MineArchiveBirley Vale Colliery Explosion, 1876
| Date | 26 June 1876 |
|---|---|
| Mine | Birley Collieries |
| Region | South Yorkshire |
| Type | Explosion |
| Fatalities | 6 (Six killed. The Wikipedia roll compiled from the Sheffield press names them as Ellis Cooper of Normanton Springs, who left a widow and five children; James Woodward of Ridgeway Moor, single; Thomas Marples senior of Hollinsend, a widow and two children; Thomas Marples junior, his nephew, of Gleadless, a widow and two children; Edward Saville of Birley, a widow and eight children; and Joseph Kelley of Hollinsend, a widow. The inspector's report names three of the bodies taken into Yorkshire as Ellis Cooper, Thomas Marples and George Kelly — the forename differing from the press roll.) |
| Injuries | None recorded beyond the six deaths in the sources read. |
| Context | During active mining |
Six men died on the morning of 26 June 1876 when colliers carrying naked lights fired gas that had gathered in an exploring heading at Birley Vale Colliery near Sheffield. The men had been using locked safety lamps until two days earlier, when the under-viewer reported the ventilation improved and the manager left the choice of lights to his discretion. Neither he nor the fireman had walked to the end of the heading. The Yorkshire jury returned manslaughter against the fireman.
Cause
Firedamp accumulated in an exploring heading and fired by the naked lights the colliers carried in with them.
Contributing factors
An exploring heading had been driven about ninety yards past a fault to prove the coal beyond, ventilated to its far end by wooden pipes, and the men driving it had used locked safety lamps. On Saturday 24 June a new communication with the return airway was completed. The under-viewer, William Walker, went into the airway that day, reported to the manager that the ventilation had improved and suggested naked lights be allowed. The manager was satisfied and left it to Walker's discretion. Walker did not go to the far end of the exploring heading; he looked in at its entrance. Clayton, the deputy whose duty it was to examine the district on the Sunday night and Monday morning, did the same.
What happened
The colliery was an old one working the Silkstone seam. Its manager, Mr Mosby, had been in post only since the first of January. Everything turned on ninety yards of heading driven out past a fault to see what coal lay beyond it, a place ventilated at the end by wooden pipes and worked, until that week, under locked lamps. When the men went in on the Monday morning carrying naked lights, the gas that had collected in the heading — gas which should have been found and cleared by the fireman — took fire. Six were killed. The inspector's summary of it is four words long: six persons fell victims to the carelessness of these men.
Rescue & recovery
Nothing is recorded of the recovery in the sources read.
Investigation & inquiry
Two inquests were held, because three of the bodies had been carried over the county boundary: one by C. S. B. Busby, coroner for Derbyshire, and one by Dossey Weightman, coroner for the West Riding. The Yorkshire jury returned a verdict of manslaughter against the fireman William Clayton and committed him for trial. The inspector, Thomas Evans, wrote that the manager should have satisfied himself by personal examination before allowing naked lights, and that the under-viewer William Walker had neglected his duty and was probably more to blame than anyone: he must have known that a glance at the entrance of a long heading was no examination, and that gas, if given off, would gather there.
Legal & regulatory aftermath
Clayton was tried on the coroner's inquisition before Mr Justice Denman at Leeds assizes, pleaded guilty and was severely reprimanded. Separately, and on instruction, the inspector brought proceedings against the manager, the under-viewer William Walker and the fireman Thomas Ward; all three were convicted and fined.
Changes to practice & legislation
No legislation followed. The inspector's conclusion is a statement about supervision rather than about equipment: the rules for examining a working place before naked lights are allowed existed, and were not followed.
Memorials & commemoration
No memorial specific to the explosion has been identified.
Recorded claims
Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.
- Six lives were lost in an explosion of gas at Birley Vale Colliery near Sheffield on the morning of 26 June 1876. 1
- The press roll gives Ellis Cooper, James Woodward, Thomas Marples senior, Thomas Marples junior, Edward Saville and Joseph Kelley; the inspector's report names three of the bodies taken into Yorkshire as Ellis Cooper, Thomas Marples and George Kelly. (disputed) 2,1
- The men driving the exploring heading had used locked safety lamps; after the under-viewer reported improved ventilation on 24 June the manager left the use of lights to his discretion, and neither he nor the fireman examined the far end of the heading before the men went in with naked lights. 1
- The Yorkshire jury returned manslaughter against the fireman William Clayton, who pleaded guilty at Leeds assizes and was severely reprimanded by Mr Justice Denman; the manager, the under-viewer William Walker and the fireman Thomas Ward were separately convicted and fined. 1
Sources
- (primary) Birley Colliery Accident, from the Annual Mines Inspectors Report for 1876, report of Thomas Evans, page 67 — Mines Inspectors Report, transcribed by the Durham Mining Museum
- (secondary) Birley Collieries — Wikipedia
Record created: 9 September 2026 · Last researched: 9 September 2026