Bardykes Colliery roof fall, 1909

Four men cutting a manhole beside a self-acting incline at Bardykes Colliery were caught by a fall of roof on 6 September 1909; the night overman and a miner were killed.

Cause

A fall of roof that displaced the crowns while a cross crown was being set at the mouth of a new manhole.

What happened

A year after Bardykes Colliery reopened under the Summerlee Iron Company, the night overman Andrew Alexander, 38, and three men were making a manhole, a refuge in the side of a self-acting incline, on 6 September 1909. As they set a cross crown at the mouth of the manhole the roof fell and swung the crowns out. Alexander and the miner John Smith, 29, were killed and the other two were injured.

Recorded claims

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

• On 6 September 1909 a fall of roof on a self-acting incline at Bardykes Colliery killed the night overman Andrew Alexander, 38, and the miner John Smith, 29. ^1,2
• They were making a manhole in the side of the incline, and the fall swung the crowns while they were setting a cross crown at its mouth. ^1,2
• Two other men were injured. ^1,2
• The colliery belonged to the Summerlee Iron Co. Ltd. ^1,2

Related terminology

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

• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “Four men cutting a manhole beside a self-acting incline at Bardykes Colliery were caught by a fall of roof on 6 September 1909; the night overman…”
• Incline (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “Four men cutting a manhole beside a self-acting incline at Bardykes Colliery were caught by a fall of roof on 6 September…”
• Overman (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…were caught by a fall of roof on 6 September 1909; the night overman and a miner were killed.”
• Roof Fall (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…beside a self-acting incline at Bardykes Colliery were caught by a fall of roof on 6 September 1909; the night overman and a miner were killed.”

Sources

1. (secondary) Fatal accidents in Scottish mines, 1909 — Scottish Mining Website
2. (secondary) Mining deaths 1900-1909, surnames A, part 1 (Ian Winstanley) — Healey Hero (Ian Winstanley's mining deaths lists)

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