Tawd Vale Colliery explosion, 1865

On 27 June 1865 an explosion of firedamp in the Main Coal at Tawd Vale Colliery, near Skelmersdale, killed a hooker-on, Thomas Bentham, and two drawers of thirteen, William Chisnall and William Rigby.

Date	27 June 1865
Mine	Tawd Vale Colliery
Region	Lancashire
Type	Explosion
Fatalities	3 (Thomas Bentham (24), hooker-on; William Chisnall (13) and William Rigby (13), drawers.)
Context	During active mining

Cause

An explosion of firedamp in the Main Coal.

What happened

Tawd Vale Colliery, near Skelmersdale in the Ormskirk district, was worked by the Tawd Vale Colliery Company. On 27 June 1865 firedamp exploded in the Main Coal. Three were killed: Thomas Bentham, a hooker-on of 24, and two drawers, William Chisnall and William Rigby, both thirteen.

Recorded claims

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

On 27 June 1865 an explosion of firedamp at the Tawd Vale Colliery Company's pit near Ormskirk killed three: Thomas Bentham (24), a hooker-on, and two 13-year-old drawers, William Chisnall and William Rigby. ^1,2,3
The firedamp exploded in the Main Coal. ^4,1,2
Two of the three dead were drawers of thirteen. ^1,3

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: “On 27 June 1865 an explosion of firedamp in the Main Coal at Tawd Vale Colliery, near Skelmersdale, killed a hooker-on, Thomas…”
Colliery (contextual relationship)
Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…27 June 1865 an explosion of firedamp in the Main Coal at Tawd Vale Colliery, near Skelmersdale, killed a hooker-on, Thomas Bentham, and two…”
Firedamp (contextual relationship)
Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “On 27 June 1865 an explosion of firedamp in the Main Coal at Tawd Vale Colliery, near Skelmersdale, killed a…”
Onsetter (contextual relationship)
Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…in the Main Coal at Tawd Vale Colliery, near Skelmersdale, killed a hooker-on, Thomas Bentham, and two drawers of thirteen, William Chisnall and…”
Putter (contextual relationship)
Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…near Skelmersdale, killed a hooker-on, Thomas Bentham, and two drawers of thirteen, William Chisnall and William Rigby.”

Photographs & further reading

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

Tawd Vale, 1865 (Durham Mining Museum) (reference)

The three killed in the 1865 explosion, from the inspector's list of fatal accidents.

View source

Sources

(primary) Colliery Disaster: Tawd Vale, 27 June 1865 — Durham Mining Museum
(secondary) Mining victims, 1860s, B (Bentham) — Healey Hero (Ian Winstanley's list of mining victims)
(secondary) Mining victims, 1860s, C (Chisnall) — Healey Hero (Ian Winstanley's list of mining victims)
(primary) Tawd Vale Colliery — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 2 October 2026 · Last researched: 5 October 2026