MineArchiveMorfa Colliery explosion, 1858
| Date | 26 November 1858 |
|---|---|
| Mine | Morfa Colliery |
| Region | Neath Port Talbot |
| Type | Explosion |
| Fatalities | 4 (Aaron (Aron) Charlton, 38, married with three children; Isaac Griffiths, 25, single; David Hughes, 35, married with two children; William (or John) Williams, 24, single, Griffiths's brother-in-law.) |
| Context | During active mining (Vivian and Sons' Morfa Colliery at Taibach, a fiery pit worked with locked safety lamps that were relit only in an underground lamp room.) |
An explosion of gas at Morfa Colliery, Taibach, on 25 or 26 November 1858 killed four colliers. Afterwards one man's safety lamp was found with its top off and a homemade key to its lock in his pocket, and none of the lamps was locked, though all had been locked when the shift began. Opening a lamp saved the walk to the lamp room to relight it.
Cause
Firedamp fired at a safety lamp that had been opened underground; one lamp was found with its top off and none was locked.
Contributing factors
A homemade key to the lamp lock was found in a dead man's pocket: opening the lamp underground saved the walk to the lamp room where lamps could be relit in comparative safety, an outlawed practice.
Recorded claims
Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.
- Four men were killed in an explosion on 26 November 1858: Aaron Charlton, David Hughes, Isaac Griffiths and his brother-in-law John Williams. The top of one victim's safety lamp had been removed and a homemade key to fit the lamp's lock was found in his pocket — an outlawed and dangerous practice that saved a walk to the underground lamp room where the lamp could be relit in comparative safety. 1
- Welsh Coal Mines dates the explosion 26 November 1858. (disputed) 1,2
- The Durham Mining Museum dates the four deaths 25 November 1858. (disputed) 3
- The Welsh Coal Mines colliery page names the fourth man John Williams; its death roll and the Durham Mining Museum name him William Williams, 24, single. (disputed) 3,1,2
- The Durham Mining Museum records one of the colliers' safety lamps found with the top off and none of them locked, although they had been proved locked at the start of the turn. 3
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: “An explosion of gas at Morfa Colliery, Taibach, on 25 or 26 November 1858 killed four colliers. Afterwards…” - Firedamp (direct cause)
Gas fired at the opened lamp. - Safety Lamp (direct cause)
A lamp was found opened and unlocked.
Sources
- (secondary) Morfa Colliery Port Talbot — Welsh Coal Mines
- (secondary) Morfa Colliery disaster death rolls — Welsh Coal Mines
- (secondary) Morfa Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
Record created: 11 September 2026 · Last researched: 13 September 2026