Ubberley Colliery
Near Hanley, North Staffordshire. 25th August 1851

The Inquest

At 10 o’clock on Wednesday morning an inquisition was commenced by Mr. Harding, Esq., when
Mr. Ridgway was present. The Coroner addressing the jury said the report he had received simply informed him of the death of seven men on the previous Monday morning. He was happy to say that an accident of so serious a character as the present had not occurred in his district since 1832 or 1833 when an explosion occurred in a pit at Bignall End, by which 12 lives were sacrificed. In this case the jury would have to enquire, as to what was the cause of the death of these unfortunate men. The explosion took place in a pit belonging to Mr. Ridgway. He was happy to see Mr. Ridgway present. He considered it was the duty of coal masters or agents at whose works loss of life occurred to be present at the inquest in order if possible to ascertain what occasioned the accident and where requisite, to make such alterations as might be suggested by the circumstances developed by the inquiry in order to obviate similar occurrences in future.

The jury would have to ascertain when those unfortunate men went down the pit, how long were they there, and as far as possible what occurred when they were there. It was the custom in almost every colliery where the least idea of foul air existed to use safety lamps, but unfortunately colliers would at times neglect this proper precaution and use naked candles in order to obtain a better light and do more work. It would therefore important to enquire whether the men were using naked candles at the time of the accident and whether those candles were the cause of the explosion. He would advert to only one other circumstance, and that he considered a most extraordinary one. In the 13th and 14th Vic., an Act was passed giving certain information to owners of mines as to what should be their duty in such cases. The first section directed that when loss of life occurred in any way connected with collieries, it should be the duty of the coal master or agent, to give notice to the Secretary of State within 24 hours of the occurrence; and in case of neglect to do so, the master or agent rendered himself liable to a fine of £20 and it became the duty of the coroner to make the requisite communication.

Since the passing of that Act most serious cases had occurred in this district and he had always ascertained whether a communication had been made to the Secretary of State or not; and in all cases where it had been neglected he had he made the necessary report, but the only result that ever followed was a mere acknowledgement of the letter.

Under that Act Inspectors were appointed whose proscribed duty was to visit the work where the accident occurred, in order to ascertain whether there were any defects in the works or arrangements, and to direct the making of such alterations as might be necessary. In no case had an Inspector visited this district, and all together there was an extraordinary omission of carrying out the provisions of the act. He believed there were only 4 Inspectors appointed, and, supposing them to visit the scenes of as many accidents as possible, one would not be able to attend this district more than once in 7 or 8 years.

The appointment of 4 Inspector for the whole Kingdom was most ridiculous. They might as well appoint one Guardian of the poor for 4 counties. He believed that Mr. Ridgeway had communicated with the Secretary of State as directed by the Act, but had not received any reply, nor had any Inspector arrived. In a case involving so serious loss of life it would have been highly satisfactory to the jury and to Mr. Ridgway if an Inspector had been down and examined the works. If the provision of the Act had been carried out, it might be one of the most useful characters. But looking at the manner in which its instructions were neglected, he could not but regard it as one of the most ridiculous and absurd. The coroner added that a painful duty remained to be performed, that of viewing the bodies, more especially as he understood some of them were much mutilated. However, he did not consider it necessary to view them all. One or two of those most adjacent to the inquest room would be sufficient. The coroner and jury then proceeded to view the bodies.

On their return Mr. Ridgeway asked permission for his bailiff to be present during the inquiry, which was at once acceded to. Mr. Ridgway was the first witness sworn. He said he was proprietor of Ubberley colliery. He gave information to the Secretary of State on the day of the accident. He caused the letter to be transmitted by post. He had not received any reply, or seen or heard of any Government Inspector.
Mr. Ridgeway then made a statement, which was not taken in evidence, to the effect that a Government Inspector, who was in the neighbourhood 3 or 4 years ago, visited his works and afterwards a printed report was published in which the method of ventilation and mode of working his pit were spoken very highly spoken of. About 12 months ago another Inspector examined the works, and in a subsequent conversation he had with him, the Inspector said that the ventilation was as complete as possible.

The coroner remarked that those Inspectors could not be under the Act he alluded to, as it was not then in operation. Hr. Ridgway said they were probably gentlemen engaged in collecting information on which to base the Act. The men in his pits were divided into companies of 7 or 8, over whom a butty was appointed, and written instructions were given to him. It was the duty of the butty to enter the pit in the morning with a safety lamp and ascertain whether it was free from foul air, before the men entered it. It was also the duty of the butties to examine the ait hole and ascertain that the ventilation was not obstructed.

On the Friday prior to the accident, the butty had reported the pit as totally free from foul air and it was probably that sultry weather had occasioned the sudden accumulation, which must have subsequently occurred.

Richard Edwards said he was a collier, employed at Ubberley colliery as a butty. He was at the works on Monday morning. About half-passed six o’clock, Ralph Hancock, William Hopkin, George Mountford, George Sumner, and a boy named James Goodman went down the pit.  In a few minutes afterwards Edward Forrester, Ephraim Mountford, Joseph Knight, John Goodfellow, Thomas Jones and a boy, named Henry James with 2 others went down. He, (Edwards) remained on the bank, and in about 7 or 8 minutes after they had gone down he heard an explosion. He waited a few minutes and as soon as he considered it safe, he and John James descended the pit.

When they got to the bottom of the shaft, they found 4 men and 2 boys unhurt. They then proceeded to where the fire had been. They found it had occurred in “South Ten-feet Mine.” About 100 yards from the shaft they found the bodies of 3 men. William Hopkin, John Goodfellow, and Thomas Jones; they all lay within the space of 3 yards, and were quite dead. Ephraim Mountford rushed forward to look for his brother, but he was overcome by the foul air and fell. Witness rescued him. Finding it impossible to proceed further in consequence of the foul stale air; they returned to the bank, and witness ordered some water to be thrown down. As soon as that was done, they again descended the pit to search for the other men. It was something more than an hour before that was accomplished. Edward Forrester and George Sumner were found next, they were quite dead. In about 2 hours afterwards the other 2 men, George Mountford and Ralph Hancock, who had gone further into the pit were found both dead, they were 300 yards from the bottom of the shaft. Witness picked up Hancock and assisted in getting the bodies back to the bottom of the pit.

In reply to a question from Mr. Keeling, Edwards said it was his duty to inspect the pit and see it was in proper working order. He considered Ralph Hancock in charge of the south side. In reply to the coroner he said, on the proceeding Friday he was at the place where the explosion occurred. The mine was quite free from foul air at that time. All the men that worked in that pit had been furnished with safety lamps. On Friday night he saw Hancock with the lamps and asked him what he was going to do with them. Hancock said he was going to deliver them up to Mr. Farrin, the bailiff, as he was perfectly satisfied that he could do without them. Witness told him he should keep one to take into the pit in the morning. The men worked in the pit with candles on Saturday and considered it safe. In reply to Mr. Keeling, he said the men who were first met with, appeared worst burnt. In reply to a juror he said Hancock was managing man of that party and was responsible for anything that might occur.