Portland Colliery explosion, 1908

Four men died in an explosion at the Portland Colliery Company's pits near Kilmarnock on 18 February 1908, either from gelignite that fired early or from a naked light igniting gas.

Cause

Gas in unventilated workings fired either by a premature explosion of gelignite or by a naked light.

Contributing factors

An accumulation of gas in unventilated workings adjoining the working place; naked lights.

What happened

A little after noon on 18 February 1908 an explosion at the Portland Colliery Company's pits, between Kilmarnock and Hurlford, killed the fireman John Livingstone and three miners, Richard, Robert and William Black. The inspector could not settle the order of events: either the gelignite went off prematurely, killing the fireman and firing an accumulation of gas in the unventilated workings next to the place, or one of the men's naked lights fired the gas first and the blast set off the gelignite in the fireman's hands.

Recorded claims

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

• On 18 February 1908 an explosion in the Portland Colliery Company's workings near Kilmarnock killed four: the fireman and three miners. ^1,2,3
• Either a premature explosion of gelignite killed the fireman and fired gas in unventilated workings next to the place, killing the other three, or a naked light fired the gas first and set off the gelignite in the fireman's hands. ^1,2,3
• Three of the dead were miners named Black, aged 17, 27 and 51; the fireman was John Livingstone, 45. ^2,3
• The explosion happened at 12.15 p.m. ¹

Related terminology

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

• Fireman (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the narrative: “…Colliery Company's pits, between Kilmarnock and Hurlford, killed the fireman John Livingstone and three miners, Richard, Robert and William…”
• Naked Light (contextual relationship)
  Named 4 times in this record, first in the summary: “…18 February 1908, either from gelignite that fired early or from a naked light igniting gas.”

Sources

1. (secondary) Fatal accidents in Scottish mines, 1908 — Scottish Mining Website
2. (secondary) Mining deaths 1900-1909, surnames B, part 5 (Ian Winstanley) — Healey Hero (Ian Winstanley's mining deaths lists)
3. (secondary) Mining deaths 1900-1909, surnames L, part 4 (Ian Winstanley) — Healey Hero (Ian Winstanley's mining deaths lists)

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