Auchinraith Colliery explosion

A shot fired in the Black Band section of No. 1 pit ignited firedamp on a Saturday morning. Five men were killed outright, a sixth died the next day, and nine more were burned. Fifteen men had been at work in the section; the rest of the pit knew nothing until afterwards.

Cause

Firedamp ignited by the firing of a shot of Polar Dynobel in the presence of inflammable gas

Contributing factors

Whether the gas was lit by flame from the explosive itself or by a spark across the conductors of the shotfiring cable was disputed and not settled.

What happened

The explosion came shortly after eight on the morning of Saturday 30 August 1930, in the Black Band seam of No. 1 pit, about 170 fathoms down — roughly a thousand feet. Fifteen men were working in that section. The men in the other sections were entirely unaware that anything had happened. Five died where they were. Nine more were burned, and two of them, Richard Dunsmuir and William Stoddart, were taken to the Royal Infirmary in Glasgow in a critical condition; Dunsmuir died early the following morning. The dead were the fireman William Sprott and the hewers Joseph Regan, Richard King, George Shorthouse, Andreas Kalinsky and Richard Dunsmuir. Kalinsky, twenty-four, lived in Merry's Rows, the company houses James Merry had built in 1876.

Rescue & recovery

The management judged at once that the explosion would be serious and telephoned the Lanarkshire Rescue Brigade at Coatbridge, who were underground with their respirators a little after nine. Doctors went down with them: Dr Fisher, Dr La Raine and Dr Adam Stewart, whose own father, a miner, had been killed in a fall at a nearby colliery shortly before. By ten o'clock ten men had been brought up suffering from afterdamp or burns, and about midday the bodies of the other five were raised. The roadways and workings themselves were not much damaged.

Investigation & inquiry

The Divisional Inspector of Mines in Scotland, J. Masterton, went down with two senior inspectors and a junior, P. G. Dominy, and a thorough inspection was made with the colliery officials and two miners' representatives. The official statement issued that day said the cause had not yet been ascertained. It was afterwards attributed to firing a shot of Polar Dynobel in the presence of inflammable gas, with the point of ignition — the explosive's flame, or a spark across the shotfiring cable — left in dispute.

Memorials & commemoration

Five of the six were buried at High Blantyre Cemetery on 2 September 1930, the funeral arranged by the Blantyre branch of the Lanarkshire Miners' Union. Every pit in Blantyre and the district closed for the day, the shops shut for a period, and five local bands led the cortege. George Shorthouse of Gladstone Street, Burnbank, was buried privately the same day at Bent Cemetery in Hamilton.

Recorded claims

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

• William Sprott, an underground fireman of 2 Auchinraith Terrace, married, aged 43; Joseph Regan, coal hewer, a widower of 43; Richard King, coal hewer, married, 57, of 182 High Street, High Blantyre; George Shorthouse, coal hewer, single, 64, of Gladstone Street, Burnbank; Andreas Kalinsky, coal hewer, single, 24, of Merry's Rows; and Richard Cowan Dunsmuir, coal hewer, single, 24, of Small Crescent. ¹
• John Hogg, the company's general manager, told a reporter that the accident had happened about a quarter past eight and was in his opinion due to an ignition of firedamp in the Black Band section of No. 1 pit, that fifteen men had been at work in the section, and that the men in the other sections were wholly unaware an explosion had occurred. ¹
• The explosion was attributed to firing a shot of Polar Dynobel in the presence of inflammable gas. Whether the gas was ignited by flame from the explosive or by a spark across the conductors of the shotfiring cable was in dispute. ²

Related terminology

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

• Afterdamp (contextual relationship)
  Ten men were brought up by ten o'clock suffering from afterdamp or burns; two went to the Royal Infirmary and one of them died the next morning.
• Fathom (contextual relationship)
  The explosion happened about 170 fathoms down, in the Black Band seam of No. 1 pit.
• Fireman (contextual relationship)
  William Sprott, the underground fireman of the section, was among the dead.
• HM Chief Inspector of Mines (contextual relationship)
  J. Masterton, Divisional Inspector of Mines in Scotland, went down with two senior inspectors and a junior, P. G. Dominy, and the official statement that day said the cause was not yet ascertained.
• Hewer (contextual relationship)
  Five of the six men killed were coal hewers, aged from twenty-four to sixty-four; the sixth was the underground fireman.

Photographs & further reading

This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this disaster.

Sources

1. (secondary) Auchinraith Disaster, 30 August 1930 — Scottish Mining Website
2. (secondary) Auchinraith Colliery — Blantyre Project
3. (secondary) Auchinraith Colliery — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 10 September 2026 · Last researched: 10 September 2026