Douglas Bank Colliery shaft collapse, 1865

On 4 January 1865, as the sinkers at the bottom of John G. Morris's new shaft at Douglas Bank, near Wigan, began another length at about 500 yards, some 200 yards of the shaft lining gave way and fell on them. All five were killed.

Cause

About 200 yards of shaft lining collapsed when the sinkers began a new length below it.

What happened

The two shafts at Douglas Bank, between Bickershaw and Abram, were begun on 19 March 1863, each 16 feet across. They were lined in brick, with 22 yards of cast-iron tubbing where they passed through old flooded workings in the Ince Seven Feet, and the lining had been carried down the whole depth. By January 1865 the new shaft was about 500 yards deep.

When the five sinkers at the bottom began to sink another length below the lining, about 200 yards of it collapsed and fell down the shaft onto them. Lawrence Carney, 22, Thomas Dolan, 30, Doctor Entwistle, 45, William Hardy, 23, and James Marrow, 30, were all killed. The shafts were later completed to the Cannel at 509 yards.

Recorded claims

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

• On 4 January 1865 about 200 yards of the lining of a new shaft at Douglas Bank Colliery collapsed onto the sinkers at the bottom, killing five. ^1,2
• The shaft was 16 feet across and about 500 yards deep, lined throughout, and the men were beginning to sink another length. ^3,2
• The colliery belonged to John G. Morris. ²
• The dead were Lawrence Carney, Thomas Dolan, Doctor Entwistle, William Hardy and James Marrow. ¹

Related terminology

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

• Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named 7 times in this record, first in the summary: “…4 January 1865, as the sinkers at the bottom of John G. Morris's new shaft at Douglas Bank, near Wigan, began another length at about 500…”
• Shaft Sinking (contextual relationship)
  Named 4 times in this record, first in the summary: “On 4 January 1865, as the sinkers at the bottom of John G. Morris's new shaft at Douglas Bank, near…”

Photographs & further reading

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

Sources

1. (primary) Colliery Disaster: Douglas Bank, 4 January 1865 — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Douglas Bank Colliery Shaft Accident - Wigan - 1865 — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (secondary) Douglas Bank Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 4 October 2026 · Last researched: 4 October 2026