Haswell Colliery explosion, 1844

At three o'clock on the afternoon of Saturday 28 September 1844 an explosion at Haswell Colliery in east Durham killed ninety-five of the ninety-nine men and boys below ground, and every pony with them. It was the worst explosion the Durham coalfield had yet seen, and it came weeks after the end of the Great Strike of 1844. The inquiry found no blame attributable to anyone, leaving the owners with no liability to the widows and orphans, and the Home Office sent Michael Faraday and Charles Lyell north to attend the inquest.

Cause

An explosion of firedamp in a pit long troubled by gas. Haswell had already seen fatal explosions in June 1840 and August 1841, each of which killed one man in circumstances the colliery's own historians call miraculous escapes for everyone else.

What happened

Haswell Colliery, sunk in the 1830s on the strength of the new railway to Hartlepool, was never an easy pit: gas and water troubled it throughout its life. The Great Strike of 1844 ran from 5 April to the end of August and was broken by importing men from across the country, Haswell taking its share of them. At three o'clock on Saturday 28 September 1844, ninety-nine men and boys were below ground. Ninety-five of them were killed, as were all the ponies. Among the dead were Joseph Gibson, a hewer of fifty, and three of his sons -- John, twenty-two, Ralph, fifteen, and William, twelve; George Hall and his son Robert, aged twelve; and the brothers John and Robert Williamson, John a deputy leaving a pregnant wife and six children. Fifty-eight of the ninety-five can be traced in the Haswell census of June 1841.

Rescue & recovery

William Scott, the under-viewer, went down the main shaft to see what could be done, and found there was very little. The dead were buried at Easington, the parish church for Haswell, and at Pittington Hallgarth.

Investigation & inquiry

The official enquiry concluded that no blame was attributable to anyone, a finding that left the owners without liability to the bereaved. The Home Office sent Michael Faraday and Charles Lyell to attend the inquest and report on the explosion.

Memorials & commemoration

Unknown.

Recorded claims

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

• Ninety-five of the ninety-nine men and boys in the pit at three o'clock on Saturday 28 September 1844 were killed, along with all the ponies below ground; it was the most destructive explosion in the Durham coalfield up to that time. ^1,2
• The colliery belonged in 1844 to Clark, Taylor, Plumer and Company, the Haswell Coal Company, which also owned nearby Shotton Colliery. ²
• The explosion came within weeks of the end of the Great Strike of 1844, which had lasted from 5 April to the end of August and had been broken by bringing in large numbers of men from elsewhere, Haswell taking its share. ²
• Whole families were lost: Joseph Gibson, a hewer of fifty, died with three of his sons, and among the others were the father and son George and Robert Hall, and the brothers John and Robert Williamson. ²
• The official enquiry concluded that there was no blame attributable to anyone, which relieved the owners of financial liability to the widows and orphans. ²

Sources

1. (secondary) Haswell Colliery (Durham Mining Museum) — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Haswell Colliery & the Disaster of September 1844 — Durham Records Online

Record created: 17 September 2026 · Last researched: 20 September 2026