Hello, I have just read the information on your site, prompted by having just finished reading Zolas' novel 'Germinale'. It stirred the memories of my family history and I went on line to see if I could find out more.
I grew up very close to my grandmother Kate and my great Aunt Betsy and knew them till I was in my thirties when they died. Their Grandmother, who reared them, had lost her husband and three sons. Sometimes she used to set the table for all her missing family on a Sunday dinner time as she must have been in denial.
My Aunt Betsy was the older and the one who went to school and received an education, later becoming a teacher. My Grandmother, Kate, had to stay at home and help with the running of the house, chores etc. She was a very sharp cookie and woe betide the grocer or breadman if they tried to diddle her out of a halfpenny. She was a formidable housekeeper but had not had the education my Aunt had had.
The story was told me by my Grandmother Kate Bull, the daughter of Anne Bull, and she was in fact two days old when the explosion occurred, her mother Anne still being in bed after the birth. Anne heard the explosion, which was dreaded and expected as most miners were aware of the unsafe conditions and fire damp, but they dared not stay away for losing their jobs and income. Anne realised instantly what this terrible noise meant and the shock gave her a stroke. She was bedridden, unable even to comb her hair for two years, after which time she died, never having spoken.
The coal dust cloud that came out of the pit descended over a four mile area. Three generations of my family were killed in the blast and I have the funeral card, with their four names, which was passed down to me.
When her husband Job Bull was brought out of the pit dead, his pocket watch was still going in his pocket. I have the watch now and it has specks of coal dust under the glass.
All the men who were brought out had black faces with the burning coal dust of the explosion.
Fate had not finished with the Bulls, for the remaining son who went to work with the winding gear was accidentally shot and killed by a stray bullet from someone shooting pigeons in the scrub land around the pit at a later date. |
Scene At The Pit Head |
See also Gaye Wilson's Email
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