Bedwellty Pits roof fall, 1881

A fall of stone killed a collier and his boy at Bedwellty Pits, Tredegar, on 18 January 1881, under roof that had been tested less than an hour before.

Cause

A fall of stone from the roof, which had been sounded about forty-five minutes before.

What happened

On 18 January 1881 a stone fell without warning on the collier Lloyd Jones, 33, and his boy Thomas Kinsey, 14 or 15, at Bedwellty Pits near Tredegar, killing both. The roof had been sounded about three quarters of an hour earlier.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• NMRS gives Kinsey's age as 15; Welsh Coal Mines gives 14. (disputed) ^1,2

Recorded claims

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

• A collier, Lloyd Jones, 33, and his boy, Thomas Kinsey, were killed by a fall of stone at Bedwellty Pits on 18 January 1881. ^1,2
• The stone fell without warning; it had been sounded about three quarters of an hour before. ²
• NMRS gives Kinsey's age as 15; Welsh Coal Mines gives 14. (disputed) ^1,2

Sources

1. (secondary) Bedwellty Pits — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Welsh Coal Mines fatalities, 1881 — Welsh Coal Mines

Record created: 7 October 2026 · Last researched: 7 October 2026