Lletty Shenkin Colliery explosion, 1862

Between seven and eight on Saturday morning, 9 August 1862, gas exploded in No. 7 cross heading of the six-foot vein in the new No. 2 pit at Lletty Shenkin, Cwmbach. The inquest jury blamed a labourer, Richard Thomas, for tampering with his safety lamp or striking a match. Five died.

Cause

Gas that had gathered in No. 6 stall, an old stall being filled with rubbish, was ignited; the jury found Richard Thomas had tampered with his safety lamp or used matches.

Contributing factors

No. 6 stall had been partly filled with rubbish, restricting the air, and the fireman had found gas in it some five weeks before. He did not examine old stalls on his morning round. A collier said he had carried a lamp key since the previous manager's time.

What happened

William Evan Davies was knocked down by the blast in No. 6 dip heading, carried three frightened boys out, and went back to look for his son. At a tram he found men nearly choked and helped them past; beyond it lay David Griffiths, a haulier, and David Jones, whom in the dark he took for his own boy, and higher up John Morgan, on his knees. Richard Thomas was missing; the old stall was too hot to enter until the men hung a canvas brattice, and they found him dead on the road, badly burned, with a box of tobacco but no matches. Thomas lived in Merthyr and had worked at the pit only three weeks. Griffiths died on the way home, one leg torn off at the thigh; Morgan died on the Monday.

Rescue & recovery

Colliers carried the injured out to good air; a canvas brattice was put up to clear the old stall before Thomas could be reached.

Investigation & inquiry

The inquest on Griffiths and Morgan sat at the Castle Inn, Aberaman, before George Overton, the coroner; that on Thomas was held at the Greyhound, Merthyr. The underground manager, John Williams, said some 15,000 cubic feet a minute passed through the workings, ventilated by Struvé machines, and that the colliers complained of too much air rather than too little. The jury found the explosion took place in No. 6 stall of No. 7 cross heading, caused by Thomas tampering with his lamp or using matches.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• Welsh Coal Mines describes Griffiths, Morgan and Thomas as colliers; the Durham Mining Museum gives Griffith as a haulier and Morgan and Thomas as labourers. (disputed) ^1,3

Recorded claims

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

• Five died in an explosion of gas at the No. 2 pit on 9 August 1862: David Griffiths, John Morgan, Richard Thomas, the boy David Jones, and the boy David Davies, who died of burns some weeks later. ^1,2
• The Durham Mining Museum lists an explosion of gas with five lives lost in August 1862, naming David Griffith, haulier, David Jones, and John Morgan and Richard Thomas, labourers, on 9 August. ³
• Welsh Coal Mines describes Griffiths, Morgan and Thomas as colliers; the Durham Mining Museum gives Griffith as a haulier and Morgan and Thomas as labourers. (disputed) ^1,3
• The jury found the explosion took place in No. 6 stall, No. 7 cross heading, caused by Richard Thomas tampering with his safety lamp or using matches. ⁴
• One man was killed instantly, another died before he could be carried home, and a third died the following Monday; two others were severely burned. ⁵
• The fireman had found gas in No. 6 stall about five weeks before and did not examine old stalls on his morning round. ⁴

Related terminology

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

• Brattice (rescue/recovery concept)
  A canvas brattice cleared the stall.
• Coal (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s contributing factors: “The colliery's coal was exceedingly gassy: explosions in 1849 and 1853 had been blamed…”
• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “…9 August 1862 gas exploded in the No. 2 pit at Lletty Shenkin Colliery, Cwmbach, near Aberdare. Four were killed, among them a boy, David…”
• Firedamp (direct cause)
  An explosion of gas.
• Haulier (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…nearly choked and helped them past; beyond it lay David Griffiths, a haulier, and David Jones, whom in the dark he took for his own boy, and…”
• Naked Light (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s contributing factors: “…1853 had been blamed on gas leaking from abandoned workings and on a naked light near escaping gas.”
• Safety Lamp (contributing factor)
  A lamp was tampered with.
• Stall (contextual relationship)
  The gas gathered in an old stall.

Sources

1. (secondary) Lletty Shenkin Colliery, Cwmbach — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Welsh mining fatalities, 1862 — Welsh Coal Mines
3. (primary) Lletty Shenkin Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
4. (primary) The late explosion at Lletty Shenkin (Cardiff Times, 22 August 1862) — Welsh Newspapers (National Library of Wales)
5. (primary) Dreadful explosion at Lletty Shenkin Colliery (Aberdare Times, 16 August 1862) — Welsh Newspapers (National Library of Wales)

Record created: 4 September 2026 · Last researched: 22 September 2026