Rhas Las Colliery explosion, 1855

An explosion of firedamp at Rhas Las Colliery on 16 June 1855 fatally injured an eleven-year-old horse driver, Isaac Evans, and killed the collier Richard Williams, in a pit with no locked lamps and no printed rules.

Date	16 June 1855
Mine	Rhas Las Colliery
Region	Merthyr Tydfil
Type	Explosion
Fatalities	2 (2 killed: Isaac Evans, an 11-year-old horse driver, who died of his injuries on 15 July, and Richard Williams, 35, a collier.)
Context	During active mining

Cause

Firedamp ignited at a naked light after a boy went past a danger signal.

What happened

On 16 June 1855 firedamp exploded at Rhas Las Colliery. Isaac Evans, an eleven-year-old horse driver, had gone past a danger signal; he was badly burnt and died on 15 July. The collier Richard Williams, 35, was also killed. Winstanley's list records the colliery as having no printed rules and no locked safety lamps, and the Welsh Coal Mines record of the inspector's finding says that rules and discipline were wanting.

Investigation & inquiry

The inspector's finding recorded that rules and discipline were wanting at the colliery.

Recorded claims

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

An explosion of firedamp at Rhas Las on 16 June 1855 killed two. ^1,2
Isaac Evans, aged 11, a horse driver, died on 15 July of his injuries; Richard Williams, 35, a collier, was also killed. ^3,1,2
The explosion followed the boy's going past a danger signal; rules and discipline were wanting. ¹
The colliery had no printed rules and no locked lamps. ²

Related terminology

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

Colliery (contextual relationship)
Named 5 times in this record, first in the summary: “An explosion of firedamp at Rhas Las Colliery on 16 June 1855 fatally injured an eleven-year-old horse driver,…”
Firedamp (contextual relationship)
Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “An explosion of firedamp at Rhas Las Colliery on 16 June 1855 fatally injured an…”
Naked Light (contextual relationship)
Named in this record’s cause: “Firedamp ignited at a naked light after a boy went past a danger signal.”

Sources

(secondary) Welsh Coal Mines: fatalities, 1855 — Welsh Coal Mines
(secondary) Ian Winstanley, Alphabetical List of Mining Victims in Great Britain 1850-1859, E — Healey Hero (Ian Winstanley's lists)
(secondary) 1850s W: Ian Winstanley's alphabetical list of mining victims — Healey Hero

Record created: 16 October 2026 · Last researched: 16 October 2026