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Thursday, about two o'clock in the afternoon, one of those dreadful explosions which have been so lamentably frequent in mining districts, took place at one of Mr. Russell's collieries, at Wallsend, known by the name of the church pit, or Russell's old Wallsend, by which twenty-six men and seventy-five boys lost their lives, leaving twenty-four widows and eighty-three children to bewail their sudden, and, under the circumstances, most sorrowful departure. The number of work people employed in this colliery was about 220, one hundred and five of whom were in the mine at the time of the explosion. The colliery had been viewed in the morning by Mr. Atkinson and his son, under viewers, and it was by them considered perfectly safe and secure in every respect, there not being the least indication of any escape of gas, and at the time of the explosion, there were four overmen and deputies down who had been accustomed to work in the pits for upwards of thirty years. These were among the sufferers. The catastrophe was made known to the banksman by a considerable report, which they spoke of as being like an earthquake, accompanied by a rushing of choke damp to the mouth of the shaft, bringing up with it some of the pitmen's clothes and other light articles from the bottom. There are other two shafts connected with this colliery, in one of which only two men were at work, who say that they felt a slight shock at the time, and soon after a quantity of choke damp. They happily escaped by being drawn up immediately. In the third shaft no one was at work. On the alarm being given the vicinity of the mine was soon thronged with anxious enquirers; and the awful scene of sorrow which ensued, cannot even now be contemplated without exciting feelings of the most painful description. The most strenuous exertions to render immediate assistance to the sufferers were directly made, and eight humane and intrepid individuals volunteered to go down, in the hope of being able to save and bring up some of their companions. After reaching the bottom, however, in attempting to go into the workings, they instantly found themselves being suffocated by the foul air; they had the greatest difficulty in regaining the ropes, and were almost insensible before they could be drawn up again. Such was the dangerous state of the mine, that all further exertions were unavailing, till the following day, Friday, when those creditable efforts were renewed, and 21 bodies brought to bank. The work of humanity was persevered in, day after day, until all the bodies (save that of one poor boy) had been found and taken to their sorrowing friends; and to the astonishment of every one connected with the colliery, on Sunday, four of the unfortunate creatures were found to be alive. They were immediately brought up with the most assiduous care, and eager hopes were infused into the hearts of many, that others would be found who had been similarly favoured. This pleasing hope was, however, soon dispelled. The poor men themselves, thus rescued from a terrible fate, could give no idea of their mode of preservation. For some time they were occasionally delirious, and generally speaking, they had no idea of the time which elapsed between the occurrence of the accident and that of their fortunate rescue. The scene at Wallsend on the Monday afternoon, was especially distressing: numbers were buried there, and it was a painful sight to see two and even three bodies brought from the same house, and borne away amid the agonized cries of their relations. On Monday, June 22nd an inquest was held on the bodies of the sufferers, and, by adjournment, on the 23rd, 25th, and again on the 27th, during which time some of the jurors visited those persons who were saved, and heard what they had to say respecting the accident, but they were unable to give any account of great interest with regard to this melancholy event; in fact the origin of the accident remained as much a mystery as at the moment of its occurrence. Verdict :— Accidental death.

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Further Reading

• Great Pit Disasters, 1700 to present day by Helen and Baron Duckham, Published by David & Charles, 1973
• Wallsend Colliery Pit Disaster 18th June 1835 by Ken & Pauline Hutchinson, Published by North Tyneside Libraries, 1994, ISBN 090-652-9123

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