Rose Bridge Colliery roof fall, 1863

Two colliers, William Alkar and Thomas Thorp, were killed by a fall of roof at Case and Morris's Rose Bridge Colliery, Ince, on 19 January 1863.

Cause

A fall of roof.

What happened

On 19 January 1863 the roof fell at Rose Bridge Colliery at Ince, east of Wigan, worked by Case and Morris, killing the colliers William Alkar, 41, and Thomas Thorp, 36.

Recorded claims

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

• On 19 January 1863 two colliers, William Alkar, 41, and Thomas Thorp, 36, were killed by a fall of roof at Rose Bridge Colliery, Ince, near Wigan. ^1,2
• The colliery belonged to Case and Morris. ^1,2
• The deaths were caused by a fall of roof. ^1,2

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: “…were killed by a fall of roof at Case and Morris's Rose Bridge Colliery, Ince, on 19 January 1863.”
• Roof Fall (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “Two colliers, William Alkar and Thomas Thorp, were killed by a fall of roof at Case and Morris's Rose Bridge Colliery, Ince, on 19 January 1863.”

Sources

1. (primary) Rose Bridge Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) 1860s A: Ian Winstanley's alphabetical list of mining victims — Healey Hero (Ian Winstanley's list of mining victims)

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