Dinas Main Colliery roof fall, 1890

A fall of roof in a return airway of the Dinas Main Colliery Company's workings at Gilfach Goch on 8 March 1890 killed two airwaymen, William Lewis and William Hughes, as they cleared an earlier fall.

Cause

A fall of roof in the return airway, where the two men were clearing away another fall that had come down a few hours before.

What happened

On 8 March 1890 William Lewis and William Hughes, airwaymen, were clearing a fall of roof that had come down a few hours earlier in a return airway of the Dinas Main Colliery Company's pit, in workings laid out on the longwall system, when the roof fell again and killed them both. The Northern Mine Research Society lists the deaths under Dinas Main Colliery; Ian Winstanley's victims list names the pit as Dinas Steam, of the Dinas Main Colliery Company, and Welsh Coal Mines as Dinas Colliery, where the two were killed by a heavy fall of roof and side.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• The pit was the Dinas Main Colliery Company's Dinas Steam. (uncertain) ^2,3
• William Hughes, 31, and William Lewis, 52, repairers, were killed by a heavy fall of roof and side at Dinas Colliery. (disputed) ⁴

Recorded claims

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

• William Lewis and William Hughes, airwaymen, were killed by a fall of roof on 8 March 1890. ^1,2,3
• The roof fell in the return airway while they were clearing another fall that had occurred a few hours before. ^2,3
• The pit was the Dinas Main Colliery Company's Dinas Steam. (uncertain) ^2,3
• William Hughes, 31, and William Lewis, 52, repairers, were killed by a heavy fall of roof and side at Dinas Colliery. (disputed) ⁴

Related terminology

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

• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the narrative: “…The Northern Mine Research Society lists the deaths under Dinas Main Colliery; Ian Winstanley's victims list names the pit as Dinas Steam, of the…”
• Longwall (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…the Dinas Main Colliery Company's pit, in workings laid out on the longwall system, when the roof fell again and killed them both. The Northern…”
• Return Airway (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “A fall of roof in a return airway of the Dinas Main Colliery Company's workings at Gilfach Goch on 8…”
• Roof Fall (contextual relationship)
  Named 4 times in this record, first in the summary: “A fall of roof in a return airway of the Dinas Main Colliery Company's workings at…”

Photographs & further reading

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

Sources

1. (secondary) Dinas Main Colliery - Northern Mine Research Society — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Mining deaths 1890-1899, surnames H part 7 (Ian Winstanley) — Healey Hero (Ian Winstanley's mining deaths lists)
3. (secondary) Healey Hero: mining victims 1890-1899, L (William Lewis, Dinas Steam, 8 March 1890) — Healey Hero (Ian Winstanley's mining victims lists)
4. (secondary) Welsh mining fatalities, 1890 — Welsh Coal Mines

Record created: 2 October 2026 · Last researched: 11 October 2026