« Back

Coal mining was a dangerous occupation and this page records the names of some of the miners lost their lives in the course of their work in the Bredbury coal mines.

The men listed were all coal miners (colliers), that is, hewers of coal unless stated otherwise and this selection is representative of a larger number.

References for Stockport (SRO) and Tameside (TRO) Register Offices are shown in brackets.

• In Memoriam
• 30 Aug 1852: Samuel BRADSHAW, 35 years. Explosion of firedamp in the Black Mine (Bredbury Colliery).
  (SRO, Stockport 1st, ST1/24/98)
• 22 Feb 1853: Thomas CHEETHAM, 24 years. Carter. Coal was tipped onto him while he was on his cart at the Black Mine (Bredbury Colliery).(TRO, Hyde, HYD/14/77)
• 25 Sep 1856: Benjamin HOPWOOD, 12 years. J & J Jowett. Roof fall.(SRO, Stockport 1st Sub District, ST1/31/78)
• 18 Dec 1858: Samuel SAVAGE, 42 years. Hooker-on working in the Black Mine (Bredbury Colliery). Falling tub caused by engine starting without signal.(TRO, Hyde, HYD/19/92)
• 18 Dec 1858: Edward TURNER, 18 years. Hooker-on working in the Black Mine (Bredbury Colliery). Falling tub caused by engine starting without signal.(TRO, Hyde, HYD/19/93)
• 25 Apr 1864: James CLAYTON, 36 years. Bredbury Coal Co. Explosion of firedamp.(TRO, Denton, DEN/9/22)
• 17 Jan 1870: John McNEIL, 19 years. Bredbury Coal Co. Roof fall.(TRO, Hyde, HYD/30/25)
• 12 Nov 1872: Thomas BAILEY, 27 years. Bredbury Coal Co. Explosion of firedamp.(SRO, Stockport 1st, ST1/58/74)
• 3 Jul 1873: Jesse SMITH, 40 years. Bredbury Coal Co. Roof fall.(TRO, Hyde, HYD/33/86)
• 23 Aug 1873: Joseph LUCAS, 32 years. Bredbury Coal Co. Some rock rolled down a brow and onto him.(SRO, Stockport 1st, SK1/59/99)
• 12 Jan 1874: Charles WERNER, 28 years. Bredbury Coal Co. Shaft Sinker. Bowk upset in ascending not being properly fastened. A bowk is an iron tub in which debris from a sinking shaft is raised to the surface.
  (TRO, Hyde, HYD/34/38)
• 19 Mar 1877: William WILKINSON, 40 years. Bredbury Coal Co. Roof fall.(TRO, Hyde, HYD/38/7)
• 3 Aug 1885: William WILD, 64 years. Lingard Lane. Crushed under stone against a coal face.(SRO, Stockport 1st, ST1/82/24)
• 1 Jul 1890: John William SLATE, 17 years. Waggoner. Lingard Lane. Roof fall in a new mine (seam).(SRO, Stockport 1st, ST1/91/95)
• 3 Aug 1891: James COOPER, 41 years. Fireman. Lingard Lane. Roof fall while preparing to make a stopping in Peacock Mine.(TRO, Hyde, HYD/54/12)
• 2 Mar 1895: William RENSHAW, 53 years. Contractor. Lingard Lane. Roof fall.(SRO, Stockport 1st, ST1/101/87)
• 9 Feb 1901: James HOWE, 45 years. Hanger-on. Lingard Lane. Crushed under a girder.(TRO, Hyde, HYD/64/73)
• 13 Jan 1904: Daniel POTTS: 41 years. Lingard Lane. Roof fall.(TRO, Hyde, HYD/67/64)
• 7 Dec 1905: Matthias RAMSDEN, 61 years. Daywagonman. Lingard Lane. Thrown by a rope against a packwall.(SRO, Stockport 2nd, ST2/4/23)
• 28 Oct 1906: John William HADFIELD, 30 years. Lingard Lane. Side fall.(SRO, Bredbury, BRE/1/32)
• 1 Sep 1911: John HARRISON, 30 years. Taker-off. Lingard Lane. Two tubs caught at the meeting of a bypass on a jig (self-acting incline) and when Harrison was liberating them the jig-wheel prop gave way, allowing the tubs to run back. He was killed on the spot by one of the tubs. The bottom of the jig-wheel prop had been sunk 10 inches into a bench of fireclay, but this proved insufficient.(SRO, Bredbury, BRE/2/49)
• 31 May 1913: Ambrose WHALLEY, 50 years. Dataller (man working underground and paid by the day). Lingard Lane. The deceased was engaged in building a waste pack, and was supposed to have been liberating the head of a prop before withdrawing it, when a fall or roof occurred that inflicted injuries from which he died on the same day. The stone that fell measured 8 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet and it came away from between two slips roughly parallel with the coal face.(SRO, Stockport 2nd, SK2/11/75)
• 30 Jul 1914: Joseph ARROWSMITH, 18 years. Hooker-on. Lingard Lane. The deceased and two other persons were engaged on the night shift cleaning up and filling dirt into tubs in the haulage down brow, where the gradient was 1 in 2. After a journey (train) of full tubs had been hauled up the brow the man in charge at the top proceeded to make arrangements for sending down seven empty tubs attached to the rope. As soon as he had pushed the journey (train) onto the top of the brow, the last five empty tubs ran down the brow and fatally injured the deceased before he could reach a refuge hole. The tubs had evidently not been properly coupled together.(SRO, Bredbury, BRE/3/13)
• 13 Aug 1919: Robert GOSLING, 54 years. Lingard Lane. Roof fall.(SRO, Stockport 2nd, ST2/19/13)
• 1 May 1924: Frederick (aka Frank?) HANRATTY, 25 years. Waggoner. Lingard Lane. Severe abdominal injury caused by runaway tubs.(SRO, Stockport 2nd, ST2/23/100)
• 13 May 1927: Roger SNAPE, 40 years. Brakesman. Lingard Lane. Fell from a platform onto a railway siding.(SRO, Stockport 2nd, SK2/27/29)
• 1 Jul 1927: Josiah (aka Jesse?) MARSLAND, 48 years. Lingard Lane. Died from scepticemia caused by a fractured leg resulting from a fall of stone on the 26 November 1926.(SRO, Hazel Grove, HAZ/1/59)

« Back