Nanaimo Mine Disaster

Date: 3 May 1887 [unknown]
Location: [unknown]
Surnames/tags: Mining Disasters Disasters

Contents 1 The Disaster 2 Table of Victims 3 Memorial 4 Project Template 5 Museums & Memorials 6 Genealogy Information 7 Read More About It 8 Sources

The Disaster

On May 3, 1887, a massive explosion erupted deep underground in the Number One Coal Mine in Nanaimo, British Columbia, taking the lives of 150 souls, many of whom had emigrated to Vancouver Island from countries all over the world.

By the end of that week, the Nanaimo Free Press had published the names of most of those confirmed dead in the disaster.

{ADD to the mine disaster history and list sources below. Photos if possible

Table of Victims

There were 93 named victims and 58 Unnamed Chinese miners who lost their lives in this disaster.

British Columbia Mining Disasters Miners Killed

Victim	Location	From	Age	Status	Position/Notes	Approx DOB
Allen, Thomas	No. 5 Level	Bristol, England	24 yrs	single	runner	1863
Benton, Edward	No. 1 Level	Rothwell, Yorkshire, England	34 yrs	left a wife & 6 children		1853
Bertram, George S.	No. 3 Level	Yorkshire, England	37 yrs	left awife & 3 children		1850
Bevilockway, Herbert	No. 3 Level	Nanaimo, BC	24 yrs	single		1863
Biggs, George	New Slope	Nanaimo, BC	27 yrs	single		1860
Bjurling, Arvid	No. 5 Level	Sweden	30 yrs	supposed to be single		1857
Blundell, Jonathan	New Slope	Maryport, Cumberland, England	33 yrs	wife & 5 children		1854
Buffington, Robert	No. 1 Level
Bone, William	No. 1 Level	Penzance, Cornwall, England	42 yrs	left a wife & 3 children		1845
Bowden, George	No. 1 Level	Cornwall, England	71 yrs	widower		1816
Bramley, Jonathon, Jr.	No. 1 Level	Rothwell, Yorkshire, England	36 yrs	wife & 3 children		1851
Brun, H	No. 5 Level - Old Slope				runner
Burns, William	New Slope	Scotland,	35 yrs	single	won silver medal as soldier in Egypt	1852
Byers, James	No. 3 Level	Wrickbridge, Cumberland, England	22 yrs	left a wife & child		1865
Campbell, William R	No. 1 Level	. Cape Breton, Nova Scotia	28 yrs	single	engineer	1859
Campbell, James	No. 1 Level	Rye, Sussex, England	39 yrs	married no children		1848
Cochrane, William L.	Sinking Shaft	Wellington		single	step-son of J. Crave
Corcoran, Michael	No. 5 Level	County Kerry, Ireland	46 yrs	left a wife & 6 children		1841
Davey, William	No. 3 Level	Whitehaven, Cumberland, England	33 yrs	single		1854
Davey, James	No. 3 Level	Whitehaven, Cumberland, England	33 yrs	single		1854
Davis, William	Sinking Shaft	Ruthin, Denbighshire, N. Wales	36 yrs	wife & 2 children		1851
Dawson, Daniel	New Slope	Cletermore, Cumberland, England	28 yrs	single		1859
Dawson, Thomas	New Slope	Cletermore, Cumberland, Engalnd	32 yrs	single		1855
Drake, Charles	New Slope	Sweden,	27 yrs	left a wife & 3 children		1860
Ducca, Peter	No. 5 Level	Formaco, Italy	25 yrs	single		1862
Ellis, Arthur	No. 1 Level		21 yrs	son of David Ellis		1866
Ellis, David	No. 1 Level	Rothwell, Yorkshire, England	48 yrs	left a wife & 4 children		1839
Evans, Thomas	No. 3 Level	Llwynpia, Glamorgan, S. Wales	48 yrs	wife & 4 children		1839
Fallen, John C.	No. 1 Level	Michigan, U.S.A., recently from California	30 yrs	single		1857
Fillipea, Anderoti	No. 5 Level	Genoa, Italy	28 yrs	single		1859
Forrest, Joseph	No. 1 Level	Longhurst, Northumberland, England	28 yrs	just married		1859
Gilbert, William	No. 1 Level	Goldsithney, Cornwall, England	43 yrs	wife & 4 children		1844
Gorman, Thomas	New Slope	Middleton, County Cork, Ireland	24 yrs	single	runner	1863
Hague, William	New Slope	Oldham, Lancashire, England	23 yrs	left a wife & child		1864
Hoggan, James	No. 3 Level	Cape Breton, Nova Scotia	21 yrs	single		1866
Hoy,William	New Slope	Sydney Mines, Cape Breton	21 yrs	left a wife & child		1866
Hughes, Thomas	New Slope	Buckley, Flintshire, N. Wales	32 yrs	wife & children		1855
Hunter, Andrew	No. 1 Level	Nanaimo,BC	15 yrs			1872
Isbister, James	No. 3 Level	Nanaimo,BC	17 yrs	single		1870
Johns, Nicholas	No. 5 Level	Cornwall, England	26 yrs	left a wife		1861
John, Edward	No. 1 Level	Wales, recently from Minnesota	40 yrs	left a wife & family		1847
Johnson, John	New Slope	Sweden	31 yrs	left a wife & 4 or 5 children		1856
Jones, Evan	No. 3 Level	Llanarmon Yu Tale, Denbigh, N. Wales	40 yrs			1847
Lee, Hudson	No. 3 Level	Rothwell, Yorkshire, England	22 yrs	single		1865
Lee, Henry	No. 3 Level	Rothwell, Yorkshire, England	48 yrs	left a wife & 10 children		1839
Lewis, Abraham T.	No. 3 Level	Brymbo, near Wrexham, N. Wales	47 yrs	wife & child		1840
Linn, John	Sinking Shaft	Ayreshire, Scotland	34 yrs	left a wife & 5children		1853
Lukey, William, Jr.	No. 3 Level	Wisconsin, U.S.A.	27 yrs			1860
Lukey, William, Sr.	No. 3 Level	Cornwall, England	50 yrs	left a wife & 5 children		1837
Lyons, James	New Slope	Ireland,	44 yrs	left a wife & child		1843
Lyon, Michael	No. 1 Level		15 yrs	son of miner James Lyons		1872
Martin, Thomas	No. 1 Level	Nanaimo, BC	23 yrs	single		1864
Mattison, Frederick	Sinking Shaft	Sweden	30 yrs	single		1857
McDonald, Alexander	New Slope	Pictou County, Nova Scotia	23 yrs	single		1864
McDonald, Roderick	No. 5 Level	Cape Breton, Nova Scotia	37 yrs	left a wife & child		1850
McGuffie, John	No. 1 Level	Nanaimo, BC	23 yrs	single		1864
McLean, Malcolm	No. 5 Level	Sydney Mines, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia	31 yrs	single		1856
Meakin, John, Sr.	No. 1 Level	London, England	57 yrs	wife & 9 children		1830
Meakin, Arthur	New Slope	Nanaimo, BC	19 yrs	youngest son of miner John Meakin Sr		1868
Milton, James	No. 1 Level	Indiana, U.S.A., recently from California	30 yrs	single		1857
Morgan, John W.	No. 5 Level	County Down, Ireland	28 yrs	single		1859
Morgan, David	No. 1 Level	Cowbridge, Glamorganshire, S. Wales	27 yrs	single		1860
Morris, William	New Slope	Missouri, U.S.A.	30 yrs	left a wife & 3 children		1857
Morton, John	No. 3 Level	Lanarkshire, Scotland	30 yrs	left a wife & 2 children		1857
Morton, Andrew	No. 3 Level	Lanarkshire, Scotland	28 yrs	left a wife & child		1859
Muir, Andrew	No. 1 Level	Ayreshire, Scotland	45 yrs	left a wife & 6 children		1842
Muir, Archibald	No. 3 Level	Ayreshire, Scotland	57 yrs	left a wife & 3 children		1830
Myles, John	New Slope	Redding, Sterlingshire, Scotland	39 yrs	single		1848
Myers, Samuel H	No. 5 Level	Ireland,	49 yrs	single		1838
Nicholson, Robert	New Slope	Northumberland, England	34 yrs	left a wife & 2 children		1853
Old, George	No. 3 Level	Penzance, Cornwall, England	46 yrs	left a wife & child		1841
Perry, Thomas	New Slope	Northumberland, England	32 yrs	wife & 2 children		1855
Popplewell, Benjamin	No. 1 Level	Methley, Yorkshire, England	28 yrs	single		1859
Richards, John	No. 1 Level	Birmingham, England	45 yrs	wife		1842
Ridley, William	No. 3 Level	Clifton near Workington, Cumberland, England	28 yrs	single		1859
Scales, William	New Slope	New Westminster, B.C.	27 yrs	single		1860
Simmons, George	No. 1 Level	London, England	35 yrs	left a wife & child		1852
Smiley, Allan	New Slope	Glasgow, Scotland	34 yrs	left a wife & child		1853
Smith, J.J.	No. 1 Level	Liverpool, England, lately Australia	25 yrs	Brakeman		1862
Smith, John	Sinking Shaft	Scotland	21 yrs	single		1866
Stephenson, William Henry	New Slope	Macon County, Missouri	18 yrs	married		1869
Stevens, John	No. 1 Level	Iowa, U.S.A.	23 yrs	single		1864
Stove, John	No. 3 Level	Nanaimo, BC	23 yrs	left a wife & child		1864
Stove, Robert	No. 3 Level	Nanaimo, BC	21 yrs	single		1866
Tellaro, Jubert	No. 5 Level	Turino, Italy	29 yrs	single		1858
Thomas, James	No. 1 Level	Wales,	35 yrs	single		1852
Thompson, Joseph	No. 1 Level	Peltonfell, Durham, England	37 yrs	wife & 3 children		1850
Thompson, John	New Slope	Maryport, Cumberland, England	32 yrs	single		1855
Tulley, Frank	New Slope	California,	28 yrs	left a wife & child		1859
Watson, Joseph	No. 1 Level	Weardale, Durham, England	30 yrs	single		1857
Westfeldt, John Henry	No. 3 Level	Holland,	43 yrs	left a wife & 5 children		1844
Wilkins, Edward	No. 1 Level	Cowbridge, Glamorganshire, S. Wales	26 yrs	single		1861
Willis, Caton	New Slope	St. Charles, Canada	40 yrs	left a wife & 3 children		1847
Woobank, John	No. 3 Level	Leeds, Yorkshire, England	41 yrs	left a wife & 2 children		1846
Woobank, Copley	No. 3 Level	Rothwell, Yorkshire, England	18 yrs	son of John		1869
Zermani, John	No. 5 Level	Matte, Parma, Italy	38 yrs	left a wife & 3 children		1849

Memorial

This is a coal mine disaster and the following memorial may be used on profiles for the miners named above on their profile page with either the wording "killed" or "survivor" as appropriate.

As family members are named, the wording may be changed for widow, surviving child as below:

ADD Recognition Box

Project Template

This will be added to this page as is:

Add from BC page

Museums & Memorials

There are museums and memorials devoted to the victims of this disaster linked below:

ADD

Genealogy Information

• Nanaimo Genealogy Resources & Vital Records | Nanaimo
• Find A Grave: Nanaimo Municipal Cemetery

Read More About It

http://victoriahistory.ca/blog/2010/07/b-c-s-worst-coal-mining-disaster

• Worst Mining Disaster Took Place 125 Years Ago Today
• 130 Years Later Historian Recounts Devastating Nanaimo Mine Explosion

Sources

• 1887 Nanaimo Mine Explosion 1887
• Friends of Morden Mine
• Mining in BC