The mining accident at Cinder Pit, Blaenavon, Monmouthshire Nov 1838

[topsy2]

It seems my great great grandfather David Evans and his son William (age 10) died in this accident which was caused by rainwater flooding the mine. Does anybody know if there is any contemporary account of the accident in any newspapers of the time, and if so, how I find them? Does anybody have any information about the incident?

[Koromo]

Hello Topsy

Welcome to RootsChat! 

From The Bristol Mercury, dated December 8, 1838

DREADFUL CATASTROPHE, AND LOSS OF FOURTEEN LIVES. — At Blaenavon, on Wednesday, the 28th ult., after two days of incessant rain, following a heavy snow of the same duration, about mid-day, the sky was suddenly darkened by the accumulation of dense clouds upon Wain Avon, and along the city, in the direction of the Varteg, when an immediate discharge occurred, which inundated the works, and almost filled the valley, causing a sudden rise in the river (already greatly swollen) of many feet additional, and bursting over an embankment which protected the mouth of an old level leading to the deep coal and iron works of the Blaenavon company.  Messengers were despatched to the different workings, and the miners and colliers, to the extent of many hundreds, immediately came out.  Every effort to divert and check the torrent, was most energetically made, which from the numerous workmen in the employment of the company, and the almost immediate cessation of the rain, was accomplished in a few hours, but melancholy to relate, not before some of the very distant headings (and one which has for years been worked "under level") were filled with water.  In this there is no doubt 14 lives are lost.  The damage to the works is trifling.  The pumping, which alone can enable the workmen to reach the bodies of the sufferers, had been urged with every possible speed, and every means of drawing water adopted, yet it will be several days before their bodies can be obtained.  The number missing consists of eleven men (seven of whom are unmarried), two girls, and one boy.  It is to be feared that a part of these have lost their lives from not feeling sufficienly alarmed to leave with the same rapidity as their fellow miners.  One, an old man, returned to fetch his lantern, and was not seen after.  Another, we understand, replied that he would not leave his son (about eight years of age) behind, and both are missing.  We cannot pass over in silence, an act of true herosim, because performed in the cause of humanity, of one of the miners, who, happily, was saved.  This brave man, amid the confustion which must have existed in the dismal pit during the frightful rushing of the waters, and when the natural instinct of humanity would prompt him to struggle for his own preservation alone, seized a boy, who stood near him (and who, we are informed, was in no way related to him), and placing him on his shoulders, carried him above the water a considerable distance, whilst he was himself covered by the flood.  We rejoice to add, that he succeeded in saving the life of the boy, as well as his own.

Koromo

[Koromo]

The Morning Chronicle in London (December 13, 1838) printed a report from the Monmouthshire Beacon.  It is virtually the same as the one from The Bristol Mercury above, except for:

Another, and the most distant, we are told by a man who worked the next stall, replied that he would not leave his son behind, and both are missing!  We hear of the flood being so sudden at the Varteg, on the other side of the hill, that three young people were drowned in a house near the river; and, from the violence of the storm, we expect other serious disasters to have occurred.  Residents of forty years' duration speak of the water pouring down the face of the mountain in quantity and rapidity surpassing anything known on the hills; they describe it, from its foam and volume, like rolling packs of wool.

K.

[topsy2]

Many many thanks for this - it is appreciated. . I'm not too good at using RootsChat yet, but will certainly keep trying.
Best Wishes, Topsy2

[kitman64]

The 15 who perished that day were not named, but in Blaenavon St Peters Church Buriel        register it can be seen that; All were said to have been drowned in the mine works and there can be little doubt that we have the complete known death toll

On      was buried         residence          age
01.12.1838       ElizabethHavard    daughter of John and Mary of Blaenavon                    9
11.12.1838    Edward Jones      Bunkers Hill                      33
11.12.1833      John Jones                   River Row            38
11.12.1838   George Taylor         Wesley, Glos and Blaenavon                   21
11.12.1838   Thomas Thomas                River Row            60
11.12.1838   Mary Hale      River Row            16
11.12.1838   James Ashman                River Row            24
11.12.1838   John Sutton      River Row            26
11.12.1838   John Morris      New Row            --
11.12.1838   Philip Price      Engine pit            --
13.12.1838   William Evans      Blaenavon            10
13.12.1838   Thomas Alsop      Blaenavon            21
13.12.1838   David Evans      Blaenavon            30
13.12.1838         Caleb Cresswell              Blaenavon                         12
23.12.1838   Henry Jones      Blaenavon            15

The Cinder Pit lay about 100 yards from the left bank of the Avon Llwyd and higher up the hillside  a number of feeder ponds were being established that were being fed from the many drift mines in the area. These ponds were the sources of energy for the encreasing number of Balance Pits, Forge Hammers, Mill Wheels and Furnace charging planes that were appearing there. It seems likely that these "slumbering giants" could have been stirred into adding their muscle to the inundation.

This Information i have extracted from the book "and they work us to death" By Ben Fieldhouse and Jackie Dunn. and published by The Gwent Family History Society

[GrahamSimons]

This site has some very knowledgeable people in its forum - you may get even more help there:
http://www.welshcoalmines.co.uk/forum/index.php

[topsy2]

Thank you both for your info. It's good to have more understanding of events like this. Would anyone know anything about possible social assistance to the bereaved families?

Cheers, Topsy2

[kitman64]

yes Graham, have used this site very helpful and informative.
like roostchat someone always willing to help.
kitman

[Neil2004]

Thank you all for contributing to this as Caleb Cresswell who died in the Cinder Pits at 12 years of age was the brother of my G-G-G-Grandfather John Cresswell. John stayed in Blaenavon until the 1870's (where his wife and many of his children died in the 1850's & 60's), before emigrating with his 2 remaining sons (John and Caleb) to America, where they continued their lives in mining.
Unfortunately too many children and adults lost their lives in the pits of South Wales and elsewhere in the pursuit of the profit of others.