VICTORIA . Nithshill, Renfrewshire. 15th. March, 1851.
The ‘ North British Mail ’’ printed a list of 63 men who were believed to be in the pit.
Sixty one of these men and boys died in the disaster.
- Barney Martin
- Patrick O’Neill
- Thomas Campbell
- Thomas Scott
- William Scott
- Michael Smith
- Andrew Carson
- Felix O’Neill
- Neil Buchanan, married
- Neil Buchanan, single
- Thomas Samson
- Matthew Spiers
- James Buchanan
- James Lochlan
- Thomas Hughes
- Frank Hughes
- Henry Gibbs
- John Muhollen
- Robert Black
- Patrick Keenan
- James Baxter
- Neil Catlin
- Richard Smith
- John McMahon
- John Williamson
- James Poole
- C Kerr
- Charles Schiells
- James Schiells
- Patrick Crossman
- Dennis Crossman
- Robert Whiteside
- George Whiteside, Robert’s son
- William McMillan
- Peter Haminpool and his two sons
- Peter White and his son
- Andrew Gebitas and his two sons
- James Kerr and his two sons
- David Colvin
- James Dodds
- John Connelly
- John Bed
- Joseph McIlwain and his two nephews, Samuel and James McIlwain
- Joseph Baxter
- John McMillah
- John Smith
- John Cochran
- Felix Connelly
- Joseph Brighton
- John Schiells
- John Maxwell
- Sam McDowell
- John Campbell
- Michael Irvine, a boy whose father was lost in a previous explosion at the pit.
The funerals took place at Speedy Church at Barrhead. A reporter from the
‘ Glasgow Herald ’’ said:-
“We beg to express out fervent hope that the public will not forget that these poor men, summoned to the account without a moments warning, have left widows and children in a state of total destitution. Poverty is added to the distress of loosing the bread-winner and head of the family by a sudden and violent death.”
Messrs. Coates gave £500 to the Disaster Fund and £100 to those who took part in the rescue operations.
The accident was attributed to the damage to one of the stoppings which allowed air to pass straight to the upcast shaft and as the men were permitted to work without the examination of an overman, the gas discharged from the waste fired at their naked lights.
The system of ventilation was defective with the downcast air carried in one unbroken current round all the workings while the interior waste, an area of about seventy five acres, was not ventilated at all. Firedamp was liable to come from falls in the waste. The air current was maintained by a single line of brick stoppings which leaked constantly and were entirely destroyed in the explosion.
The Report commented:-
“It was inevitable that the ventilation of a pit by such a system should be restricted in its volume, for not only was this restriction produced by the air circulating in its being confined to a single, unbroken current, but it was not possible for the men, engaged in working the districts, to bear a large circulation of air when directed on them in one current.”
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