Rosehall Colliery explosion, 1934

At about two o'clock on the morning of 14 August 1934 firedamp exploded in the Blair section of the main coal seam in No. 10 pit, Rosehall Colliery, where nine men were coal-cutting on the night shift. Six were terribly burned; five of them died in Glasgow Royal Infirmary over the following week. Their workmates carried them half a mile to the shaft through afterdamp before the Coatbridge rescue brigade arrived. A fatal accident inquiry followed, and in March 1935 the acting manager was fined for failing to provide two means of egress and for not reporting an earlier ignition of gas.

Cause

An accumulation of firedamp ignited at the coal-cutting machine. The colliery agent told the court he believed gas had collected in cavities in the roof and was released when the machine tapped through into old workings and the roof moved; the newspapers reported that the men were boring through waste into an old section.

Contributing factors

The Blair section was worked with naked lights, though the under-manager had been told to use safety lamps there; men were not searched for matches and tobacco; two earlier ignitions of gas, one of which injured a man, had not been reported to the inspector; and the section had only one way out.

What happened

The night shift went down at ten. Nine men were in the Blair section of the main coal seam in No. 10 pit, two coal-cutting machinemen, a hole borer and brushers among them, when at about two o'clock the machine cut through into old workings and the gas that came out exploded. John Robertson, working another machine fifty yards away, was thrown off his feet; Peter McBride, on a level above, heard a muffled explosion that no shot-firing would have carried. Six men were caught by the flame: Andrew Craig, a brusher of Glebe Street, Bellshill; Matthew Martin, a machineman of Hutton Street, Coatbridge; Taylor Quate, a brusher of Calder Street, Whifflet; Samuel Mayberry, a brusher living in a caravan on the Motherwell Road, Bellshill; David Wilkinson, a machineman of New Orbiston Rows; and William Stewart of East Parkhead Rows. Their shirts were burned off, Craig's hair burned from his head, and one man was hurled ten yards. Three others in the section got clear. Craig died that night; Martin and Quate the next morning; Mayberry on the 19th and Wilkinson on the 21st. The Durham Mining Museum's transcription of the Colliery Guardian records the scene as No. 10 pit, Brewsterford, Old Monkland, and gives Mayberry's age as 42 and Wilkinson's as 37.

Rescue & recovery

The uninjured men rushed to the section but were stopped by a wall of afterdamp; they could hear the burned men shouting and dragging themselves towards them. Half a dozen volunteers went in as the fumes thinned, met the injured half way and carried them half a mile along the roads to the bottom of the 150-fathom shaft, where they were laid down until the Coatbridge Rescue Brigade, the only one in the district, came down with blankets and stretchers. One man had crawled to the shaft bottom by another road on his own. Ambulances took the six to Glasgow Royal Infirmary. Robert Stobie, the under-manager, was at the pit when the brigade went down and praised the rescuers' pluck.

Investigation & inquiry

A fatal accident inquiry was held at Airdrie before Sheriff D. A. Guild and a jury. Three officials were then tried at Airdrie Sheriff Court under the Coal Mines Act 1911: Andrew Wallace Crowe, colliery agent; David Tweedie Gray, acting manager; and Robert Stobie, under-manager. The charges were allowing lamps other than locked safety lamps in the Blair section, allowing matches and smoking materials, failing to search the men, failing to provide two means of egress, and, against Gray and Stobie, failing to report two ignitions of gas.

Legal & regulatory aftermath

On 13 March 1935 Gray was found guilty of failing to provide two means of egress from the Blair section and of failing to report an ignition of gas in which a man was injured, and fined £2 and £5 with the alternative of thirty days' imprisonment; he was acquitted on the other three charges. Crowe was acquitted on all charges. Stobie was found not guilty on four and the fifth, the means of egress, was not proven.

Changes to practice & legislation

None is recorded beyond the prosecution. The National Union of Scottish Mineworkers' executive sent sympathy to the families and resolved to be represented at the inquiry.

Memorials & commemoration

None is known. Samuel Mayberry was buried at Bothwell Park Cemetery, Bellshill, with a large crowd at Bellshill Cross and the Ex-Servicemen's Club and Salvation Army in attendance.

Recorded claims

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

• Five of six men burned in the explosion died in Glasgow Royal Infirmary between 14 and 21 August 1934: Andrew Craig, Matthew Martin, Taylor Quate, Samuel Mayberry and David Wilkinson; William Stewart survived. ^1,2
• The colliery agent's evidence was that gas from cavities in the roof escaped when the coal-cutting machine tapped through to old workings; the press reported the men boring through waste into an old section. ¹
• Workmates carried the injured half a mile through afterdamp to the shaft bottom before the Coatbridge Rescue Brigade arrived; the shaft was 150 fathoms deep. ¹
• Acting manager David Tweedie Gray was fined £2 and £5 in March 1935 for failing to provide two means of egress and failing to report an ignition of gas; the agent and under-manager were acquitted or the charge not proven. ¹

Related terminology

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

• Afterdamp (hazard involved)
  The rescuers were held back by afterdamp and the injured crawled through it.
• Coal Cutter (relevant method/equipment)
  The machine tapped through into old workings, releasing the gas.
• Firedamp (direct cause)
  Firedamp released from old workings ignited at the coal-cutting machine.
• Mines Rescue Station (rescue/recovery concept)
  The Coatbridge Rescue Brigade, the only one in the district, brought the injured out.
• Naked Light (contributing factor)
  The Blair section was still treated as a naked-light section despite instructions to use safety lamps.
• Safety Lamp (contributing factor)
  One of the charges was allowing lamps other than locked safety lamps.

Sources

1. (secondary) Rosehall 1934 — Scottish Mining Website — Scottish Mining Website
2. (secondary) Rosehall Colliery disaster, 14 August 1934 — Durham Mining Museum — Durham Mining Museum
3. (secondary) Rosehall Colliery — Durham Mining Museum — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 12 September 2026 · Last researched: 12 September 2026