Underwood Colliery fire

Underwood Colliery was found to be on fire on the Sunday morning of 12 April 1874. Two men went down at about eleven o'clock to save the horses, were warned they would meet firedamp, and went anyway. Neither came back. Two more who followed them were brought out exhausted. The inquest jury found death from choke damp caused by the firing of the woodwork in a stone heading.

Cause

A fire in the timber of a stone heading in the main intake road, filling the return workings with a mixture of carbonic acid and carbonic oxide gas — what the manager called smoke damp and the jury called choke damp.

Contributing factors

Boys working the main road habitually stuck lighted candles to the side of the roadway with clay. The manager said he had frequently told them not to fix candles against the wood and timber, and thought it possible to set the place alight that way, but concluded the fire had been started on purpose rather than accidentally. The deputy underviewer had walked the whole of the workings between half past twelve and one on the Saturday and seen and smelt nothing wrong. A collier coming out that afternoon with another man and five boys smelt something like smoke near the heading, found no candle ends when they searched, and said nothing to anyone.

What happened

The colliery, the property of Messrs Barber Walker, was discovered to be on fire on the morning of Sunday 12 April 1874. About eleven o'clock two men named Smith and Ball went into the workings to save the horses. They were warned they would meet firedamp and persisted. When they did not come back, two more followed and were rescued in a very exhausted condition. William Green, a deputy underviewer, had gone down at seven that morning by Willey Lane and beyond the shaft had smelt noxious gas; his locked Davy lamp went out after about forty yards and the smell became very strong. William Staples, the horsekeeper, had fed the horses and then had his candle go out thirty yards on, twice; he set off in the dark, walking backwards so as not to strike his head, pushed open the first air door, and within a minute was dizzy and his legs tottering. The manager, William Wesson, reached Underwood at about half past nine to find both men already brought up insensible.

Rescue & recovery

Wesson sent to Eastwood for the doctor, went down with a safety lamp and got about twenty-five yards into the return before his lamp was nearly extinguished by what he called smoke damp. Knowing Ball and Smith were in that direction but satisfied he could go no further, he worked instead on the ventilation, and at about a quarter past eleven found Ball's body. It was sent straight to the shaft. Smith's body was found the following evening about forty-five yards from the junction of the main airway, his extinguished lamp in his left hand; Wesson thought he had been overtaken while running and had mistaken his way at the junction.

Investigation & inquiry

Mr Coroner Heath held the adjourned inquest at Meakin's public house in Brinsley on Monday 20 April, with Mr Evans, the Government Inspector, present. The jury returned a verdict of death from choke damp caused by an accident, the firing of the woodwork in the stone heading.

Recorded claims

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

• George Ball, a stallman, and John Smith, a hanger-on, both of Cordon Lane, Brinsley. The Nottingham and Counties Daily Express of 21 April 1874 gives their ages as 37 and 22; the Durham Mining Museum gives 38 and 24. One family account on Healey Hero dates John Smith's death to 12 September 1874, which the newspapers and the museum both contradict. (disputed) ^1,2
• The jury found the fire started in the woodwork of the stone heading. The manager, William Wesson, told the inquest that boys habitually fixed lighted candles to the side of the roadway with clay, that he had frequently told them not to fasten candles against timber, and that he thought it possible to set the place alight that way — but that he rather concluded the place had been set on fire purposely and not accidentally. There was no coal exposed in the stone drift and he had never seen spontaneous heating in those workings. ²
• The jury returned a verdict of death from choke damp caused by an accident, the firing of the woodwork in the stone heading. ²

Related terminology

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

• Bad Air (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “…them were brought out exhausted. The inquest jury found death from choke damp caused by the firing of the woodwork in a stone heading.”
• Deputy (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the contributing factors: “…the fire had been started on purpose rather than accidentally. The deputy underviewer had walked the whole of the workings between half past…”
• Firedamp (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…about eleven o'clock to save the horses, were warned they would meet firedamp, and went anyway. Neither came back. Two more who followed them were…”
• Horsekeeper (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…forty yards and the smell became very strong. William Staples, the horsekeeper, had fed the horses and then had his candle go out thirty yards on,…”
• Safety Lamp (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the narrative: “…Willey Lane and beyond the shaft had smelt noxious gas; his locked Davy lamp went out after about forty yards and the smell became very strong.…”

Photographs & further reading

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

Sources

1. (secondary) Underwood Colliery, 12 April 1874 — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Underwood — Healey Hero

Record created: 11 September 2026 · Last researched: 11 September 2026