Llanbradach Memorial 1924-1933

Llanbradach colliery deaths 1924-1933

1924

  • Neville Marcus Brownhill, 18, collier’s helper, was walking towards the pit-bottom at the end of his shift on 3 January. He was at the bottom of a steep incline in front of some hauliers going out with their horses. One of the horses, in rushing past a pony, pushed the boy against an empty tram and he was so badly injured that he died on 6 January in the Caerphilly Miners’ Hospital. He was the youngest son of Mr JG Brownhill, retired headteacher, and lived at 34 De Winton Terrace.
  • Sidney Kenyon, 22, acting trafficman. was lowering four trams of rubbish to make room for an empty journey on Wednesday 30 January. He was seen by a repairer and his assistant walking at the side of the slowly moving rubbish trams and a little later they heard the trams crashing into a ventilation door on a dip road. They found him dead between the second and third trams, which had inadvertently run onto the dip road. A stop block was provided but not used on this occasion; otherwise the accident could have been prevented. He lived at 24 School Street, Llanbradach, and had been married for only 12 months.
  • Ivor Jones, 22, of 28 Coedybrain Road, was injured in the colliery on the 6 February and died in Newport Hospital the next day.
  • David Rees, 50, died on 16 April. He had been crushed by a tram eight years previously, his widow Mary Ann Rees told an inquest at Caerphilly police station. The accident fractured his spine and left him lame. He was idle for about five years after the accident but worked a little until May 1922, and after then had not been out for 12 months. Dr TW Thomas of Caerphilly had been attending Mr Rees since the accident and his opinion was that Mr Rees died as a result of the inuries eight years earlier.
  • William Williams, 15, a collier’s helper, had worked at the colliery for about 11 months when he was injured on 2 July. An empty tram had been tumbled on the side of a stall road to allow the haulier to take out the full tram from the face. The boy stood at one end of the tumbled tram and as the full tram passed it the former was struck and tilted to the side. The boy was crushed by the tumbled tram. He died of his injuries the following day at the Caerphilly Miners’ Hospital. He lived at 20 Coedybrain Road.
  • Ernest Ashman, 18, collier’s helper, died on 10 December at the Miners’ Hospital as a result of an accident at the colliery the previous day, when he had been driving coal back to the lower side to enable the next tram to be filled. A piece of coal weighing about three quarters of a hundredweight (38kg) slid from the back slip and onto Mr Ashman’s head, cauasing death from a fractured skull. The ambulance man then conveyed him up the pit. His father was Henry Ashman of 35 Pontygwindy Road, Caerphilly.

Fatalities in the South East Wales Division: 213
Manpower: 177,327

The Inspector of Mines said in his report for this year: “The youths and boys in the mines these days have their minds too full of other and more alluring matters to find the time to consider quietly and seriously such an un-interesting topic as safety. Until they are seriously educated up to this important phase of their lives I despair of the movement becoming a live one.”

1925

  • George Wilfred Robins, 18, a collier’s helper, died at Caerphilly Miners’ Hospital on 17 July, the day he was injured at the colliery. He had worked there for 20 months. A large piece of coal of about 12 to 13 hundredweight (610kg-660kg) had fallen without warning from the roof in the four-foot seam and knocked Mr Robins backwards. Dr KD Murchison told the inquest that the young man died from several fractures of the skull and shock. Mr Roberts, on of Frederick William Robins, lived at Coedybrain Road.
  • Rhys Lewis, haulier, and his brother-in-law, David Coles, were tumbling a six-foot post off a tram on 20 November when the post struck a pair of timber, knocking it out and causing a roof fall which buried Mr Lewis. He was found dead. He lived at 13 Victoria Street.

Fatalities in the South East Wales Division: 184
Manpower: 144,981

1926

  • John Slocombe, 58, was killed while working in the house coal pit (No.3) at the end of the night shift on 7 January. His funeral took place in his native Llanhileth.
  • Samuel Robert Monks, 57, was injured at the start of the night shift on 8 January when his coat became entangled in the cog wheel of the machinery on which he was working. Dr Robertson attended to him and sent him to the Caerphilly Miners’ Hospital, where he was operated on but did not survive. At his inquest it was stated that he was employed on the screens. He was seen to step over a fence, his coat became entangled in the machinery of the conveyor and he was dragged along to the cog wheel. He suffered terrible injuries to his legs and body. The operation had been a success but he died of septic poisoning. Samuel Monks, a married man, lived at 14 Fairfield Terrace, Pontygwindy Road, Caerphilly. He was a native of Warmley, Gloucestershire, but had lived in Caerphilly for 40 years. He had been a surface worker at Llanbradach colliery for 11 years, having previously been employed at the Wernddu brickyard.                                                                                                        
  • Arthur John Jones, 16, a collier boy, was killed in December by a roof fall within two weeks of the end of the nationwide miners’ strike, which lasted for seven months and stopped coal production at Llanbradach colliery. His inquest returned a verdict of “Death from accidental suffocation”. Fireman Thomas Enright told the coroner he had tested the working place that day  and special precautions, consisting of warnings to the men and extra timbering, had been taken owing to the seven months’ stoppage.

Fatalities in the South East Wales Division: 88
Manpower: 152,972

1927

  • William Bowden, 55, haulier, died in March, within an hour of being admitted to Caerphilly Miners’ Hospital suffering internal injuries received when he buried under a fall at the colliery. He lived at 13 School Street.

Fatalities in the South East Wales Division: 201

1928

  • Alfred Richard Stratford was killed at the colliery during the afternoon shift on 5 January. He was knocked down and crushed by a journey of full trams.
  • Evan Davies, traffic manager, of Tynygraig Road, was crushed by a journey of trams. His funeral was held on 28 February.
  • David Thomas, 60, of 3 Bedwas Road, was killed by fall of four tons of debris in October.

Fatalities in the South East Division: 163
Manpower: 102,726           

1929

  • Evan Kirkham, 52, was caught by a fall at the colliery on 30 August which fractured his skull, jaw and leg. He was conveyed to Caerphilly District Miners’ Hospital where he passed away on Monday morning. He lieved at Phillips Terrace, Senghenydd, and left a wife and large family.

Fatalities in the South East Wales Division: 163
Manpower: 129,805

1930   

No recorded deaths at the colliery.
Fatalities in the South East Wales Division: 142
Manpower: 124,493

1931

No recorded deaths at the colliery.
Manpower in the South East Wales Division: 113,684

1932

  • William Pritchard, 41, collier, died at the Caerphilly Miners’ Hospital in February following injuries received two days previously at the colliery. He and his helped were putting in rings when a stone weighing about a ton fell out of the side. He had tested the stone with his mandrill shortly before the accident. Fireman Thomas Gibbons had visited this spot twice before the accident and it had then appeared quite safe. Afterwards he found there was a nasty hidden slant behind the stone that fell which could not be previously seen. Mr Pritchard had been a careful workman, working at the colliery many years. His right collar bone and pelvis were fractured, and he died from shock and internal injuries. He lived at 56 Bradford Street. His brother was David Rhys Pritchard.

Manpower in the South East Wales Division: 102,042

1933

  • Percy Holland, 38, labourer, was killed by a fall on 22 February while working near Holland in the First Bute district of No.1 Pit. The fall buried all but one of Mr Holland’s arms, and he was dead when released a few minutes later. He lived in Ludlow Street, Caerphilly.
  • Alfred Westhead, 52, died at the Caerphilly District Miners’ Hospital on 15 December from injuries received the previous day while working at the colliery. A large stone had fallen and pinned him down by his leg. He called “Come quick!”to his nephew and a collier boy nearby, who rushed to his aid. He lived in Bradford Street, Caerphilly.

Fatalities in the South East Wales Division: 114
Manpower: 97,302