North Seaton Colliery explosion, 1905

On the night of Sunday 26 November 1905 firedamp exploded in the Yard seam at North Seaton Colliery, Northumberland, killing the stoneman William Jasper Littlehale and the timberer David Joseph Robinson and injuring the chargeman John Love.

Cause

An ignition of firedamp, probably at Robinson's naked candle. The source of the gas was not established: either a general exudation from the strata while the barometer was very low, or a heavy fall of roof near the face of the furthest gateway.

Contributing factors

The district had not been examined before the night shift went in, and the men did not wait for the chargeman. The Special Rules then in force in Northumberland and Durham required an examination before the hewers started work but not before night shifts of stonemen, shifters and other workmen. It was a 'baff' weekend, and the barometer was very low.

What happened

The explosion happened at about 9.30 p.m. in a district of longwall workings in the Yard seam known as the Bargain Flat, Staple District, about 1,090 yards north-west of the shafts. The seam lay 88 fathoms below the surface and was three feet thick, and it had been thought practically free of firedamp: all the workings used naked lights, though the Cowpen Coal Co. gave its stonemen a safety lamp to use when going back to a place after firing a shot.

Littlehale, 31, and Robinson, 30, both on day wages, had gone down at 9 p.m. for the night shift. The chargeman John Love, who should have examined the district first, was examining another district and told them to go in but not to go to the face until he came. They went on without him and were making for the face of the main road when the gas fired. Robinson was found with a candle near him; Littlehale was found a few feet away from a locked safety lamp with its glass cracked, and the Inspector thought he had been leading with the lamp, may have seen gas on it and turned back as the gas fired at Robinson's candle. The explosion had little force and did almost no damage beyond blowing down the canvas sheets used as doors and stoppings.

Rescue & recovery

Love lay where the blast caught him until the timberer James Sampson found him at about 11 p.m. Sampson went for help, and the master shifter William Smith and others restored the blown-down canvas doors and cleared the afterdamp, recovering Robinson's body at 11.15 p.m. and Littlehale's at about 12.15 a.m. on 27 November.

Investigation & inquiry

The local inspectors visited at 1.30 a.m. and could say only that gas had exploded. The district was inspected later that day by H.M. Inspector, whose report for 1905 (Cd 2910) set out the circumstances.

Legal & regulatory aftermath

The Inspector noted that after the Woodhorn explosion of 1902 he had found the same gap in the Special Rules and a new rule had been drafted with the owners, requiring an examination within three hours before every shift; it had not been brought in. Proposed again in December 1905, it drew so many objections from the workmen, chiefly to the three-hour period, that it was withdrawn.

Recorded claims

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

• Firedamp exploded at about 9.30 p.m. on 26 November 1905, killing two and injuring one. ^1,2,3
• The dead were the stoneman William Jasper Littlehale, 31, and the timberer David Joseph Robinson, 30. ^4,1,2,3
• The explosion was in longwall workings in the Yard seam, three feet thick and 88 fathoms deep, worked with naked lights. ¹
• The colliery belonged to the Cowpen Coal Co. Ltd. ^1,2
• The district had not been examined before the night shift; the Special Rules required no examination before night shifts of stonemen and shifters. ¹

Related terminology

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

• Afterdamp (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s rescue and recovery: “…and others restored the blown-down canvas doors and cleared the afterdamp, recovering Robinson's body at 11.15 p.m. and Littlehale's at about…”
• Hewer (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s contributing factors: “…in Northumberland and Durham required an examination before the hewers started work but not before night shifts of stonemen, shifters and…”
• Longwall (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “The explosion happened at about 9.30 p.m. in a district of longwall workings in the Yard seam known as the Bargain Flat, Staple…”
• Safety Lamp (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the narrative: “…used naked lights, though the Cowpen Coal Co. gave its stonemen a safety lamp to use when going back to a place after firing a shot. Littlehale,…”
• Stoneman (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s summary: “…the Yard seam at North Seaton Colliery, Northumberland, killing the stoneman William Jasper Littlehale and the timberer David Joseph Robinson and…”

Photographs & further reading

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

Sources

1. (primary) Colliery Accident 1905: North Seaton, 26 November 1905 (1905 Mines Inspectors Report, Cd 2910, transcribed by the Durham Mining Museum) — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: William Jasper Littlehale, North Seaton, 26 November 1905 — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (secondary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: David Joseph Robinson, North Seaton, 26 November 1905 — Northern Mine Research Society
4. (primary) North Seaton Colliery — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 9 October 2026 · Last researched: 10 October 2026