Mapperley Village

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M. Hancock T. Hartshorn C. Robinson (Captain) S. Bratley (Instructor, superintendent at Ilkeston Mines Rescue station from 1916 to 1924) G.H. Martin (Assistant Instructor C. White (Vice Captain) G. Pritchett G. B. Hollingsworth

The Mapperley Team Derbyshire - 1918
( Hopefully the names are in the right order if Hovering over faces)

M. Hancock, T. Hartshorn and C. Robinson (Captain).
S. Bratley (Instructor, superintendent at Ilkeston Mines Rescue station from 1916 to 1924) 
G. H. Martin (Assistant Instructor), C. White (Vice Captain), G. Pritchett and G. B. Hollingsworth

 

THE ABOVE photograph shows the Mapperley Team at Ilkeston Mines Rescue in 1918.

It was submitted by Barbara Harrison to the Ilkeston Advertiser, her late husband David was given the picture in an album owned by his father.

On the original picture there is a caption naming the men in the photo.

Mrs Harrison said: "I've always been fascinated by the photographs.

"It may be of interest to someone researching their family history or just looking into the town's past.
"My husband enjoyed the collection as did his father and I wanted others to see them."


Fatal Accidents Mapperley Colliery

(Information from Alan Beales)

Nottinghamshire Guardian 13-Nov-1863
West Hallam – Wonderful Escape

A few days ago one of the under viewers in Messer's Whitehouse's ironstone pits was descending the shaft to ascertain that all was right before the men began to descend for the day's work, when he found the firedamp was nearly up to the mouth of the shaft.

He had a shovel full of burning coals with him, which he was taking down to light the fires with. The gas caught fire and flashed around him most fearfully, he called out to the engineman to "whip him out" which was done with all possible speed, and the man was landed safely on the ground; but before the men who were looking down the shaft could get away, a most terrible explosion took place, which seemed like the bursting of a volcano-the earth shook with the report, and the fire blazed for yards above the mouth of the pit, singing the hair and clothes of those who stood at the top. The only damage done, however was that some of the doors and woodwork was displaced; no one was seriously hurt. Although the shaft {100 yards deep} was full of gas and also a considerable part of the works, it having accumulated through shutting a door.

Alan Beales


Date Name Age Colliery Accident
13 - Feb - 1872 John Potter 49 Mapperley Fell down the shaft
29 - Sep - 1873 John Parkin 20 Mapperley Fall of coal
12 - Jan - 1875 John Hebb 27 Mapperley Fall of coal
14 - Apr - 1875 James Green 28 Mapperley Fall of coal
11 - May - 1876 George Slater 40 Mapperley Fall of coal
28 - Jun - 1876 Charles Wooley 23 Mapperley Fall of roof
25 - Apr - 1879 Frederick Laurence 24 Mapperley Fall of coal
25 - Jun - 1885 Curtis Daniels 15 Mapperley Fall of roof
04 - Apr - 1887 William Frost 53 Mapperley Explosion of firedamp 
05 - Jan - 1889 Henry Cotgrave 19 Mapperley Run over by a wagon on surface
03 - Sep - 1890 Charles Harris 57 Mapperley Fell down the shaft
21 - Nov - 1902 John Woodforth 59 Mapperley Run over by a wagon on surface
10 - Nov - 1903 Henry Durow 19 Mapperley Run over by tubs
24 - Nov - 1903 William Swain 23 Mapperley Cartridge canister exploded
02 - Dec - 1907 William Henry Milward 36 Mapperley Crushed by tubs 19 - Nov - 1907
04 - Aug - 1914 William Aldred 21 Mapperley Fall in a roadway 
31 - Mar - 1916 Arthur W Cresswell 37 Mapperley Hit by a girder 24 - Mar - 1916
27 - Jul - 1916 William Betts 37 Mapperley Fall of coal
09 - Jan - 1923 John William Harvey 26 Mapperley Fall of roof
16 - Jul - 1927 Samuel Bostock Cook 45 Mapperley Injured hand? Septicaemia
24 - Jul - 1929 James Akers 43 Mapperley Run over by tubs
02 - Nov - 1930 John Robert Leeson 60 Mapperley Fall of roof  26 - Oct - 1930
15 - Dec - 1930 Thomas Rodgers 57 Mapperley Hand injury  07 - Dec - 30 Toxaemia
15 - Oct - 1931 Thomas William Croft 47 Mapperley Fall of coal
19 - Jul - 1938 H Henry Riley 57 Mapperley Fall of roof
26 - May - 1948 Horace Wood 50 Mapperley Crushed by wagons on surface
01 - Sep - 1948 Edward Corey 61 Mapperley Caught in machinery 22 - Nov - 1947
12 - May - 1949 Harold Sowter 39 Mapperley Fall of roof
03 - Jan - 1952 William Herbert Haslam 50 Mapperley Crushed by the cage 2 - Jan - 1952
22 - Feb - 1957 Jack Hampshire Parkin ? Mapperley Fall of roof

Fascinating Material But Quite Horrific.

It is equally horrific to think for each of these deaths attributed to accidents, there was probably a hundred more whereby lives were ruined/cut short through accidents and industrial disease over and beyond the lifespan of these pits.

I certainly had family members who were maimed, crippled or who couldn't draw a decent breath at an early age by today's standards after time in the pit, it just seemed to be accepted.  It seems that only major mining disasters prompted the more obvious reforms, whilst the underlying reasons for background casualties occurring in even greater numbers just didn't seem to have the profile for many decades.

I was surprised by the amount of deaths due to "falling down the shaft" including a lot of young boys; looking at the dates this often seemed to be during shaft sinking so the working practices must have been appalling, presumably as you could fit more pairs of hands in the sinking bucket using kids.

Nationalisation did a lot to address safety issues, and to do away with Victorian practices still prevalent in many private pits.  It's sad to note the percentage of casualties has risen in recent years since the industry was re-privatised. 

Joe Henshaw
Mapperley village.

 Sarah Elizabeth Shaw (nee. Williams)  youngest daughter Hilda (who later married a Marlpool miner, Wilfred ???)  Bill Shaw, my great grandfather his back was broken at the pit  Great aunt Nellie, who later moved to Nottingham  Bill Shaw's dad,  (?) Shaw (my great, great grandfather)  Lucy Shaw (later Birkin) my grandmother  Great aunt Annie Shaw who emigrated to Canada aged 17

(Hover over faces to see names)
From right to left, pictured are:

Sarah Elizabeth Shaw (nee. Williams) who would have been my great grandmother.
On her knee, youngest daughter Hilda (who later married a Marlpool miner, Wilfred ???) who was my great aunt.
Then Bill Shaw, my great grandfather and whose back was broken at the pit and later died aged just 29.

My mother remembers her father, George Birkin, routinely bringing home his pit tools, drills, mandrels, rammers etc. for safekeeping and maintenance, from the time when miners had to provide all.  She never knew her grandfather, Bill, but remembers Grandad "Brock"(Lehurst) whom Sarah Elizabeth remarried.

Next comes great aunt Nellie, who later moved to Nottingham (a bit like emigrating!),
Bill Shaw's dad (?) Shaw (my great great grandfather and looking like George Bernard Shaw).
Lucy Shaw (later Birkin) my grandmother.
Then finally my great aunt Annie Shaw who emigrated to Canada aged 17 (a bit like going to the moon!).

We're pretty sure that the picture would have been taken at Albion Place in Ilkeston around the turn of the C19th.

As you see, the Birkin connection comes in with Lucy Shaw marrying George Birkin (my maternal grandad), a miner from Kimberley, who was badly crushed at Cossall Pit (Healeyhero.co.uk) (my mam remembers going to visit him in the old Ilkeston Hospital), this was years after Bill Shaw's demise.

I remember being told about Bill (Shaw) having a broken back, seen above before the accident. I recall being told he spent his post-accident days paralysed lying on a settle, but I do not know for how long.

Sarah Elizabeth re-married a fireman called Brocklehurst (my mam can recall him having a collection of medals for his work) who lived further up Albion Place; and that house was later occupied for many years by one of my mam's elder sisters Mildred, with her husband Stan Smith (locally famous Ilkeston Town and Derby County fans).  They later moved to Dronfield Place in Cotmanhay, and Stan finished his working life as a deputy at Moorgreen pit.

Another of my mam's elder sisters, Violet, won the competition to name the Ilkeston shopping precinct in the 1980s, suggesting "Albion Centre" after the street they were brought-up on, and where the precinct is built.

Whilst escaping hard times by moving to Canada might have seemed enviable, things were not always good for great aunt Annie, whose son, Martin, who might well have ended up down the pit here, was instead killed at work by a combined-harvester over there.

See Miners And Their Families Last Century
Healey Hero Website


Anyone wishing more detail should look the death date up in local newspapers, an inquest report will give a lot of information.
Sources:-

  • 1800 - June 1852 Nottingham newspapers Angel Row Library Floor 1
  • July 1852 -1914 Mines Inspectors Annual Reports Greens Library Nottingham University
  • These are now online Ian Winstanley {Rayleys}
  • After 1914 various Derbyshire Libraries Chesterfield, Heanor, Ripley, Alfreton, Ilkeston

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