Llanbradach Memorial 1888-1903

Llanbradach colliery deaths 1888-1903

1888

  • William Green died on 13 April when an iron bar fell down the shaft and struck him.

1889

  • David Evans was working on the cradle or hanging scaffold in January when he fell through an opening and drowned in five metres (16 feet) of water at the bottom of the shaft.

1891  

  • William Henry Smith, 22, was in charge of a pumping engine halfway down the shaft. For some reason he took the top off his safety lamp and was killed by the ensuing explosion of firedamp in June.

1893

  • David Thomas, 24, was carrying out his duties as a banksman at the top of the shaft when he fell 450 metres (500 yards) to his death in December.

1894   

  • William Ramsey, 29, died in January. He was one of eight men who were descending to carry out repairs on a Saturday afternoon. On reaching the mouthing, without looking to see if the staging was down or not, he stepped out of the cage and fell down the shaft into water 165 metres (180 yards) below. His body was not recovered for a week or 10 days.

1895

  • William Thomas, 23, a collier, was struck in the back by a large stone falling from the roof in January, causing injuries from which he died a month later.
  • Frederick Biddlecombe, 21, a shunter on the railway sidings, was run over and killed when he fell off a truck in November.
  • Edward Blackwell, 34, was crossing No.2 shaft at the bottom landing when he fell into the slump and was scalded in December. He walked home through the frosty atmosphere without applying oil or taking other precautions and died the next morning.
  • Enoch Davies, 29, was killed in December. He was crushed against the side of the roadway by a tram which he went in front of to lift onto the rails, without signalling to the engineman to stop.

1896

  • Herbert Steed, 24, was descending the shaft in January when the cage alighted on the stage across the Four Feet mouthing. The engineman had forgotten that the stage was across the shaft. The concussion caused fatal injuries.

1897

  • Reuben Nelmes, 28, and John Sadler, 26, died as a result of roof falls.

1898   

  • John Preece, 31, had his head crushed between two full trams In April.
  • On 28 September, 15 men were descending the shaft when the cage struck against the staging at the Four Feet Seam. The staging had not been drawn far enough back for the cage to pass. Thomas Powell, 25, and Owen Arthur Davies, 34, were thrown out of the cage and died after falling 41 metres (45 yards) to the bottom of the shaft.
  • Alfred Hendy, 25, was fatally crushed by full trams in November.

1899

  • John Jones, 51, was crushed to death by a locomotive on the surface railway sidings in September. He had stepped between he rails to see whether the wagon he was loading was full or not.

1900

  • William Tilley, 37, was crushed between two full trams and died on 7 April.
  • Eli Attewell, 43, died in July, two days after a fall of coal knocked out a post which struck him in the stomach.
  • George Sands, 38, and Thomas Parsons, 15, were fatally crushed by a large stone in August as they worked together at the coalface.                                 

1901

  • In January there were three fatal accidents. Fred Tilley, 58, was mowed down by runaway trams which jumped off the rails. Thomas Whitney, 45, was run over by a journey of trams. Dennis McCartney, 29, was struck on the head by the heavy piece of timber which he was putting up to support the roof.
  • Henry Jones, 30, received a severe spinal injury in March from a stone which fell on him. He died from the injury four months later.
  • On the 10 September at 5.30pm a large explosion occurred in the Four Feet Seam. Only ostlers, firemen and a few others were underground, preparing for the full shift which was due to go down at 6pm. Eight men were killed, several more injured, and 43 horses were killed.
    The men were: Alfred Kemp, 33, ostler; Alfred Charles Probert, 52, farrier; David William Evans, 31, repairer; William Isaacs, 31, fireman; William James Moore, 26, spare fireman; George Constance, 35, timberman; Thomas John Rees, 60, fireman; Charles Henry Biddle, 36, ostler. All the men were married and left a total of 35 children fatherless.

1902  

  • Henry Talbot, 36, was killed by large slab of rock in January.
  • Abraham Evans, 34, was crushed at the coalface in February but lived on until 31 July.
  • Thomas Kendall, 26, was crushed to death by a huge stone in March.
  • Zepheniah Davies, 23, was crushed between two loaded trucks on the surface in December.

1903    

  • Frederick Handford, 24, was killed by a horse-drawn tram.
  • William Smith, 31, John Gover, 15, and Thomas Morgan, 16, died at various times as the result of falling stone or coal.