Workington Colliery explosion, 1835

Five miners, the youngest 21 and the oldest 68, were killed by an explosion at the Curwens' Workington Colliery on 6 February 1835.

Cause

An explosion.

What happened

On 6 February 1835 an explosion at Workington Colliery, worked by Mr Curwen, killed five miners: Fletcher Benson, 36, Robert Ellwood, 68, James McGarry, 36, James Nicholson, 30, and William Wright, 21. The Whitehaven Herald reported it on 10 February. It came little more than a year after the explosion and the flooding of 1833 in the Isabella Pit, and two years before the sea broke into the workings in 1837.

Recorded claims

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

• An explosion at Workington Colliery on 6 February 1835 killed five miners. ^1,2,3
• The dead were Fletcher Benson, Robert Ellwood, James McGarry, James Nicholson and William Wright. ^1,3
• The colliery was worked by Mr Curwen. ³

Related terminology

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

• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…oldest 68, were killed by an explosion at the Curwens' Workington Colliery on 6 February 1835.”

Sources

1. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: Workington Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Memorial service for 13 Workington miners killed in 19th century explosion — Cumbria Crack (20 September 2026)
3. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: Colliery Disaster 1835 (Workington) — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 6 October 2026 · Last researched: 6 October 2026