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Location: Merewether, New South Wales, Australia
Surnames/tags: DISASTERS MINING_DISASTERS AUSTRALIA
Disasters Project | Mining | Australia | Hamilton Pit (Glebe Mine) Disaster 1889
Hamilton Pit (Glebe Mine) Disaster, 1889
Map Co-ordinates: 32° 55' 23.2968 S 151° 44' 49.3980 E
GPS Coordinates: Lat: -32.923138, Long: 151.747055
Summary
A hundred men were working in the Hamilton Pit at the Glebe Mine, Merewether, on the morning of 22nd June 1889 when the roof began 'working' and collapsed in several places. Many of the men fled for their lives but their lamps went out and they were plunged into darkness. Rocks and coal continued to fall and blocked their escape. Eleven men lost their lives in the disaster, some were caught under fallen coal unable to be moved by workmates and four died of starvation while trapped in a small section of the mine.
Table 1: The Victims - Age, Marital Status, Occupation, and Residence
(Underscored names have profiles; boldfaced names are connected to the Big Tree. )
Name | Age | Marital Status | Occupation | Residence |
---|---|---|---|---|
Jabez Roberts | 78 | Single | Miner | |
David Proctor | 45 | Married, (7 or more) | Miner | Glebe |
John Peate Senior | 50 | Married, 5 children | Miner | Merewether |
John Peate Junior | 19 | Single | Wheeler | |
Daniel Masson | 27 | Married, 3 children | Miner (former shiftman) | Merewether |
Thomas Banfield | 18 | Single | Wheeler | |
Herbert Pettit | 22 | Single | ||
John Meadows | 30 | Single | Shiftman | Merewether |
George Beaumont | 42 | Married, 5 children | Shiftman | Merewether |
Alexander Grant | 30 | Married, 2 (in Scotland) | Shiftman | Merewether |
James Hodson | 54 | Married, 4 children | Deputy Overman | Adamstown |
Research Notes
The 12-page paper[1] by Clive Beauchamp of Charles Sturt University in Bathurst, NSW, is a great resource for anyone wishing to learn more about this incident.
Sources
- ↑ Beauchamp, C. (2014). Disaster at the Australian Agricultural Company's Mine, Hamilton, NSW, 1889. Journal of Australasian Mining History, 12, 193-204.
- “The Hamilton Pit (Glebe Mine) Disaster, 22 June 1889”, website, www.coalandcommunity.com, Sir Edgeworth David Memorial Museum, accessed 10 June 2023, People and Place | Coal and Community.
- “1889 Hamilton Colliery Case Study”, NSW Government, Resources Regulator, Safety, Safety events and education programs, Learning from disasters, Learning from disasters timeline.
- "Hamilton Pit Disaster Memorial Pulpit", web, Monument Australia, www.monumentaustralia.org.au, Home » Themes » Disaster » Industrial.
- "'A great fall of roof' - the Hamilton mine disaster", blog, Hidden Hamilton, hiddenhamilton.blogspot.com, 5 Jan 2014, accessed 10 June 2023.
- "The Colliery Disaster-The Inquest Resumed", The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842-1954) 26 Jul. 1889, Page 5. (Similar to 13726564)
- "The Colliery Disaster-Recovery of a Third Body", The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842-1954), 5 Aug. 1889, Page 7.
- "The Colliery Disaster. The Inquest Resumed", The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842-1954) 26 Jul. 1889, Page 5. (Pettit, Miners Named with jobs and where found)
- "The Hamilton Pit Disaster, The Last Body Recovered", Singleton Argus (NSW:1880-1954) 11 Sept. 1889, Page 4. (David Proctor, Meadows)
- "The Colliery Disaster in the Hamilton Pit - The Inquest" The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser (NSW:1843-1893) 23 Jul. 1889, Page 3. (Full page)
- "The Colliery Disaster-The Death of Herbert Pettit-The Story of Survivors", The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842-1954) 11 Jul. 1889, Page 8.
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