MineArchiveFfrwd Colliery Gas Explosion, 1879
In March 1879 an explosion of gas killed two workers, one of them a teenager, at Ffrwd Colliery, near Wrexham in Denbighshire.
| Date | March 1879 |
|---|---|
| Mine | Ffrwd Colliery |
| Region | Wrexham |
| Type | Explosion |
| Fatalities | 2 (Henry Prydden, a wagoner (aged 15, or 17 by one account), and Phineas Richardson (19), a filler.) |
| Context | During active mining |
Cause
An explosion of gas in the workings.
What happened
Henry Prydden, a wagoner of fifteen, and Phineas Richardson, a filler of nineteen, were killed by an explosion of gas at Ffrwd, then held by Sparrow and Poole. The colliery page dates the explosion to the 23rd of March and gives Prydden's age as seventeen, while the North Wales fatalities list dates it to the 27th and gives his age as fifteen; the two accounts otherwise agree that two were killed.
Sources
- (primary) Ffrwd Colliery, near Brymbo — Welsh Coal Mines, from the Inspector of Mines lists
- (secondary) North Wales colliery fatalities, 1879 — Welsh Coal Mines website
Record created: 9 September 2026 · Last researched: 22 September 2026