Swanwick Colliery gob-fire suffocation, 1902

Two men working in an airway at Swanwick Colliery that communicated with old workings were found dead on 23 January 1902; a few days later a gob-fire was found to have broken out in the Deep Soft coal.

Cause

The two men were suffocated in an airway that passed by and communicated with old workings, by carbon monoxide according to the inspector's account (methane in another list); a gob-fire in the Deep Soft coal was discovered a few days afterwards.

What happened

On 23 January 1902 John Thomas Severn, a stallman, and Samuel William Hatherley, a dataller, were working in an airway at Swanwick Colliery that passed by and communicated with some old workings. Both were found dead. A few days after their deaths a gob-fire was found to have broken out in the Deep Soft coal.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• Severn and Hatherley are listed as suffocated by methane at Swanwick Deep on 23 January 1902. (disputed) ²

Recorded claims

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

• John Thomas Severn, 35, stallman, and Samuel William Hatherley, 18, dataller, were suffocated by carbon monoxide on 23 January 1902 while working in an airway which passed by and communicated with some old workings. ¹
• A few days after the fatality a gob-fire was found to have broken out in the Deep Soft coal. ¹
• Severn and Hatherley are listed as suffocated by methane at Swanwick Deep on 23 January 1902. (disputed) ²

Related terminology

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

• Coal (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “…days later a gob-fire was found to have broken out in the Deep Soft coal.”
• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “Two men working in an airway at Swanwick Colliery that communicated with old workings were found dead on 23 January…”
• Dataller (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…1902 John Thomas Severn, a stallman, and Samuel William Hatherley, a dataller, were working in an airway at Swanwick Colliery that passed by and…”
• Spontaneous Combustion (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “…old workings were found dead on 23 January 1902; a few days later a gob-fire was found to have broken out in the Deep Soft coal.”

Photographs & further reading

This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this disaster.

Sources

1. (primary) Durham Mining Museum - Swanwick Colliery (UK) — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Derbyshire Coalfield fatalities (10) - Healey Hero — Healey Hero

Record created: 1 October 2026 · Last researched: 2 October 2026