Gartshore Colliery naphtha explosion, 1898

Two miners waiting to go down Gartshore No. 11 Pit were killed on 29 November 1898 when naphtha poured onto the lamp-room stove to rekindle it exploded.

Cause

Naphtha poured onto a stove thought to be out ignited and exploded.

Contributing factors

The men had entered the lamp room without authority.

What happened

On 29 November 1898, waiting to go down Gartshore No. 11 Pit near Twechar, a group of miners went into the lamp room without authority, apparently to relight the stove and warm themselves. Thinking the fire was out, George Brown poured naphtha onto it from a can, and it ignited. He and Thomas Brown were killed, and a third man was injured.

Recorded claims

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

• On 29 November 1898 two miners, Thomas Brown, 54, and George Brown, 26, were killed and another injured by an explosion of naphtha in the lamp room at Gartshore No. 11 Pit. ^1,2
• George Brown, thinking the stove fire was out, poured naphtha onto it, and the liquid ignited. ^1,2
• The men had gone into the lamp room without authority, apparently to relight the stove and warm themselves while waiting to go down the pit. ¹
• The colliery belonged to William Baird and Co. Ltd. ^1,2

Sources

1. (secondary) Fatal accidents in Scottish mines, 1898 — Scottish Mining Website
2. (secondary) Mining deaths 1890-1899, surnames B part 7 (Ian Winstanley) — Healey Hero (Ian Winstanley's mining deaths lists)

Record created: 8 October 2026 · Last researched: 8 October 2026