Dunraven Colliery explosion, 1878

Between three and four o'clock on the afternoon of Monday 12 August 1878 a shot fired in the Two Feet Nine seam at Dunraven Colliery, Blaencwm, ignited gas. William Phillips and George Howe, who had bored the shot-hole, died of their burns, and the fireman Daniel Davies was badly burned.

Cause

The flame of a powder shot fired in the rock ignited accumulated firedamp.

What happened

Phillips and Howe had bored a hole in the rock for blasting, and when it was charged the fireman came, as the colliery rules required, to fire it. The powder went off and its flame set fire to gas that had gathered at the spot. The colliery belonged to Thomas Joseph, J.P.

Investigation & inquiry

The coroner George Overton held the adjourned inquest at the Bute Hotel, Treherbert, in September 1878, hearing the manager Morgan Llewellyn, the fireman Daniel Davies and others. The jury returned a verdict of accidental death.

Recorded claims

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

• An explosion of firedamp at Dunraven Colliery, Blaencwm, on Monday 12 August 1878 killed William Phillips and George Howe. ^1,2,3
• A charge of powder fired by the fireman in a hole the two men had bored in the rock ignited accumulated gas in the Two Feet Nine seam. ³
• Three men were badly burned: Phillips, Howe and the fireman Daniel Davies. ³
• The adjourned inquest at the Bute Hotel returned a verdict of accidental death. ²

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 summary: “…12 August 1878 a shot fired in the Two Feet Nine seam at Dunraven Colliery, Blaencwm, ignited gas. William Phillips and George Howe, who had…”
• Firedamp (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s cause: “The flame of a powder shot fired in the rock ignited accumulated firedamp.”
• Fireman (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “…Howe, who had bored the shot-hole, died of their burns, and the fireman Daniel Davies was badly burned.”
• Shot-firing (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “Phillips and Howe had bored a hole in the rock for blasting, and when it was charged the fireman came, as the colliery rules…”

Sources

1. (secondary) Welsh Coal Mines: fatalities, 1878 — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (primary) South Wales Daily News, 25 September 1878: The late explosion at the Dunraven Colliery — South Wales Daily News (Welsh Newspapers Online, National Library of Wales)
3. (primary) Monmouthshire Merlin, 16 August 1878: Rhondda Valley: colliery explosion — Monmouthshire Merlin (Welsh Newspapers Online, National Library of Wales)

Record created: 19 October 2026 · Last researched: 19 October 2026