Scottish Mining Website

1853 Accidents

Notes - The information in this page is mainly sourced from the appendix to the Mine Inspectors report for this year. Many accidents are not listed in these reports and additional names have been added from newspaper reports and other sources - information not sourced from the mine inspectors reports is indicated by a shaded gray background

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Information from Appendix to Inspectors Report							Extra Information
Month	Day	Name of Colliery	Near where situated	Owners name	Person(s) killed	Cause of death	Extra Information
January	2	Titwood	Pollokshaws	Sir John Maxwell	Barnard Flannigan	Explosion of fire damp
January	7	Cuttlehill	Inverkeithing	Henderson, Wallace & Co	William Rattery	Fall of roof at face of working	Newspaper report - Fife pages
January	22	Cambuslang	Rutherglen	Archibald Russell	William Davidson	Fall of roof in road
January	24	Govan	Glasgow	William Dixon	James McKees	Fall of roof at face of working
January		Carfin	Bothwell		John McGinnes	Death not listed in Inspectors report	Newspaper report - Bothwell pages
February	8	Govan	Glasgow	William Dixon	James Dick	Fall of roof at face of working
February	10	Palacecraig			Richard Deans	Death not listed in Inspectors report	Newspaper report
February	11	Dalzell	Hamilton	Wilsons & Co	Wm Kirkwood	Falling down pit
February	21	Coathill	Airdrie	John Davidson	Andw Speirs	Falling down pit from main coal to ironstone
February	26	Fountenhall	Tranent	William Naismith	John Burns	Fall of rubbish in pit
March	3	Springfield	Glasgow	William Dixon	Robert McKinnon	Falling off the barrel when ascending a sinking pit
March	5	Dundonald	Kirkcaldy	James Naismith	Thomas Campbell	Crushed betwixt a hutch and a prop on an incline
March	22	Cowdenbeath	Dunfermline	Forth Iron Co	George Hunter	Fall of roof
March	31	Carfin	Holytown	William Dixon	Neil Donnochie	Explosion of fire in a fall in road
April	9	Sunnyside	Wishaw	Archibald Russell	David Dunn	Explosion of fire damp
April	16	Whitehill	Lasswade	N B W Ramsay	David Coventry	Fall of roof
April	18	Govan	Glasgow	William Dixon	James Henderson	Fall of roof
April	19	Gargill	Coatbridge	William Baird & Co	William Carson	Fall of roof
April	19	Sunnyside	Coatbridge	William Baird & Co	Archibald Campbell & William Wood	Stone falling out of pit
April	23	Carlincroft	Coatbridge	William Baird & Co	John Dunsmuir	Fall of roof
May	5	Drumpellar	Coatbridge	Trustees of late John Wilson	John Halliday	Fall of stone in road
May	6	Kelvin	Glasgow	Montgomery and Fleming	William Smith	Fell off the cage
May	14	Dalmarnock	Glasgow	George Wilson	James McGillan	Fall of stone in road
May	23	Rosehall	Coatbridge	Adie, Miller & Rankine	Michael Donnelly	Explosion of fire damp
June	14	Barleith	Kilmarnock	John Galloway	John Dunn	Fall of stone in sinking pit
June	14	Stoneyburn	Whitburn		John Gray	Death not listed in Inspectors report	Newspaper report - Lothian pages
June	18	Rosehall	Coatbridge	Adie, Miller & Rankine	James Ramsay	Explosion of fire damp
June	18	Cowdencleugh			John Donohue	Death not listed in Inspectors report	Newspaper report
June	21	Carfin	Holytown	John McAndrew & Co	John Whitelaw	Fell off cage when ascending pit
June	23	Clackmannan	Alloa	Mitchell & Mowbray	Robert Allan	Fall of roof
June	24	Hurlford	Kilmarnock	John Howie	John Wilson	Fell down pit when working at pumps
June	25	Rosebank	Rutherglen	Colin Dunlop & Co	James Pettigrew & Patrick McChane	Choke damp in sinking pit
June	25	Ayr	Ayr	John Taylor Gordon	John Lochrie	Fall of coal
June	30	Cowdenbeath	Fife		Downie Hunter	Death not listed in Inspectors report	Fife FHS pre-1855 deaths list death of Downie Hunter in No 1 Pit, Lochgelly
June	30	Cowdenbeath	Fife		James Hunter	Death not listed in Inspectors report	Newspaper report - Beath pages
July	13	Barrhill	Kilsyth	John Watson	John Stockman	Fall of coal
July	13	Westmuir	Glasgow	Robert Gray & Co	James McGill	Fell out of the kettle in ascending a sinking pit
July	18	Elgin	Dunfermline	Earl of Elgin	John Gray	Fall of coal
July	27	Perceton	Irvine	P B M Macredie	James Skelly	Explosion of fire damp
July	28	Thankerton	Holytown	William Baird & Co	Robert Gairdner	By hutches on underground incline
July	30	Calder	Coatbridge	William Dixon	Owen McShee	Fall of roof
August	4	Drumpellar	Coatbridge	Trustees of late John Wilson	Peter Hasson	Fall of roof
August	10	Sauchie	Alloa	Alloa Coal Company	William Foster	Fall of coal
August	13	West Row	Coatbridge	Wilsons & Co	Patrick Crossen	Fall of roof
August	20	Huntershill	Glasgow	William Dixon	William Houston	Stone from a shot in a sinking pit
August	26	Rawyards	Airdrie	Gavin Eddie	Neil McDougall	Explosion of fire damp	William Davidson, age 40, firesman and roadsman, address Johnston Street, Airdrie was charged with culpable homicide, or culpable neglect of duty in relation to this accident. He was found guilty at the High Court, Glasgow, 15 Oct 1853 and sentenced to 6 months imprisonment - source NAS catalogue
August	31	Westmuir	Glasgow	Robert Gray & Co	James Tennant	Fall of roof
August	31	Pittencrieff	Fife		David Bisset	Death not listed in Inspectors report	Fife FHS pre-1855 deaths
September	1	Sillyhole	Dalmellington	Dalmellington Iron Co	Walter Rowan	Suffocated by choke damp
September	2	Pittencrieff	Dunfermline	Forth Iron Co	John Russell	Fall of roof
September	8	West Thornton	Kilmarnock	Archibald Finnie & Son	Robert Stewart	Fall of roof
September	9	Redding	Falkirk	Trustees of late John Wilson	Hugh Lynn	Fall of roof
September	15	Coltness	Wishaw	Alexander G Simpson	John Henderson	Fall of roof
September	17	Bargeddie	Walbridge	Bartonhill Coal Co	William Reid, James Quinney	Drawn over pit head pulley	Newspaper report - Old Monkland pages [NB Newspaper report gives name of second man as James McGuire]
September	22	Wellwood	Dunfermline	Thomas Spowart	William Beveridge	Crushed between cage and roof at pit bottom	Newspaper report - Fife pages
September	24	Kipps	Airdrie	William Baird & Co	William King	Fell down pit from main to splint coal
September	26	Binniehall	Slamannan	John Brown	Hugh Sneddon	Fall of roof
October	14	Bredisholm	Baillieston	Provanhall Coal Co	Thomas Kittings	Fell from pithead down the shaft with a hutch
October	15	Greenbank	Dalry	Merry & Cunningham	John Lochrie	Drawn over pit head pulley
October	15	Govan	Glasgow	William Dixon	Michael Docherty	Fall of roof
October	17	Orrmill Pit, Dysart	Fife		John Adamson	Death not listed in Inspectors report	Fife FHS pre-1855 deaths
October	26	Springhill	Baillieston	Robert Ramsay	George Wilkie	Explosion of fire damp
October	28	Townhead	Kilsyth	Matthew Hay & Son	John Donaldson	Fell down pit from ironstone to coal working
November	1	Rosehall	Coatbridge	Adie, Miller & Rankine	Samuel McComb	Fell from pit head attempting to go on cage
November	15	Ravenscraig	Wishaw	James Anderson & Co	John Gilchrist	Fall of coal
November	16	Gartshore	Kilsyth	M Wallace & Co	Patrick Kane	Fall of roof
November	16	Farme	Rutherglen	James Fairie	William Robertson	Fall of roof	Newspaper report
November	30	Bankhead	Rutherglen	McNaughton & Hood	John Paton	Fall of roof
November	30	Cowdenbeath	Dunfermline	Forth Iron Co	Edward Sheppard & 4 others	Breakage of rope	Newspaper report - Beath accidents Others were: David Miller, collier, native of Coaltown of Balgonie James King, collier age 19 2 bachelors called Campbell, colliers, natives of Baintown, Kennoway
December	1	Glengarnock	Kilbirnie	Merry & Cunningham	Alexander Stevenson	Fall of coal
December	5	Govan	Glasgow	William Dixon	Daniel McFarlane	Crushed by hutch loaded with rails
December	7	Dalzell	Motherwell	Trustees of late John Wilson	John Steven	Taken up to pithead pulley and in attempting to leap off fell down pit
December	13	Garscube	Glasgow	John Barclay & Co	Patrick McDade & 4 others	Killed by explosion of fire damp	Newspaper Report - Garscube page
December	26	Dalmarnock	Glasgow	George Wilson	Thomas Bryson	Crushed between cage and roof of mine	Newspaper report - Lanarkshire pages
December	28	Little Raith	Dunfermline	Lochgelly Iron Co	William Howieson	Fell down sinking it when stepping into kettle
December	30	Hamilton Hill	Glasgow	Wilsons & Co	William Dick & Andrew Buchannan	Explosion of fire damp	Newspaper report - Lanarkshire pages
December	30	Kipps	Airdrie	William Baird & Co	William Kennedy	Falling down main coal to ironstone

Last Updated 17th April 2011