Vivian Colliery sinking explosion, 1890

On Monday 8 December 1890, while the new Vivian pit at Six Bells, Abertillery, was being sunk, part of a dynamite charge that had failed to fire the night before exploded as the sinkers broke up the debris, killing three men and injuring six.

Cause

A charge of gelatine dynamite, or part of one, failed to explode in the night shift's round of shots, and was struck by a pick or other tool as the next shift loosened the debris. Sand or water between the cartridges may have stopped the whole charge firing.

What happened

Powell's Tillery Steam Coal Company was sinking the Vivian pit through a contractor, Mr Coulston, whose master sinker was Joseph Briggs. By early December the shaft, 16 feet across and to be lined to 14 feet, was about 200 yards deep. The night shift charged nine holes, 4 to 4 and a half feet deep, with gelatine dynamite and fired them together from an electric battery at the surface; a single report was heard, so no one could tell from the sound whether every charge had gone off. Misfires were usually found by the sticks left in each hole, but blasting often broke them off. On the Monday morning Bannister and his mates were working a piece of rock out with a wedge and pick when the explosion threw the men about the shaft bottom. Bannister and Rees were killed outright and Millard died within hours.

Investigation & inquiry

The inquest, opened by the coroner J. B. Walford and resumed at Abertillery police station on Friday 12 December, was attended by Colonel Arthur Ford, Inspector of Explosives, and J. S. Martin, Inspector of Mines, for the Home Office. The jury questioned whether firing by battery, with a single report, was safe; the sinkers preferred it to fuses, which could hang fire. Colonel Ford gave his opinion that part of a cartridge near where Millard was working had failed to explode and was struck as the debris was loosened, that sand or water may have stopped the charge firing completely, that no one was to blame and that electric firing was much the safer. The jury found that the men died from the explosion of gelatine dynamite forming the whole or part of an unexploded charge, which the coroner said amounted to accidental death, and recommended that batteries be kept in full working order.

Recorded claims

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

• On 8 December 1890 a dynamite explosion in the sinking shaft of the Vivian new pit killed three sinkers and injured six. ^1,2
• Part of a charge that had failed to fire was struck while the men were clearing the debris. ^1,2
• The inquest jury found that the three died from the explosion of gelatine dynamite forming the whole or part of an unexploded charge, and recommended that batteries used for electric firing be kept in full working order. ²
• The shaft was 16 feet in diameter and about 200 yards deep at the time. ²

Related terminology

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

• HM Chief Inspector of Mines (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s investigation: “…by Colonel Arthur Ford, Inspector of Explosives, and J. S. Martin, Inspector of Mines, for the Home Office. The jury questioned whether firing by battery,…”
• Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the narrative: “…whose master sinker was Joseph Briggs. By early December the shaft, 16 feet across and to be lined to 14 feet, was about 200 yards…”
• Shaft Sinking (contextual relationship)
  Named 4 times in this record, first in the summary: “…charge that had failed to fire the night before exploded as the sinkers broke up the debris, killing three men and injuring six.”
• Shot-firing (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…Misfires were usually found by the sticks left in each hole, but blasting often broke them off. On the Monday morning Bannister and his mates…”

Photographs & further reading

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

Sources

1. (secondary) Welsh Coal Mines: Vivian Colliery, Abertillery — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (primary) 'The dynamite explosion at Abertillery: inquest and verdict', South Wales Daily News, 13 December 1890 — Welsh Newspapers Online (National Library of Wales)

Record created: 10 October 2026 · Last researched: 10 October 2026