Markham Colliery Disaster 1937

Date: 21 Jan 1937 [unknown]
Location: Staveley, near Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England
Surnames/tags: Mining Disasters England Disasters

Worldwide Disasters | Mining Disasters | England Mining Disasters | Derbyshire Mining Disasters|

With grateful thanks to The Story Mine for permission to use their information and images in commemorating those who lost their lives in 1937. Please see their web site for photographs of the men and their family histories. https://markhamstorymine.org/stories/disasters/disasters-1937/

History and Circumstances

• Date: 21 January 1937
• Location: Markham Colliery, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England
• Victims: 9 lives lost
• Cause: Explosion Accident
  

On Thursday 21st January 1937 at 2.45 pm an explosion happened just when the men were changing over from the day shift to the afternoon shift. A flame which escaped from a faulty covering plate on the coal cutting machine caused a build-up of gas and ignited the coal dust. Seven men were killed at the scene and two men died later in hospital. Four men were seriously injured. The accident happened in the Black Shale seam - the deepest part of the pit and the furthest away from the pit bottom about one and a half miles.

Those who were killed:

First Name	Surname	Age	Profile	Details
Edward	Baggaley
Leonard	Cadywould
William Henry	Cauldwell
Joseph	Furniss
Ralph	Marsden
Charles	Moreton
Frederick	Roddy
Wilfred Edmund	Slater
Edmund	Smith

Sources

• Official Report into the Disaster