Fatality Lists on Site

• Alan Beales - Fatalities in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Yorkshire Collieries
  
• Bob Bradley - A History of Mining, includes fatalities in individual pits, mainly the Midlands
• Ian Winstanley - Alphabetical List of Mining Victims in Great Britain
• Disasters
  
• Irvin Saxton - BLOOD ON THE COAL - Deaths at Featherstone's mines
• Jim Henry - Mining Memorials in Scotland - Which include some fatality lists
• Jim Tilt - Graves, County Durham
• John Lumsdon - In Memory Of The 4,495 Plus Miners Who Died In North Staffordshire Mines
• Genealogy Page 2

• Historical and Heritage Societies
  
• National Coal Board Work Records
  
• Durham Mining Museum

Fatalities in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Yorkshire Collieries - Alan Beales

Alan Beales was a miner at Gedling Pit for 30 years.
He has been researching mining fatalities in the Midlands and Yorkshire for a number of years.

If you have any queries regarding fatalities in Nottinghamshire Collieries, Alan Beales has published a book 'Fatal Accidents in the Coal Mines of Nottinghamshire', it is available for reference in six venues 1 copy in each. It contains 3,070 names of men and boys plus one woman who died in Nottinghamshire pits, with 65 pits named:-

• Angel Row Library Nottingham.  
• Nottinghamshire Archives Castle Meadow Road  Nottingham   
• Hucknall Library  
• Sutton Library  
• Mansfield Library
• Worksop Library.

He also has two booklets, 'Fatalities at Gedling Colliery 1905 -1985' and 'Transcriptions of Inquest reports transcribed from local Newspapers'. These are available in:-

• Nottingham County Library
• Carlton Library
• Gedling Library
• Arnold Library.

Alan has also compiled a list of Derbyshire fatalities and has almost 4,000 names on his data base.

He is also finishing a history of Gedling Colliery which may or not be published but he will put a copy in some libraries in any case. Alan worked at Gedling for 35 years.

If any one needs information contact Alan by emailing me.

Cheers Alan Beales

Robert Bradley - Retired Surveyor - My History Of Mining - Click Here

Robert has also written a number of books on the History of Mining, copies of which are in the British Library. Much of the information is in his section on this site.

A very important source of information is the Coal Mining History Resource Centre on Ancestry compiled by Ian Winstanley. Ian has been extracting the names of fatalities from the Mines Inspectors Reports and other sources for quite some time and has a database of over 90,000 names covering the whole country. Check Ian's Mining Database, on Ancestry for further details.

Notes On The Database

This link http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=9735 will take you to a freely searchable database of mining deaths and injuries in Great Britain which was on Raleys Coal Mining History Resource Centre web site which is now defunct. The database was originally compiled by Ian Winstanley.

The Sources

From 1850 to 1915 HM Inspectors of Mines produced their regional annual reports which included mining deaths and some injuries in a tabular form as an addendum to their reports. Although it was a punishable offence under the Mining Acts not to report a fatal accident many were not reported but many were reported in local newspapers of the time. There is often a brief report of the incident but there may be a full report of the inquest in the press the week following.

During WW1 the Inspectors Reports were sensitive documents and were not released under DORA (Defence of the Realm Act) and after the war the practice of the tabular lists was suspended. Post WW1 these tabular registers were continued by the Inspectorate but were not published. The database contains much of this information for some areas but not all the country is represented. The information is available if someone out there is mad enough to continue the project.

Many individuals and Family History Societies contributed information for which I am very grateful. For those who find the database useful I wish you success in your family quest.

Ian Winstanley 2017.

Ian also has pages on this site

In Memoriam

Mine Related Deaths - Memorial Roll Colliery Workers/Employee Where Did They Work? There are two parts to this question:

Names

In Which Collieries Could They Have Worked?

(Information from Durham Mining Museum Site)

Please note that there is no database of mining employment available! Given the number of people employed in the industry over the centuries this would be a very large database — and the records do not exist. Where records survive they show the list of employees by Colliery, if your relative moved between collieries (quite likely!) then you will have to consult a number of lists and with the lack of records remaining this could well be a fruitless task.

How can I find out where my ancestors worked? There are two parts to this question:—

1. In which collieries could they have worked?

If you have an address or village name from your research then it is possible to find the local collieries using our web site. For each colliery we show all the other collieries and pits for which we have information within a 5 mile (8 km) radius of each other. If the only information you have is for the latter part of the twentieth century then this information will not be enough as people travelled further to work as the availability of public and private transport increased. For the nineteenth century and before the information we provide will be sufficient as it is likely that your ancestors walked to work each day — from the house provided by the colliery companies as part of the miners pay. Be aware though that when the Miners' Bond was active it was possible for a miner to work in a different mine (locally) each year!

2. Are there any employment records for colliery X?

What records survive from the colliery companies (including the NCB) will have been deposited with a local archives service. Tyne and Wear Archives have a web page that shows what records they hold for individual collieries. The index of holdings for Durham Record Office can be searched using their web site. Both of these web sites show what documents have been deposited with them — you will have to visit the archives to view the documents themselves.

If you have an address or village name from your research then it is possible to find the local collieries using the Durham Mining Museum web site. For each colliery they show all the other collieries and pits for which they have information within a 5 mile (8 km) radius of each other. If the only information you have is for the latter part of the twentieth century then this information will not be enough as people travelled further to work as the availability of public and private transport increased. For the nineteenth century and before the information they provide will be sufficient as it is likely that your ancestors walked to work each day - from the house provided by the colliery companies as part of the miners pay. Be aware though that when the Miners' Bond was active it was possible for a miner to work in a different mine (locally) each year!

Mine Related Deaths

First of all check our Durham Mining Museum Memorial Roll to see if they have an entry for the person you are trying to find. The list of fatalities is by no means complete, but as they continue their own research the number of names grows - They also welcome contributions from all sources. The sources they use are as follows:

• Annual Mines Inspectors Reports. These Government reports provide an annual overview of mining accidents in the region and provide information on the cause of the accident and the names of any fatalities. They also provide some information on non fatal accidents, gallantry awards etc. The North East of England was included in the reports from 1859.
• Newspapers.
• Parish Records - burial registers.
• Tombstones/Monumental Inscriptions.
• Occupations
• Colliery Workers/Employees/Work Record

Ancestry

Coal Mining History Resource Centre