Carmuir Colliery

Overview

Carmuir Colliery worked a coal seam at Larbert, near Stirling, from the mid-1890s to 1905, growing under the Carmuir Coal Co. Ltd to over 160 men at its peak. Four named deaths are recorded here between 1899 and 1907, two of them boys aged fourteen and fifteen.

History

The Durham Mining Museum's List of Mines entries show sinking under way in 1894 with ten men employed, the colliery itself opened by 1896 under William Brown and later the Carmuir Coal Co., Ltd. Employment grew fast: 20 in 1896, 162 (136 below ground) by 1900, falling back to 80 by 1905 when the Drumgray seam is the only one recorded by name. Output throughout was household, manufacturing and steam coal. The museum's own List of Mines gives 1905 as the closure date, though a fatal accident recorded here in 1907 suggests some work continued after that date, or that the 1905 figure marks a List of Mines snapshot rather than final closure. Four named deaths are recorded at the colliery. Benjamin Gibson, a fourteen-year-old drawer, was killed on 3 March 1899 taking a hutch of clay down an inclined road against the colliery's Special Rules; he went in front of it against instruction, was overpowered and run over. Robert Brownlee, a 59-year-old labourer, was crushed against a screen buffer on 22 January 1901 while shifting loaded trucks. James Thomson, a fifteen-year-old miner, was following his father's last tub of the day down a cut chain incline on 7 October 1902 when the chain knocked out a rance holding a second tub; it overtook him, crushed him against a prop and broke his neck. This death is independently recorded in the Scottish Mining Website's 1902 fatality index, compiled from the Inspector of Mines' returns, which gives the same date, age and occupation under the Carmuir Coal Co. Ltd and the Stirling district. James Docherty, a 46-year-old miner, was killed by a sudden roof fall on 7 August 1907 while measuring for a prop, after taking down some coal. None of these were multiple-fatality incidents, so none meets this archive's threshold for a separate Disasters record; two of the four dead were boys of fourteen and fifteen.

Recorded claims

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

• Sinking was under way in 1894 with ten men employed; the colliery opened under William Brown and later the Carmuir Coal Co., Ltd, working the Drumgray seam by 1905. ¹
• Employment reached 162 (136 below ground, 26 on the surface) in 1900, the colliery's recorded peak. ¹
• James Thomson, a fifteen-year-old miner, was crushed against a prop and killed by a runaway tub on 7 October 1902 while following his father down a cut chain incline. ^2,1
• Three further named deaths are recorded at the colliery: Benjamin Gibson (14, drawer, 1899), Robert Brownlee (59, labourer, 1901) and James Docherty (46, miner, 1907). ¹

Sources

1. (primary) Durham Mining Museum - Carmuir Colliery (UK) — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) 1902 Deaths in Scottish mines — Scottish Mining Website

Record created: 12 September 2026 · Last researched: 15 September 2026