Orrell Colliery shot accident, 1873

On 28 February 1873 a shot blew out at Orrell Colliery, near Wigan, killing two colliers, Alfred Johnson and John Steward. The hole for the charge had been badly planted.

Cause

A blown-out shot from a badly planted hole.

What happened

Orrell Colliery, near Wigan, was worked in 1873 by W. H. Brancker and Co. On 28 February two colliers, Alfred Johnson, aged 28, and John Steward, aged 26, were killed when a shot blew out instead of breaking the coal: the hole for the charge had been badly planted, so that the blast came back out of it.

Recorded claims

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

• On 28 February 1873 two colliers, Alfred Johnson and John Steward, were killed by a blown-out shot at W. H. Brancker and Co.'s Orrell Colliery. ^1,2,3
• The shot blew out because its hole had been badly planted. ^1,2
• Alfred Johnson was 28 and John Steward 26. ^1,3

Related terminology

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

• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “On 28 February 1873 a shot blew out at Orrell Colliery, near Wigan, killing two colliers, Alfred Johnson and John Steward.…”

Photographs & further reading

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

Sources

1. (primary) Orrell Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) 1870s J: Ian Winstanley's alphabetical list of mining victims — Healey Hero (Ian Winstanley's list of mining victims)
3. (primary) Colliery Disaster: Orrell, 28 February 1873 — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 2 October 2026 · Last researched: 4 October 2026