Bickershaw Colliery fall of stone, 1864

A thirteen-year-old horse driver and a collier were killed by a fall of stone at Ackers, Whitley and Company's Bickershaw Colliery on 27 April 1864.

Cause

A fall of stone from the roof.

What happened

On 27 April 1864 stone fell from the roof at Bickershaw Colliery, near Leigh, then worked by Ackers, Whitley and Company. It killed James Hooker, a horse driver aged thirteen, and the collier Nathaniel Yates, aged 38.

Recorded claims

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

• On 27 April 1864 a fall of stone from the roof at Bickershaw Colliery, near Leigh, killed James Hooker, a thirteen-year-old horse driver, and the collier Nathaniel Yates, 38. ^1,2
• The colliery belonged to Ackers, Whitley and Company. ^1,2
• The deaths were caused by a fall of stone from the roof. ^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: “…by a fall of stone at Ackers, Whitley and Company's Bickershaw Colliery on 27 April 1864.”

Sources

1. (secondary) Mining deaths 1860-1869, surnames H, part 4 (Ian Winstanley) — Healey Hero (Ian Winstanley's mining deaths lists)
2. (primary) Bickershaw Colliery — Durham Mining Museum

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