Glencraig Colliery explosion, 1902

A firedamp explosion followed by afterdamp killed four men working in two parallel underground roadways at Glencraig Colliery on 3 April 1902 — one of three serious multi-fatality accidents in Fife within little more than a year.

Cause

All the men in the affected roadways carried safety lamps and no naked light was present, so the explosion was thought to have been caused by a sudden burst of gas from the strata with enough force to break one of the lamps.

What happened

Peter Adamson and Andrew Marshall began work in a dook of the five-feet seam of No. 1 pit, about 250 fathoms below the surface, around six o'clock in the morning; James Crichton and Robert Wilson worked a companion dook running parallel to it. About eight o'clock Adamson and Marshall fired a shot in the roof, and nothing unusual followed; after another hour's work the men retired to eat breakfast some distance off. While they were resting, a explosion occurred that killed Adamson and Marshall almost instantly and left them badly burned. James Rowan, a drainer working nearby, ran to investigate on hearing the report and found William M'Caw, the dook pump engineman, collapsed in the roadway — M'Caw had been affected by afterdamp rather than the explosion itself, and Rowan pulled him clear into cleaner air, where he was successfully resuscitated.

Rescue & recovery

With the other men still unaccounted for, general manager W. H. Telfer organised a rescue party including under-manager Robert Wilson (a different man from the victim of the same name), oversman John Wilson and others. They found the air in the main dook so bad they were nearly overcome themselves, and had to resort to air chambering to clear it before they could proceed. Adamson and Marshall's bodies were found at the bottom of the dook where they had been resting; Crichton and Wilson were found some distance further into the companion dook, dead of afterdamp with no marks of burning or violence on their bodies. Work stopped across both pits while the bodies were brought to the surface and taken to the colliery joiners' workshop, watched by a large crowd from the village of Glencraig and the burgh of Lochgelly. Dr Dickson of Lochgelly and his assistant Dr Wallwork descended the shaft and remained underground throughout the recovery, and their care was credited with reviving M'Caw from his collapsed state.

Investigation & inquiry

No formal public inquiry into this incident has been found; it was reported at the time as the third serious multi-fatality accident in Fife within little over a year, following seven deaths by carbon monoxide asphyxiation at Hill of Beath Colliery in February 1901 and eight deaths at the Donibristle pit that August.

Legal & regulatory aftermath

The Executive Board of the Fife and Kinross Miners' Association, meeting in Dunfermline the day the news broke, passed a resolution of sympathy with the victims' relatives.

Recorded claims

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

• It was ascertained that at about half-past nine in the morning, while the men were finishing breakfast, an explosion was heard reverberating through the workings, supposed to have occurred in the five-feet seam of No. 1 pit. ¹
• The Scottish Mining Website's 1902 index, compiled from the Inspector of Mines returns, lists an explosion of firedamp or coal dust at Glencraig, Fife, on 3 April 1902 under the Wilsons and Clyde Coal Co. Ltd, killing Robert Wilson, 18, drawer; James Crichton, 33, miner; Peter Adamson, 26, drawer; and Andrew Marshall, 25, miner. ²
• Four men were killed: Peter Adamson and Andrew Marshall by the explosion in one dook, and James Crichton and Robert Wilson by afterdamp in the companion dook. ^1,2
• The Scotsman report reproduced by the Benarty Heritage group calls Marshall a widower of twenty; the Inspector's returns give him as 25 and Adamson as 26. (disputed) ^1,2

Related terminology

Mining terms this disaster is structurally linked to, with the nature of the relationship.

• Afterdamp (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “A firedamp explosion followed by afterdamp killed four men working in two parallel underground roadways at…”
• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “…four men working in two parallel underground roadways at Glencraig Colliery on 3 April 1902 — one of three serious multi-fatality accidents in…”
• Dook (contextual relationship)
  Named 6 times in this record, first in the narrative: “Peter Adamson and Andrew Marshall began work in a dook of the five-feet seam of No. 1 pit, about 250 fathoms below the…”
• Firedamp (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s summary: “A firedamp explosion followed by afterdamp killed four men working in two…”
• Safety Lamp (contextual relationship)
  All the men carried safety lamps.
• Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s rescue and recovery: “…Dr Dickson of Lochgelly and his assistant Dr Wallwork descended the shaft and remained underground throughout the recovery, and their care was…”

Photographs & further reading

This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this disaster.

Sources

1. (primary) "Colliery Accident in Fife – Four Men Killed" (The Scotsman, 4 April 1902), in Mining Accidents & Strikes — Benarty Heritage Preservation Group / The Scotsman
2. (secondary) 1902 Deaths in Scottish mines — Scottish Mining Website

Record created: 29 August 2026 · Last researched: 14 September 2026