Pelsall Hall Colliery Disaster

Charles Capewell 89, Thomas Starkey 70, Edward Williams 48, Michael Cash 48, John Quarter 45, George Baugh 39, John Heyward 38, Tom Richards 30, Thomas Orcutt 30, George Cassel 28, Charles Astbury 28, Thomas Hollis 28, Richard Hyde 28, Frank Dilkes 27, Joseph Hollis 27, John Starkey 26, Charles Cash 21.
The Boys
Thomas Starkey jnr. 18, John Hubbard 17, John Roberts 14, Thomas Coleman 14, Stephen Lawton 13.

"In the midst of life we are in death"
Above are the names of the men & boys who were tragically killed in the Pelsall Hall Mining disaster which happened on Thursday 14th November 1872.

The Disaster was due to a flood caused by accidental penetration into older mine workings which contained a large amount of water. Although the flood was the cause of the disaster most of the men and boys where found dry having moved to a high point in the mine, above the waters, however they were killed by something known as chokedamp, carbon dioxide gas liberated with the pent up waters which would have caused suffocation. This was something feared by all miners as it could appear very suddenly, hence in olden days miners would carry a canary with them.
One body was never found and still remains in the mine, different names have been put forward as to the identity of the missing body, sadly as with a lot of documentation regarding the history of Pelsall it is both conflicting and confusing.

The Rescue
The following men where presented with bibles for taking part in the attempted rescue and subsequent recovery of the bodies.

John Adams, Joseph Baker, George Ball, Thomas Blower, Herbert Bluck, George Boot, Thomas Bramhill,William Brookes, Henry Davies, Thomas Davies, Thomas Farmer, William Finney, George Goring, John Hales, Enoch Jaundrill, Thomas Lees, H.W Lindop, William Lloyd, John Rounds, T.Starkey, Ben Walker, John Williams,

Presentation bibles, Pelsall Hall Colliery Rescue Volunteers

Presentation bibles, Pelsall Hall Colliery Rescue Volunteers

Bibles presented to the Pelsall Hall Colliery Rescue Volunteers

How You Can Help

We are trying to gather as much information about this tragic event as possible and we would like to hear from anyone who may be related to any of the above mentioned or be in the possession of any photographs or documents relating to this tragic event .Any information you may have, no matter how small, is important to us and like one small piece in a jigsaw puzzle, can help us gain a complete picture.We would like to appeal to anyone who can help in this regard, by doing so, you can assist us in preserving the memory of these brave men and also the history of Pelsall village.

Kind regards,

The Team at Pelsall History Centre