Hi Alan, I have been going through your site and came across deaths in 1938.
My grandfather John Greasley (sometimes referred to as Jack) was killed working on top of Woolly colliery (Barnsley) in 1938. He was caught in a 'shunt' while maintaining a wagon but took four days to die. The official cause of death is listed as pneumonia following being crushed. For some reason the mine didn't seem to think this was important to list as a 'coal' accident?
A bit more information I have been told there is a photograph somewhere of John standing by some 'Mitchells' coal wagons, I assume he repaired these and perhaps these were the cause of his death. Just as an aside, The name Greasley is apparently derived from Norse (Viking) Greasla which means man who greases wagon wheels. Looks like John went full circle.
WW1, John was quite badly injured on the first day of the Somme which meant he could not go back underground. The injury he sustained meant he lost a part of his skull and was one of the first to survive a metal plate being inserted. This may have affected his hearing. He had quite a turnout for his funeral apparently. His colleagues help his widowed wife deal with her loss and he was buried in the main Barnsley cemetery, she was always very grateful to them.
John Greasley lived at 19 Harley St, Barnsley in what was a miners house provided by the company. He had two daughters. After he died the company repossessed the house. His colleagues argued her case and provided funds for her to move to a smaller property (Number 1) in the same street (bottom right) which is what I remember of visiting Barnsley as a child. John Greasley's family links are also from Wombwell.
Regards David Linzner
Full entry from HM Inspector Of Mines report book, held in the Yorkshire Archive Centre at Doncaster (as at Sept 2015)
The accident happened at 11:30 am on 11th Nov 1938 at the Colliery Sidings, at Woolley Parkgate Colliery, owned by Fountain and Burnley Ltd
John’s job was wagon repairer and 19 empty, repaired wagons, were standing in the empty sidings, spaced 3 to 4 feet apart. They were being pushed together by the locomotive so that they could be coupled and then removed for service. John Greasley, the wagon repairer, was crossing the line between the 3rd and 4th wagons when he was crushed between the buffers. He died 1½ days later. A long blast had been blown on the locomotive before the wagons were moved and the shunter stated that he had walked round them to see if there was anyone in danger, but had not seen anybody.
Regards
Bob Bradley |
