MineArchiveGill Head Colliery fall of stone, 1872
| Date | 17 August 1872 |
|---|---|
| Mine | Gillhead Colliery |
| Region | Cumbria |
| Type | Collapse / Roof Fall |
| Fatalities | 2 (Both men were hewers, working at the face. The Durham Mining Museum records the accident as one occurrence with two lives lost.) |
| Context | During active mining (An ordinary working shift at a small West Cumberland colliery of some forty men.) |
A fall of stone at Gill Head Colliery near Flimby on 17 August 1872 killed two hewers, William Ismay, aged 18, and Andrew Poole, aged 19. It was the worst single accident recorded at a pit that employed fewer than fifty men for most of its life.
Cause
Fall of stone
What happened
Gill Head — the colliery is spelled Gillhead in most of the record and Gill Head in the accident register — was a small pit near Flimby, employing somewhere in the region of forty men and boys. On 17 August 1872 a fall of stone killed two of its hewers: William Ismay, aged 18, and Andrew Poole, aged 19. The company at the time is given as M. Laycock; the colliery’s own owner list has Lucock & Carlton for the 1860s, and it has not been possible to say whether these are the same name differently written. Nothing survives in the sources reached about how the fall came about — which working place, whether the roof had been reported, whether an inquest found fault. The bare facts are the date, the cause, the two names and their ages. Falls of roof and stone were the commonest killer in British coal mining, and they killed like this: not in an event that made the national papers, but two young men in a small pit on an ordinary Saturday.
Rescue & recovery
No account of recovery has been found in the sources reached.
Investigation & inquiry
No inquest or inspector’s report on this accident has been located. The Whitehaven News of 29 August 1872 carried a report headed "Two Miners Killed", indexed by the Durham Mining Museum but not read for this record.
Recorded claims
Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.
- On 17 August 1872 a fall of stone at Gill Head Colliery killed two men. The Durham Mining Museum records the occurrence with a cause of "Fall of stone" and two lives lost. 1
- William Ismay, aged 18, a hewer, and Andrew Poole, aged 19, a hewer, were both killed by the fall of stone. 1
- The company at the colliery at the time of the accident is recorded as M. Laycock. The colliery’s own owner list gives Lucock & Carlton for the 1860s; whether these are the same name differently written has not been established. (uncertain) 1
- The Whitehaven News of 29 August 1872 carried a report headed "Two Miners Killed". 1
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: “A fall of stone at Gill Head Colliery near Flimby on 17 August 1872 killed two hewers, William Ismay, aged…” - Hewer (contextual relationship)
Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…stone at Gill Head Colliery near Flimby on 17 August 1872 killed two hewers, William Ismay, aged 18, and Andrew Poole, aged 19. It was the worst…” - Roof Fall (contextual relationship)
Named in this record’s narrative: “…bare facts are the date, the cause, the two names and their ages. Falls of roof and stone were the commonest killer in British coal mining, and they…”
Photographs & further reading
This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this disaster.
The accident record itself: date, colliery, company, cause, lives lost, and the two men named with their ages and occupations.
View sourceSources
- (primary) Colliery Accident, 17th August 1872, Gill Head — Durham Mining Museum
- (primary) Gillhead Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
Record created: 7 September 2026 · Last researched: 7 September 2026