Isabella Pit inundation, Workington, 1833

Four young miners drowned when water broke into the Isabella Pit of the Curwens' Workington Colliery in November 1833, two months after an explosion in the same pit had killed thirteen.

Cause

The pit was inundated.

What happened

In November 1833 the Isabella Pit of Workington Colliery, the Curwen family's colliery on the Cumberland coast, was flooded, two months after the explosion of September in which thirteen had died. Four young miners were drowned: Joseph Batey, 24, William Gallantry, 13, George Nutter, 23, who had recently married, and Jonathan Wear, 20. The Cumberland Pacquet reported it under the heading of a dreadful occurrence at Workington with four lives lost, and The Times carried a report of a fatal colliery accident at Workington.

Memorials & commemoration

Workington's mining dead have no marker or memorial; a 2026 account of the colliery's losses counts seventeen men and boys dead within two months in 1833.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• The museum dates the inundation 20 November 1833. (disputed) ^1,3
• The Cumberland Pacquet and Whitehaven Herald reported the four deaths on 12 November 1833. (disputed) ³

Recorded claims

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

• Four young miners were killed by flooding at the Workington Colliery in November 1833. ^1,2,3
• The museum dates the inundation 20 November 1833. (disputed) ^1,3
• The Cumberland Pacquet and Whitehaven Herald reported the four deaths on 12 November 1833. (disputed) ³
• The inundation was in the Isabella Pit, owned by Mr Curwen. ³
• The dead were Joseph Batey, William Gallantry, George Nutter and Jonathan Wear, aged 13 to 24. ^1,3

Related terminology

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

• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named 5 times in this record, first in the summary: “…when water broke into the Isabella Pit of the Curwens' Workington Colliery in November 1833, two months after an explosion in the same pit had…”

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 1833 (Isabella Pit, Workington) — Durham Mining Museum

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