Hewlett Colliery roof fall, 1891

A fall of roof from between two slips killed the dayman William Gibson and the miner Robert Lowe at the Westleigh Colliery Company's Hewlett No. 2 pit, near Westhoughton, on 15 September 1891.

Cause

A fall of roof from between two slips.

What happened

On 15 September 1891 roof came away from between two slips at the Hewlett No. 2 pit of the Westleigh Colliery Co. Ltd, near Westhoughton in Lancashire, and killed William Gibson, 31, a dayman, and Robert Lowe, 22, a miner.

Investigation & inquiry

The inspector made an inspection of the place and attended the inquiry.

Recorded claims

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

• A fall of roof at Hewlett No. 2 pit on 15 September 1891 killed two men. ^1,2
• The roof fell from between two slips. ^1,2
• The pit was worked by the Westleigh Colliery Co. Ltd. ^1,2
• The inspector inspected the place and attended the inquiry. ^1,2

Related terminology

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

• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s summary: “…the dayman William Gibson and the miner Robert Lowe at the Westleigh Colliery Company's Hewlett No. 2 pit, near Westhoughton, on 15 September 1891.”
• Roof Fall (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “A fall of roof from between two slips killed the dayman William Gibson and the…”

Photographs & further reading

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

Sources

1. (secondary) Mining victims, 1890s, L (Lowens) — Healey Hero (Ian Winstanley's list of mining victims)
2. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: Colliery Accident 1891 (Hewlett) — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) Durham Mining Museum - Hewlett Colliery (UK) — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 1 October 2026 · Last researched: 6 October 2026