Lochgelly Colliery roof fall, 1894

Two repairers retimbering a haulage road at Lochgelly on the colliers' idle day, 13 June 1894, were killed by a roof fall that went unnoticed for six hours.

Cause

The soft blaes roof over a stoop of coal came away and swung the timber on a haulage road.

What happened

On 13 June 1894, the colliers' idle day, two repairers at Lochgelly Colliery, John Thomson, 26, and William Beveridge, 48, one of them an official, were renewing the timber on a haulage road with a stoop of coal on one side and longwall waste on the other. The roof was soft blaes. They started at 2 p.m.; no one knew anything had happened until the next shift reached the place at 10 p.m. The roof over the stoop had come away and swung the timber, and the tallow burned in their lamps suggested the fall had come at about 4 p.m.

Rescue & recovery

The men were found when the next shift reached the place at 10 p.m., about six hours after the fall.

Recorded claims

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

• On 13 June 1894 two repairers, John Thomson, 26, and William Beveridge, 48, were killed by a fall of roof at Lochgelly Colliery. ^1,2,3
• They were repairing the timber on a haulage road on the colliers' idle day; the roof over a stoop of coal came away and swung the timber. ¹
• The men had started at 2 p.m. and the accident was not known until the next shift reached the place at 10 p.m.; the tallow burned in their lamps put the fall at about 4 p.m. ¹
• The colliery belonged to the Lochgelly Iron and Coal Company Ltd. ^1,2,3

Related terminology

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

• Blaes (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the cause: “The soft blaes roof over a stoop of coal came away and swung the timber on a…”
• Coal (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the cause: “The soft blaes roof over a stoop of coal came away and swung the timber on a haulage road.”
• Haulage (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “Two repairers retimbering a haulage road at Lochgelly on the colliers' idle day, 13 June 1894, were…”
• Longwall (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…the timber on a haulage road with a stoop of coal on one side and longwall waste on the other. The roof was soft blaes. They started at 2 p.m.;…”
• Roof Fall (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s summary: “…Lochgelly on the colliers' idle day, 13 June 1894, were killed by a roof fall that went unnoticed for six hours.”

Sources

1. (secondary) Fatal accidents in mines in Scotland, 1894 — Scottish Mining Website
2. (secondary) Mining deaths 1890-1899, surnames T part 3 (Ian Winstanley) — Healey Hero (Ian Winstanley's mining deaths lists)
3. (secondary) Mining deaths 1890-1899, surnames B part 4 (Ian Winstanley) — Healey Hero (Ian Winstanley's mining deaths lists)

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