On 13 December 1895 a deputy walked through a fence into a p

On 13 December 1895 a deputy walked through a fence into a place known to be foul with gas at Eppleton Colliery, near Hetton-le-Hole in County Durham, and he, a putter and a hewer who went in to save them were all overcome and died.

Cause

The deputy went, against the rules, through a fence into a headway known to be full of gas to fetch out an empty tub; he and the putter with him were overcome, and a hewer who rushed in to rescue them was also overcome.

What happened

John Thomas Brown, a deputy of 25, took the putter Robert Lawns into a fenced-off back headway in the Main Coal Seam, known to be foul with gas, to recover an empty tub; they left their lamps at the fence and were overcome before reaching it. Another putter raised the alarm, and three hewers, Anthony Little Harrison, Evans and McDermott, rushed in to save them without a thought for themselves; they too were overcome. The manager and officials got Evans and McDermott out alive, but Brown and Lawns were long dead and Harrison had just expired. The Inspector, Thomas Bell, said Brown had no need to enter the place and had broken the Coal Mines Regulation Act by taking down the fence, but he praised the gallantry of the rescuers; the gas, he found, was gathering because of a fault near the headways and a low barometer, not any failure of the ventilation.

Sources

1. (primary) Eppleton Colliery suffocation, 13 December 1895 (from the 1895 Mines Inspector's Report, C 8074, Durham District, Thomas Bell) — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Durham Mining Museum: Eppleton Colliery — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 22 September 2026 · Last researched: 22 September 2026