Bowhill Colliery roof fall, 1901

About seventy tons of roof fell at Bowhill Colliery, Cardenden, on 15 January 1901, killing the fireman who had passed the road as safe an hour earlier and a wheeler.

Cause

A sudden fall of about 70 tons of jointed roof in a main road.

What happened

A road nine to ten feet wide at Bowhill Colliery, Cardenden, ran under a roof of rock bands and fakes cut by numerous lypes and joints, held by bars a foot apart. Part of it had been repaired and retimbered the night before, and the fireman Robert Hamilton and the oversman inspected it about an hour before the accident and judged it safe. On 15 January 1901 some seventy tons of roof came down without warning, killing Hamilton and James Black, a wheeler, instantly.

Recorded claims

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

• On 15 January 1901 a sudden fall of about 70 tons of roof at Bowhill Colliery killed the fireman Robert Hamilton, 32, and the wheeler James Black, 40. ^1,2,3
• The roof of the 9-to-10-foot road was rock bands and fakes cut by numerous lypes and joints, supported by bars a foot apart; part had been repaired and retimbered the night before. ^1,2,3
• Hamilton and the oversman had inspected the place about an hour before and thought it safe. ^1,2,3
• The colliery belonged to the Bowhill Coal Co. Ltd. ^1,2,3

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: “About seventy tons of roof fell at Bowhill Colliery, Cardenden, on 15 January 1901, killing the fireman who had passed…”
• Fireman (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…fell at Bowhill Colliery, Cardenden, on 15 January 1901, killing the fireman who had passed the road as safe an hour earlier and a wheeler.”
• Overman (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…retimbered the night before, and the fireman Robert Hamilton and the oversman inspected it about an hour before the accident and judged it safe.…”

Sources

1. (secondary) Mining deaths 1900-1909, surnames B, part 5 (Ian Winstanley) — Healey Hero (Ian Winstanley's mining deaths lists)
2. (secondary) Mining deaths 1900-1909, surnames H, part 2 (Ian Winstanley) — Healey Hero (Ian Winstanley's mining deaths lists)
3. (secondary) Fatal accidents in Scottish mines, 1901 — Scottish Mining Website

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