Cwmtillery Colliery overwind, 1889

When a cage carrying eight men was overwound at Cwmtillery Colliery on 8 June 1889, two jumped out while it hung from the detaching hooks in the headgear and fell back down the shaft; the six who stayed in were unhurt.

Cause

The cage was overwound and hung in the headgear by the detaching hooks; the two men jumped out and fell into the shaft.

What happened

On 8 June 1889 a cage at Cwmtillery Colliery, near Abertillery, was overwound and left hanging in the headgear by its detaching hooks. David Lloyd and John Tanner jumped out, and on reaching the ground fell back into the shaft. The other six men, who stayed in the cage, escaped unhurt.

Recorded claims

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

• On 8 June 1889 David Lloyd, 24, collier, and John Tanner, 48, timberman, were killed at Cwmtillery Colliery when, the cage having been overwound and hanging in the headstocks by the detaching hooks, they jumped out and fell back into the shaft. ¹
• The other six men who remained in the cage escaped uninjured. ¹
• NMRS lists David Lloyd, 23, and John Tanner, 48, killed on 8 June 1889 when the cage was overwound. ²

Related terminology

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

• Cage (contextual relationship)
  Named 4 times in this record, first in the summary: “When a cage carrying eight men was overwound at Cwmtillery Colliery on 8 June…”
• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “When a cage carrying eight men was overwound at Cwmtillery Colliery on 8 June 1889, two jumped out while it hung from the detaching…”
• Detaching Hook (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “…Colliery on 8 June 1889, two jumped out while it hung from the detaching hooks in the headgear and fell back down the shaft; the six who stayed in…”
• Headgear (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “…1889, two jumped out while it hung from the detaching hooks in the headgear and fell back down the shaft; the six who stayed in were unhurt.”
• Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “…hung from the detaching hooks in the headgear and fell back down the shaft; the six who stayed in were unhurt.”

Photographs & further reading

This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this disaster.

Sources

1. (secondary) Glamorgan colliery fatalities, 1889 — Welsh Coal Mines website
2. (secondary) Cwmtillery Colliery - Northern Mine Research Society — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 2 October 2026 · Last researched: 2 October 2026