Hetton Colliery roof fall, 1884

A large fall of stone from an unseen slip killed a deputy and a young hewer at the Hetton Coal Company's colliery on 16 June 1884.

Date	16 June 1884
Mine	Hetton Colliery
Region	Tyne and Wear
Type	Collapse / Roof Fall
Fatalities	2 (Two killed: the deputy Thomas Mouter and the hewer William Parker.)
Context	During active mining

An etching of a colliery with engine houses and smoking chimneys, and wagons and a locomotive in the foreground. — Old Hetton, Durham: an etching published by W. Fordyce W. Fordyce, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Cause

A fall of stone from an unseen slip over the coal head in a broken jud.

What happened

On 16 June 1884 a large quantity of stone came away at Hetton Colliery, in a broken jud where it parted at a slip over the coal head that no one had seen. It killed the deputy Thomas Mouter, 47, and the hewer William Parker, 21. Mouter was buried at St Nicholas's churchyard, Hetton-le-Hole.

Recorded claims

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

On 16 June 1884 a large fall of stone at Hetton Colliery killed the deputy Thomas Mouter, 47, and the hewer William Parker, 21. ^1,2
The stone came away in a broken jud from an unseen slip over the coal head. ^1,2
The colliery belonged to the Hetton Coal Company. ²

Related terminology

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

Coal (contextual relationship)
Named twice in this record, first in the cause: “A fall of stone from an unseen slip over the coal head in a broken jud.”
Colliery (contextual relationship)
Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…slip killed a deputy and a young hewer at the Hetton Coal Company's colliery on 16 June 1884.”
Deputy (contextual relationship)
Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “A large fall of stone from an unseen slip killed a deputy and a young hewer at the Hetton Coal Company's colliery on 16 June…”
Hewer (contextual relationship)
Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “A large fall of stone from an unseen slip killed a deputy and a young hewer at the Hetton Coal Company's colliery on 16 June 1884.”

Sources

(primary) Hetton Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
(secondary) Mining victims, 1880s, P (Patrick) — Healey Hero (Ian Winstanley's list of mining victims)

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