Blantyre Colliery No. 3 Pit overwinding, 1878

At 3.25 p.m. on 5 March 1878, four months after the great Blantyre explosion, the cage bringing seven men up No. 3 pit at William Dixon's Blantyre Colliery was wound past the landing into the cross beams. Six fell back down the shaft and were killed; one clung on and survived.

Cause

Overwinding: the cage was not stopped at the landing plates and struck the beams and wheels above the surface, overturning.

Contributing factors

Unknown.

What happened

Men leaving the pit rode up in parties; the engine keeper Arthur Cleland, of good reputation, had drawn six tows, about 38 men, when he began winding a cage of seven. Instead of stopping at the plates it ran on to the cross beams and was wrecked, and six men were thrown down the shaft. A witness saw one fall into the shaft and another, trying to leap, fall down the opposite one. The dead were Patrick Haughney and his son Martin, 16, Patrick Hopkins, 20, Thomas Murdoch and his son Robert, 20, and Michael Currie.

Rescue & recovery

The engineer James Paterson freed Robert Allan from the wrecked cage; he was able to walk home.

Investigation & inquiry

Unknown.

Legal & regulatory aftermath

Unknown.

Changes to practice & legislation

Unknown.

Memorials & commemoration

Unknown.

Recorded claims

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

• On 5 March 1878 six men and boys were killed in an overwinding accident at William Dixon Ltd's Blantyre colliery. ¹
• The death registrations give the cause as being precipitated to the pit bottom by the overturning of the cage when it came in contact with the wheels above the surface. ²

Related terminology

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

• Cage (direct cause)
  The cage was overwound.
• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s summary: “…the cage bringing seven men up No. 3 pit at William Dixon's Blantyre Colliery was wound past the landing into the cross beams. Six fell back down…”
• Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “…wound past the landing into the cross beams. Six fell back down the shaft and were killed; one clung on and survived.”

Sources

1. (secondary) Blantyre Colliery Shaft Accident - Blantyre - 1878 — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Blantyre 1878 (death registrations and contemporary press) — Scottish Mining Website

Record created: 21 September 2026 · Last researched: 21 September 2026