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John Jefferson
| Age: | 58 |
| Died: | 13th Apr 1896 |
| Accident: | 13th Apr 1896 10:00 p.m. |
| Year Born: | abt. 1838 |
| Colliery: | Brancepeth, A Pit |
| Company: | Strakers & Love |
| Occupation: | Pumper |
| Notes: | an explosion occurred on a main haulage road of the mine ; killed in the 1896 explosion (ignition caused by shot firing) |
| Buried: | St. Stephen's Churchyard/Willington Cemetery |
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| Description | |
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Only one fatal explosion, viz., that at Brancepeth Colliery on the 13th of April, occurred. A special report having been made to you on this accident I do not propose to go into the details of it again. The explosion was undoubtedly caused by the firing of a shot on a main engine plane, and the management have now prohibited shot-firing on the main roads entirely, and are introducing the use of higher explosives in the canches and drawing roads, roburite being the explosive selected.
A considerable amount of gunpowder is still, however, being used in the coal and roadways of some of the seams connected with these collieries, but I hope to see the quantity again reduced before long.
Whatever his politics may be the average working miner is very conservative in matters which affect his work, and a change from gunpowder, to which he has been accustomed for years, to an explosive, which has somewhat different characteristics and to which he is a stranger, is sure to be met with a certain amount of disfavour.
A little difficulty is experienced at first starting before the relative proportions of the different explosives to be used to do the same amount of work is thoroughly understood, the tendency being to use more of the higher explosive than is necessary, but when this has been mastered the higher explosives do their work well, and it is only reasonable that both owners and men should yield something in exchange for the greater safety there undoubtedly is in the higher compounds than with gunpowder in mines which are dusty or which give off inflammable gas.
The text of the Report into the disaster is available online here.
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| Disaster Memorial | |
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| Tombstone | |
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Willington — St. Stephen's Churchyard/Cemetery
Location: OS Map 93, Grid Ref NZ210353
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This is a low resolution image for web display, if you would like to have a higher resolution image, then please
email us quoting reference T-02229-04-0002 and we will make the image available on a temporary page for you to access.
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| Names on this tombstone | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Died | Age | Born |
| John JEFFERSON | 13th Apr 1896 | 58 | 1838 |
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| Related Newspaper Articles | |
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| 15 Apr 1896 | Colliery Explosion (The Times) |
| 16 Apr 1896 | The Colliery Disaster In Durham (The Times) |
| 17 Apr 1896 | The Colliery Disaster In Durham (The Times) |
| 18 Apr 1896 | The Colliery Disaster In Durham (The Times) |
| 21 Apr 1896 | The Colliery Explosion In Durham (The Times) |
| 14 May 1896 | The Colliery Explosion In Durham (The Times) |
| 15 May 1896 | The Brancepeth Colliery Explosion (The Times) |
| 16 May 1896 | The Brancepeth Colliery Explosion (The Times) |
| 14 Sep 1896 | The Brancepeth Colliery Explosion (The Times) |
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| Further Reading | |
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| Sources | |
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- 1896 Mines Inspectors Report (C 8450), Durham District (No. 4) by R. D. Bain, H.M. Inspector of Mines, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.
- Tombstone photograph (T-02229-04-0002) © Kev Duncan
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