MineArchiveMorfa Colliery explosion, 1858
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.
| 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.) |
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.
What happened
Morfa was Vivian and Sons' colliery at Taibach, opened in 1849 to feed the firm's copper works, and it had already lost six men to an explosion of gas in December 1850. On 25 November 1858 by the Inspector's dating, or the 26th by Welsh Coal Mines, gas fired again and four colliers were killed: Aaron Charlton, 38, married with three children; Isaac Griffiths, 25, single; David Hughes, 35, married with two children; and Griffiths's brother-in-law Williams, 24 and single, William in the Inspector's list and the death roll and John on the colliery page. The men had been given locked safety lamps, and the lamps were proved to have been locked at the start of the turn. After the explosion one lamp was found with its top off, and none of them was locked; in one dead man's pocket was a homemade key that fitted the lock. Opening a lamp underground saved the walk to the lamp station where it could be relit in comparative safety, and the practice was forbidden for exactly this reason. Worse explosions followed at Morfa in 1863, 1870 and 1890.
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 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
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. - Locked Lamp (contextual relationship)
Named in this record’s contributing factors: “A homemade key to the lamp lock was found in a dead man's pocket: opening the lamp underground saved…” - 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
- (primary) Morfa Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
Record created: 11 September 2026 · Last researched: 16 September 2026