Berry Hill Colliery shaft accident, 1913

Three men repairing a shaft at Berry Hill Colliery, Stoke-on-Trent, were killed on 20 July 1913 when something fell on them from part way down the shaft.

Date	20 July 1913
Mine	Berry Hill Colliery
Region	Staffordshire
Type	Winding / Shaft Accident
Fatalities	3 (Three killed: George Key, Joshua Williamson and Harry Warrington.)
Context	During active mining

Rough grassland with a pylon and a pond in the foreground and the tower blocks of Hanley behind. — Open land at Berry Hill that was once part of the colliery, looking towards Hanley Phil Eptlett, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Cause

An object falling from part way down the shaft.

What happened

On Sunday 20 July 1913 a shaft repairing party was at work at Berry Hill Colliery, Henry Warrington and Son's pit on the east side of Stoke-on-Trent: the shaft repairer Joshua Williamson, 62, his assistant Harry Warrington, 21, and the underlooker George Key, 53. An object came away from part way down the shaft and fell on them, and all three were killed.

Recorded claims

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

On 20 July 1913 three men working in a shaft at Berry Hill Colliery, Stoke-on-Trent, were killed by an object falling from part way down the shaft. ^1,2,3
The dead were the underlooker George Key, 53, the shaft repairer Joshua Williamson, 62, and the assistant shaft repairer Harry Warrington, 21. ^4,1
The colliery belonged to Henry Warrington and Son 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: “Three men repairing a shaft at Berry Hill Colliery, Stoke-on-Trent, were killed on 20 July 1913 when something fell on…”
Shaft (contextual relationship)
Named 6 times in this record, first in the summary: “Three men repairing a shaft at Berry Hill Colliery, Stoke-on-Trent, were killed on 20 July 1913…”

Sources

(primary) Colliery accident, Berry Hill, 20 July 1913 — Durham Mining Museum
(secondary) Accident record: Harry Warrington, Berry Hill, 1913 — Northern Mine Research Society
(secondary) Accident record: George Key, Berry Hill, 1913 — Northern Mine Research Society
(primary) Durham Mining Museum - Berryhill Colliery (UK) — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 1 October 2026 · Last researched: 8 October 2026