" He being dead, yet speaketh.'-HEB. xi. 4.
PRINTED AT THE OFFICE OF THE GREAT NORTHERN ADVERTISER, 89, SIDE, AND SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS. 1841.
MAY 3rd, 1815, a dreadful accident took place in Heaton Main Colliery, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The workings of the colliery at this time were in the Main coal seam, at a very great depth, having a considerable dip, or inclination, from one side to the other, the shafts being on the lower side. This seam had formerly been wrought as a colliery, under the name of Heaton Banks, by shafts distinct from the present workings, and which shafts, when the colliery was given up, were covered over with planks and earth. In the course of time these old workings had become entirely filled with water, which, at about half-past four o'clock on the morning of the above day (Wednesday) broke through the coal in the north-west part of the present colliery, at a point where the strata are disturbed by a dyke, and inundated the workings. Some of the men who were working near the spot where the water forced its entrance, ran immediately to the shaft, and happily escaped out of the pit. On their way they met Mr. Miller, the underviewer, and informed him of what had happened, when he ran to give the alarm to the other men, who were working in the higher part of the pit, in the hope that they might be able to effect their escape also; but this, alas ! was not accomplished. The water rushed in with dreadful rapidity, and flowing naturally to the lower parts of the workings, soon cut off the only means of escape, by closing the bottom of the shaft, in which the water soon rose to the depth of nineteen fathoms.
Exertions were immediately made to reach the spot where the men were supposed to be, from some other workings, but without success, as the shafts of the old workings were choked up by the earth, &c., which covered their mouths, and which, when deprived of the support of the water, having fallen in, dragged after it many trees which had been planted in their vicinity. Attempts were made in front of Heaton Hall to endeavour to reach the old workings, through a shaft which had not fallen in; but these, also, were unavailing, on account of the shaft being filled with foul air. Three large engines (one of one hundred and thirty horse power) were instantly employed in endeavouring to draw the water from the pit, but without the desired effect, as the water in the shaft, which was at first nineteen fathoms in depth, subsequently gained upon them, from which it appeared that the water was coming out of some old waste into the pit. During Thursday night the water gained upon the engines, notwithstanding they discharged one thousand two hundred gallons per minute; and when the lowest shaft was plumbed early on the Friday morning, it was found to be thirty-three fathoms.
By this catastrophe seventy-five persons (forty-one men and thirty-four boys) lost their lives, together with the whole stock of horses, which were down at the time.
In the distance, between the back of Heaton and Benton Bridge, seven of the shafts belonging to the workings of an old colliery on Heaton Banks fell in, presenting frightful chasms, of many of these, the surface exhibited not the least vestige, nor was the existence of them known in the neighbourhood.
The old colliery is said to have been discontinued on account of the influx of water, which was so great, that seven engines, of the construction of that day, could not get the better of it. There is a tradition that the first steam engine used in this part of the country was at, or near Heaton, and most probably it was on the colliery, (The engineer was the reputed son of a Swedish nobleman, who taught Mathematics at Newcastle) in the year 1714.
From various difficulties, the bodies of these unfortunate men were not arrived at until upwards of nine months from the time of the accident. The sufferers who thus found a living grave, left twenty-four widows and seventy-seven orphans, besides Mrs. Miller and her eight children, to deplore their untimely fate.
On the 6th of January, 1816, the first human body of the sufferers was brought to bank, in a state of great decay; but ascertained by the neckcloth to be that of William Scott, between seventy and eighty years of age, who attended one of the furnaces. Of a knife, which the deceased had in his pocket, the haft only (of bone) was entire, the blade being entirely corroded by the mixtures of the pyrites in the mire with water. His watch was also nearly destroyed by the same cause. It may, however, afford some speculation to the curious, that the articles of linen on the deceased were quite fresh and uninjured, but those of woollen fabric were entirely destroyed. In a few weeks afterwards, the remains of the rest of these unfortunate persons were found in different situations, in the workings of the pit.
There was one part of the workings very much on the rise, where several men and boys had been employed at the time of the inundation. At a crane adjoining the place, there were ten human bodies, and the carcases of two horses found. The water had never risen so high as the above workings, by eighty or
a hundred yards. On proceeding up the rolley-way to within about fifty yards of the crane, there were found two bodies lying near each other; and every ten or fifteen yards other.
two bodies, from which it was conjectured, that these men had gone, by two at a time, to the tail of the water; and their strength failing them through suffocation, they had fallen down and died.
Some bodies were also found among the water in the crane hole; and in a nail-chest was discovered the body of one of the lesser boys. Most of the bodies were found in a lying posture; but some were found sitting, particularly the body of George Dawson, which was sitting with the arms folded, resting his back against a brick stopping; and his features were so entire, that he was recognized at five or six yards distance. Diligent search was made to discover any writing with chalk upon the trap-doors or brattices, but nothing of the kind was found, with the exception of a tin candle-box, in the pocket of one of the boys, William Thew, on which was scratched a very touching letter to his widowed mother, an account of which is contained in the subjoined narrative or memoir.
On the 29th of February, 1816, thirty-nine of the bodies, forming a melancholy procession, were interred in trenches in the south-east corner of Wallsend Church.
WILLIAM THEW was the second son of John and Elizabeth Thew, and was seventeen years of age at the time of the catastrophe. His father, and an elder brother, aged twenty, named George, perished with him. A younger brother, John, was
one of those who, on the alarm of the bursting in of the water being made, escaped with others by the shaft. William and John were scholars in the Byker Sunday School at the time, and were steady and well-disposed boys. George and William met in class among the Wesleyan Methodists at the time ; and the latter also attended Mr. Swallow's evening school at Catterick Buildings, where he learnt to write and cypher; but neither his father or eldest brother could write. His mother relates that her sons were very affectionate and steady; that after returning from their work, and when cleaned, and refreshed by their meals, they were in the habit of reading the Bible to her; and never retired to rest without prayer. Many pleasing anecdotes are related by their mother, particularly of William who seems to have been her favourite son. On one occasion he said to her, " Mother, when I'm a man I'll work hard for you, and keep you like a lady;" and the mother observes that his wishes and intentions have been in a manner realized in the support she has received through the letter he wrote to her in the pit. Imagination cannot portray the scene that would take place after the breaking in of the water, and when all hope of escape was cut off. To contemplate seventy-five human beings all at once incarcerated in a living tomb, with the appalling prospect of a lingering, though certain death. They had not died from hunger, as they had killed one of the horses and had cut slices off its hind quarter, some of which were found in the caps and wallets of the men, unconsumed. They had likewise an abundant supply of spring water. The exhaustion of the atmospheric air by the influx of water bringing with it foul air, was no doubt the cause of death, probably in a day or two at the most. Many of the men, and some of the boys, were pious, and were members of the Methodist Society, and most of the boys attended the adjoining Sunday Schools. It is probable that the pious men would employ their time in exhorting those who were irreligious to repentance and faith in Christ; and however simple these addresses may have been, they were no doubt listened to with intense interest and attention. Prayer and even singing were also offered up. A striking distinction appeared in the positions and manner of those who were known to be wicked men from those who feared God; and while the former seemed to have struggled hard in death, the latter appeared to have sweetly fallen asleep in Christ Jesus! The person spoken of in the former narrative, George Dawson, was an instance among others of the apparent composure with which he met the last enemy. A placid smile rested upon his countenance; and even the arms had not altered their position, being folded across his breast, after remaining nine months under ground.
After the bodies were coffined, the relatives were permitted to go down the pit for the purpose of recognizing their husbands or children; and Elizabeth Thew, the widow, was among the foremost. She readily recognized William's body by his fine auburn hair; but what must have been her transported, yet agonized feelings, when in one of his pockets was found his tin candle-box, on which, in the darkness of the suffocating pit, or only with the dim light of his Davy lamp, the dear boy had, with a nail, engraved on his candle-box, the following touching and consolatory epistle:
" Fret not, dear mother, for we were singing while we had time, and praising God. Mother, follow God more than ever I did;" and then on the other side, which, it is supposed, must have been dictated by his father, as it bears his signature, though he could not write : " If Johnny is saved, be a good lad to God, and thy mother. JOHN THEW."
(The annexed is a fac-simile of the box and writing.)
This letter, though short, is full of meaning; and to use the language of the Apostle Paul, it may be with truth and propriety said, " He, though dead, yet speaketh." It has cheered the widow's heart in her solitary and destitute condition; and the precious relic is treasured with miser care. What could be more consolatory to his mother than the fact that her husband and sons were" singing and praising God," even in the prospect of certain and painful death. Ah ! what meaning is there in the words " while we had time;- or while the vital air enabled them to breathe and live. In this we may observe that the same religion which enabled Paul and Silas to sing Psalms in the dungeon at Philippi, enabled these poor colliers to praise God under the most awful and appalling circumstances. Then, again, his humble acknowledgment that he had not served God as he ought, in his exhortation to his mother, "Mother, follow God more than ever I did;" a better test of his sincerity than any confident assertions relative to his religious state. Lastly, the anxiety of the father for the comfort of his wife in the simple expression to his son Johnny, that, if spared, he was to be " a good lad to God and his mother." Perhaps, it maybe asserted without the fear of contradiction, that in the whole of ecclesiastical history, or in the deaths of even martyrs, nothing more truly pathetic is recorded; and it is one among the many pleasing instances of the blessed effects of Sunday School instruction in the conversion and happy deaths of those who have enjoyed their privileges. May not some useful lessons be drawn from
the above narrative. Here were seventy-five immortal beings in health and strength suddenly hurried into eternity, and, it is to be feared, many unprepared for the event. Colliers, above all other men, are exposed to the most imminent danger; and emphatically, in the " midst of life are in death." They
know not each morning as they go to their work, what the day may bring forth; whether they shall be engulfed in water, or burnt in the flame. How little did these seventy-five persons think that when they left their homes on the preceding day, that they were going to their own funerals, and would be brought home in their coffins! And yet, alas! how careless the most of men so employed are. How soon are the most calamitous events forgotten; and how madly do many go on in a course of daring rebellion against God. What would these unhappy men have given for a few days, or even hours, to have sought salvation through the blood of Christ; but how soon and how awfully were they summoned to meet their God. May those who peruse this account be led to "seek the Lord while He may be found, and to call upon him while He is near;- and may all who are employed in such hazardous occupations, be led to see the need of being prepared for death, have their lamps burning, waiting for the coming of the Bridegroom; that they may enter into the marriage, and sit down with their Lord.
The history of this candle-box is remarkable; and the circumstances connected with it shew that the Lord can accomplish his object, and his people realize the accomplishment of his promises in a way that appears inscrutable to man's short-sighted vision. Mrs. Thew, the widow, has had much affliction in her family. Another son, named Thomas, was, three years after the above calamity, killed by the rolleys in another pit. Liberal subscriptions were made for the survivors, of which Mrs. Thew partook for a few years; but she has had to depend on her own and her children's labour for a long period for her support. A few years after the accident, the Rev. Leigh Richmond, being on a Bible tour to the north, heard of the story of Mrs. Thew's son having written to her when incarcerated in the pit; and through the medium of Mr. John Reay, of Wallsend colliery, he got the loan of the box, under the promise, that should he obtain any contributions in the course of his itinerant labours in the Bible cause, he would transmit the amount to Mrs. Thew. Mr. Richmond was in the habit of relating the anecdote, and of exhibiting the box. The remarkable facts of the case excited much interest, and the sum of £16. 10s. was remitted at various times, through the medium of Mr. Batson's family of Newcastle.
At the death of Mr. Richmond, Mrs. Thew wished to repossess herself of the box, and Mr. D. H. Wilson, of Newcastle, kindly undertook to write to the executors of the rev. gentleman. A search was forthwith made among Mr. R.'s papers, and the box was found, and subsequently restored to the widow. About the year 1834 Mr. J. R. Wilson, the travelling agent of the Sunday School Union of London, obtained the loan of the box, under a similar understanding and promise as Mr. Richmond had got it. In his public meetings in various parts of the kingdom, Mr. W. related the story and exhibited the box, which excited much interest, and called forth the spontaneous contributions of the people. In many places the particulars of the catastrophe were printed on a sheet, with a copy of the letter, and given to those who contributed even the smallest sum. In the course of three years Mr. Wilson received contributions to the amount of £115. 7s. 3d., by which he has been enabled to allow Mrs. Thew five shillings per week, and the amount of rent, about £2 per year, for the last seven years, the balance due to her having been deposited in the Newcastle Savings' Bank in the year 1837. In the latter end of 1840 the whole of the fund was exhausted, when her case was laid before the guardians of the Gateshead Union, who have since allowed her two shillings per week. This sum has been found inadequate to support her, as she is in her sixty-eighth years and unable to work. She at present rents an attic at Byker, for the rent of which she is in arrear. The present publication has therefore been got up, from the sale of which, it is hoped, some aid may be afforded to her in her declining years, to enable her to pay her rent; and it is hoped that the benevolent public will not grudge the charge made for the pamphlet, though it may be more than the value of the book. Any contribution will also be thankfully received by any of the booksellers who vend the publication.
Newcastle : Printed at the Great Northern Advertiser Office.
