shaft tipped the ascending cage on 15 June 1883 and threw two hauliers to their deaths; the jury censured the colliery's officials.”
• Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named 8 times in this record, first in the summary: “A stone falling from the unwalled side of the Aberaman shaft tipped the ascending cage on 15 June 1883 and threw two hauliers to…”

Sources

1. (secondary) Fatalities 1883 — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (primary) A shocking accident at Aberaman (South Wales Daily News, 16 June 1883) — Welsh Newspapers (National Library of Wales)
3. (primary) The fatal accident at Aberaman: the inquest (South Wales Daily News, 26 June 1883) — Welsh Newspapers (National Library of Wales)
4. (primary) The shocking accident at the Aberaman Colliery: colliery officials censured (Western Mail, 30 June 1883) — Welsh Newspapers (National Library of Wales)

Record created: 8 October 2026 · Last researched: 8 October 2026