Brownhills Colliery fire, 1861

Before dawn on 9 January 1861 a fire in the solid coal of an airway in the deep workings at William Harrison's Brownhills Colliery filled the upper workings of the Red Pit with smoke. Four men and two boys, the youngest eleven, died on their way to the shaft; six horses died in their stables.

Cause

A fire in the solid coal at the mouth of an airway in the deep workings of an adjoining pit, perhaps started by a candle igniting chaff, chips and small coal, whose smoke the ventilation carried into the shallow workings.

What happened

Four men and two boys had gone down the Red Pit, the downcast, the night before to work an upper seam. At about 3 a.m. the engine-tenter was signalled to lower the cage, did so, waited for the next signal, and drew it up empty, with a large volume of smoke coming from the shaft. The smoke came from a fire in the solid coal of an airway in the lower seam of an adjoining pit worked by the same engine; the airway ventilated the sump of the Red Pit beneath the scaffold, so the smoke rose through the scaffold, met the downcast air and was carried into the shallow workings where the men were. As the downcast warmed, the ventilation reversed and drove the smoke back to the Red Pit. The men had left their places in the gate-road, about 500 yards from the shaft, probably on discovering the smoke, and were found lying dead near the Red Pit.

Rescue & recovery

The men who answered the alarm could not descend the Red Pit for the density of the smoke, so they went to the upcast, the Meadow Pit, nearly half a mile away, got down with difficulty, and found the six lying dead near the Red Pit. The timbers and headways were blackened with soot.

Investigation & inquiry

There was no satisfactory explanation of the fire. The shifts had changed at 10 p.m. without any sign of it. A boy sent out during the night had stuck his candle on the side of the gate road near the mouth of the airway, and the coal was found burning half an hour later; it was supposed that the candle fell and lit chaff, chips and dry small coal, though some of the jury thought the boy had made the fire for amusement, which he denied. The verdict was accidental death. A collection for the bereaved raised 16s 6d.

Recorded claims

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

• About 3 a.m. on 9 January 1861 four men and two boys working an upper seam from the Red Pit of William Harrison's Brownhills Colliery, near Walsall, were suffocated by smoke. ^1,2
• The solid coal had caught fire in the airway to the deep coal workings of an adjoining pit worked by the same engine; the airway ventilated the sump of the Red Pit, and the smoke was carried into the shallow workings. ²
• Smoke pouring from the Red Pit prevented descent, and the bodies were reached by way of the Meadow Pit, the upcast, nearly half a mile away; six horses also died in their stables. ²
• No satisfactory explanation of the fire was found; a boy's candle near the airway was suspected, and the jury returned accidental death. ²

Related terminology

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

• Cage (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…seam. At about 3 a.m. the engine-tenter was signalled to lower the cage, did so, waited for the next signal, and drew it up empty, with a…”
• Coal (contextual relationship)
  Named 6 times in this record, first in the summary: “Before dawn on 9 January 1861 a fire in the solid coal of an airway in the deep workings at William Harrison's Brownhills…”
• Downcast Shaft and Upcast Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named 4 times in this record, first in the narrative: “Four men and two boys had gone down the Red Pit, the downcast, the night before to work an upper seam. At about 3 a.m. the…”
• Gate Road (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the narrative: “…the smoke back to the Red Pit. The men had left their places in the gate-road, about 500 yards from the shaft, probably on discovering the smoke,…”
• Sump (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…adjoining pit worked by the same engine; the airway ventilated the sump of the Red Pit beneath the scaffold, so the smoke rose through the…”

Sources

1. (primary) Brownhills Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Brownhills Colliery Fire - Brownhills - 1861 — Northern Mine Research Society

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