Woodmuir chokedamp deaths, 1859

On 18 May 1859 two colliers clearing out an old pit at Woodmuir, near Breich in West Lothian, were overcome by chokedamp and suffocated. Thomas Greenwood and William Thornton died at a working of Thomas Thornton's, decades before the Woodmuir colliery of 1896 was sunk.

Cause

Chokedamp in an old pit the men were clearing out.

What happened

Woodmuir was being worked in the 1850s by Thomas Thornton, and on 18 May 1859 two of his colliers, Thomas Greenwood and William Thornton, were set to clearing out an old pit. Chokedamp, the oxygen-poor air that gathers in disused workings, had collected there, and both men were suffocated.

The deaths were recorded in the inspector's returns for the East of Scotland for 1859. The Woodmuir colliery remembered today, Nos. 5 and 6 Pits near Breich, was sunk under the same name nearly forty years later.

Recorded claims

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

• On 18 May 1859 two colliers, Thomas Greenwood and William Thornton, were suffocated by chokedamp at Woodmuir. ^1,2,3
• The two men were clearing out an old pit when the chokedamp overcame them. ^2,3
• The pit was worked by Thomas Thornton. ^2,3

Related terminology

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

• Chokedamp (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “…old pit at Woodmuir, near Breich in West Lothian, were overcome by chokedamp and suffocated. Thomas Greenwood and William Thornton died at a…”
• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…died at a working of Thomas Thornton's, decades before the Woodmuir colliery of 1896 was sunk.”

Photographs & further reading

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

Sources

1. (primary) Woodmuir Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (primary) Colliery Accident: Woodmuir, 18 May 1859 — Durham Mining Museum
3. (secondary) 1850s G: Ian Winstanley's alphabetical list of mining victims — Healey Hero (Ian Winstanley's list of mining victims)

Record created: 4 October 2026 · Last researched: 4 October 2026