Fatal Accidents and Disasters

The lists of names on these pages were compiled by the authors from a combination of the following sources - reports of the Inspectors of Mines, contemporary newspaper articles and death certificates.  The lists on this site are far from complete, particularly for the years before 1852 and after 1914 and we welcome any information on any accidents not commemorated on these pages (Contact form).

Accidents pre-1852

Before 1852 there are no official lists of accidents or deaths.  Statutory registration of deaths did not start until 1855, so locating deaths during this period is difficult.  All deaths prior to 1852 are indexes on the following pages:

Mine Inspector Reports 1852-1914

The Reports of the Inspectors of Mines were published annually from 1852.  The reports contain appendices which list names of those killed in accidents. Additional details for some accidents are found in the main body of the reports.  A typical page from the appendix of a report is shown below:

    Click on image to view larger image.

To view a list of deaths reported by the Inspector of Mines, click on the year of interest.  These lists also contain names of deaths not listed in the Inspectors reports, identified from newspapers. 

 1860  18701880 1890 1900 1910 

1861 18711881189119011911
18521862 18721882189219021912
18531863 18731883189319031913
18541864  18741884189419041914
18551865 1875188518951905 
18561866 1876188618961906 
18571867 1877188718971907 
18581868 1878188818981908 
18591869 1879188918991909 



Post-1914

After 1914 the Inspectors reports do not gives names of those killed or injured in accidents.  We have compiled the information from a limited number of these reports (currently 1925, 1926, 1927, 1929 and 1932) which are included in the lists below.  The information for all other years is compiled from newspaper reports. To view details of the accidents click on the appropriate year :

191519201925
1930
1935
191619211926
1931
1936
19171922
1927
1932
1937 
19181923
1928
1933
 
19191924
1929
1934
 


Post 1938

For post 1938 deaths we do not routinely put newspaper articles or other detailed information on the site.  The following lists of names are compiled from a variety of sources including newspaper reports, death certificates and indexes of Fatal Accident Inquiries.  We are happy to supply transcriptions of any material relating to these deaths which we hold.Click on the links below to view lists for these years

Non-Fatal Accidents

View indexes here.

Disasters and Major Accidents

NB The above is not a comprehensive list of major accidents and disasters in Scottish pits - just the ones covered on this site.