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Illustrated London News, 8 Feb1862, the "night-watchers"
© Mining Institute
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The Hartley Mining Disaster |
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The consequences
In the wake of the New Hartley disaster, public meetings were held to discuss the two salient points raised by the accident – the danger of working in single shaft mines and the plight of miners’ dependents. The verdict of the inquest into the deaths of the 199 men trapped in the Hester Pit was delivered on 6th February 1862. It included the jury’s concerns on the existence of one-shaft mines:
“The Jury cannot close this painful inquiry without expressing their string opinion of the imperative necessity that all working collieries should have at least a second shaft or outlet, to afford the workmen the means of escape should any obstruction take place”
On 7th August 1862, an Act of Parliament was passed which made it compulsory for all new mines to have two shafts, while all existing mines must have another shaft sunk before 1st January 1865. The act met with some opposition from mine owners, who believed the expenditure could force them out of business. However, in the wake of the Hartley disaster, the feeling was that this piece of legislature was long over due, as the Times says:
“How so obvious a precaution (as a second shaft) came to be overlooked we know not.” ( ’The Times’, 1862, quoted in ’The Hartley Colliery Disaster, 1862’, John Elliott McCutcheon)
After the Hartley accident, a Relief Committee was established to raise funds for the families who had lost their breadwinners. The outpouring of charity was unprecedented, with money coming from across the country to help the newly created widows and their families. This committee prompted the creation of a Miner’s Permanent Relief Fund, designed to provide assistance for all dependents of miners who had an accident at work. This fund would draw upon contributions from miners and mine owners. The formation of the Permanent Relief Fund on 12th February 1862, acknowledged the perilous nature of a miner’s occupation, made so startlingly obvious by the Hartley disaster. The dreadful waste of lives at New Hartley was not completely in vain; their deaths did lead to improvements for their fellow miners.
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