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Events/Disaster · 1934

Gresford colliery explosion

Disaster, 22 September 1934, United Kingdom.

What happened

An explosion at about 2 am on 22 September 1934 in a section of the Gresford pit killed 265 men according to the 1937 Commons motion. A commission sat from 5 October to mid-December 1934.1,2

Why it matters

The inquiry findings were debated in Parliament in 1937 and fed safety reform.1,2

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. Stanford Merthyr fire and explosions

    The explosion was heard as far away as East and West Maitland.3,4

  2. Courrieres mine disaster

    Courrieres mine disaster. Wikidata records 1099 deaths.5

  3. Peak year for US coal mining deaths

    The figure shows the scale of the safety problem before federal regulation.6,7

  4. Coal Mines Act 1911

    It was the main British coal mine safety code of the early twentieth century.8,9

  5. Ludlow Massacre

    The National Park Service links the massacre to the debate on the eight-hour working day.10,11

  6. Battle of Blair Mountain

    Battle of Blair Mountain. Wikidata records 95 deaths.12

  7. Mother Jones dies

    Mother Jones dies (date from Wikidata).13

  8. Coalbrook colliery disaster, South Africa

    Wikidata lists 435 to 437 deaths in one of the worst coal mine disasters on record in Africa.14

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Where next

Events

An example ofAberfan disasterThree decades on, Aberfan killed 144 people, 116 of them children, under a colliery tip.15ExamplesSenghenydd colliery disasterGresford killed 265 in 1934, and its inquiry findings were debated in Parliament in 1937.1

Sources

  1. Gresford Colliery Explosion debate, 23 February 1937 UK Parliament (Hansard)
  2. Gresford (item Q3406264), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  3. 1905 Stanford Merthyr Mine case study (Learning from disasters) NSW Resources Regulator
  4. Kurri Kurri (item Q1793195), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  5. Wikidata item Q1550228 (Courrieres mine disaster)
  6. Coal fatalities, 1900 to date US Mine Safety and Health Administration
  7. United States (item Q30), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  8. Coal Mines Act 1911 UK National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
  9. London (item Q84), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  10. War in the Coalfields: the Ludlow Massacre and its impact on the eight-hour workday US National Park Service
  11. Ludlow (item Q1003486), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  12. Wikidata item Q3329738 (Battle of Blair Mountain)
  13. Wikidata item Q107082 (Mother Jones)
  14. Wikidata item Q19903859 (Coalbrook mining disaster)
  15. The Aberfan Tribunal Glamorgan Archives

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Pictures: Timna in de Negevwoestijn; rotspartij "de zuilen van Salomo", Poll, Willem van de / Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Dolcoath tin mine, Camborne, Cornwall: miners in a mine shaft, standing on wooden platforms connected by ladders. Photograph by J. C. Burrow, 1890/1910., Burrow, J. C., 1852-1914 (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Earth Observations taken by the Expedition 15 Crew, NASA JSC (Public domain (NASA media, no copyright)); Mijnramp Bois du Caizier, Marcinelle, België. Schacht, Rossem, Wim van / Anefo / Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0).