MineArchivePrimrose Colliery Disaster, 1858
| Date | 13 October 1858 |
|---|---|
| Mine | Primrose Colliery |
| Region | Neath Port Talbot |
| Primary type | Gas / Asphyxiation |
| Associated types | Machinery |
| Fatalities | 14 (Fourteen men and boys. Seven horses were also killed.) |
| Context | During active mining |
| Status | Researched |
On 13 October 1858 the fumes of an engine boiler suffocated fourteen men and boys, and seven horses, underground at the Primrose Colliery near Rhos. The colliery was then owned by Morgan and Lewis, and was afterwards redeveloped as the New Primrose Colliery.
Cause
The fumes of an engine boiler, which suffocated the men, boys and horses underground.
Contributing factors
The hazard here was not the coal but the plant: a boiler's exhaust reaching the workings rather than firedamp or an explosion. It is an unusual cause even by the standards of the mid-nineteenth century coalfield, where the great killers were gas and roof.
What happened
The colliery was owned at the time by John Morgan and Griffith Lewis, as part of the Primrose Concern. On 13 October 1858 fumes from an engine boiler suffocated fourteen men and boys underground, together with seven horses.
Legal & regulatory aftermath
The colliery was afterwards redeveloped as the New Primrose Colliery under Sir Ralph Howard.
Memorials & commemoration
A bench in the village of Rhos stands as a memorial to the disaster and to the fourteen miners, men and boys, who died in it.
Recorded claims
Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.
- Fourteen men and boys were suffocated, together with seven horses. 1,2
- The suffocation was caused by the fumes of an engine boiler. 1,2
- The colliery was owned by Morgan and Lewis when the disaster occurred. 1
- The colliery was redeveloped after the disaster as the New Primrose Colliery, owned by Sir Ralph Howard, and by 1896 employed 307. 1
- A bench in Rhos village commemorates the disaster and the fourteen miners who died. 1
Related terminology
Mining terms this disaster is structurally linked to, with the nature of the relationship.
- Colliery (contextual relationship)
Named 6 times in this record, first in the summary: “…fourteen men and boys, and seven horses, underground at the Primrose Colliery near Rhos. The colliery was then owned by Morgan and Lewis, and was…”
Sources
- (secondary) Rhos, Neath Port Talbot — Wikipedia
- (secondary) Primrose Lane Colliery and other surrounding mines — Rhos Primary School local history project
Record created: 3 September 2026 · Last researched: 3 September 2026