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Risca Black Vein Colliery, Waunfawr nr. Risca.
Opened by John Russell of the Risca Iron and Coal Company in the1840s to work the very rich "Black vein" seam at a depth of 186 yards. This seam in places reached a thickness of fourteen feet or more and averaged ten feet. Because of it gaseous nature pits that worked the Black vein seam were known as fiery pits and many of the explosions occurred in Collieries working this seam.
In 1846 an explosion at this pit caused by the naked flame of a candle igniting a pocket of firedamp, cost the lives of 35 men.
Two men died in an accident in 1849, a year later three men were killed and eight more badly burned in a gas explosion. Just three years later in 1853 a further 10 lives were lost in another explosion.
Because of the large number of fatal accidents the colliery became known as the "death pit".
During 1858 mechanical means of ventilation was installed, this replaced the previous furnace method.
The lesson of the earlier explosions was ignored and naked lights were still being used underground at this pit with disastrous consequences, when on 1st of December 1860 yet another explosion took the lives of 146 men and boys.
From the pit bottom of this colliery the main roadway followed the natural dip of the Blackvein seam into the coal basin and other districts were driven off this roadway. It was in one of these districts that the explosion occurred.
The tremendous force of the blast brought down a huge fall, which cut off the ventilation causing the after-damp to be trapped, which killed the majority of the victims. But over 60 of the bodies recovered were so badly burned or disfigured they were unable to be identified. They were buried in a communal grave without coffins on the mountainside above Risca.
This was the worst mining disaster recorded to date.
After the explosion the arbitrator ordered a return to the furnace ventilating system, as "he did not approve of ventilation by machinery"
Following the this Blackvein disaster John Russell sold his
home at Piercefield to provide a Trust fund for the families of
the dead and he later went to live in Gloucestershire.
There is more on John Russell below.
Later this colliery came under the ownership of T. W. Rhodes.
In 1872 this colliery was taken over by Watts, Ward & Co. who eventually merged with London & South Wales Coal Company.
The Blackvein colliery closed for a while after the Risca New Mine was opened in 1875, but it was later revived.
In 1908, the owners were United National Collieries Ltd., and there were 352 men employed.
A serious gob fire broke out here in 1918; the miners were praised for their bravery in tackling the blaze.
By 1918 together with the Risca new mine there were 2,084 men employed.
The colliery closed in the 1921.
The North Blackvein Industrial Estate now occupies this site.
Some more information from Tony Cooke.
Three reports -
(1) Papers at the National Archives include a statement "Two shafts sunk 1840." The colliery is known to have been working in 1842, with 315 being employed.
(2) The prospectus for the Risca Colliery Co. dated 15th of December1845, contained the very informative statement that "Colliery in active operation. The Sun Vein and Big Vein Pits are being opened and will shortly be productive. The Black Vein and Rock Vein were alone worked in 1844."
(3) The Risca Rock Vein Pit was reported in the Cardiff Times of 5th of April1878 as follows; "At Risca, the Rock Vein Pit was finally abandoned on 3st of March1878."
- The Risca Colliery Co., whose prospectus of 15th of December1845 I mentioned earlier, seemingly failed, as no more is heard of the company.
- Explosion at Black Vein Colliery on 14th of January 1846, 35 killed
- Partnership dissolved on 1.3.1846, John Russell and George Randle Hookey trading as John Russell & Co., Risca Works.
- Catalogue of Abandonment Plans includes 'Black Vein Colliery: Sun, Brass, Black, Red and Fireclay seams abandoned 1846.'
- The Risca Coal & Iron Co. Provisional Reg. 21st of April1847, Full Reg. 9the of December1854,
- Partnership dissolved on 9.5.1850 John Russell, William Joseph Horsfall, Thomas Wheeler and John Lawrence, iron and coal masters at Risca, trading as John Russell & Co., as regards John Lawrence.
- 1st of December1860 Explosion 142 killed, Risca Coal & Iron Co.
- The men engaged in clearing the falls and putting the pit in proper order, have all been stopped and the manager and foreman are the only persons retained in the company's employ.'- CG 9the of March 1861,
- Risca Coal & Iron Co. is being wound up due to heavy losses sustained in disastrous explosion.- Colliery Guardian 30th of March1861
From the above, following the 1846 explosion, the partnership was broken up and it seems that perhaps the colliery may have been abandoned. A new company was successfully registered the following year, probably with John Russell & Co. behind it. The colliery clearly reopened, probably following the launching of the company in April. However, the same fate befell that firm, with another disastrous explosion in 1860, which led to the failure of the company and work on reopening the mine being suspended.
Blackvein explosions Death Rolls
John Russell. 1796 - 1873 A brief outline of his life by his G.G.G.Grandson Peter Verity.
DRAFT 10/9/04
Born in Worcestershire in 1796
Married at St John the Baptist, Claines, Worcestershire 1/5 1817, Mary daughter of Benjamin and Mary Downs of Alton Court, Herefordshire, (she bapt Orleton, 18/9 1796)
John Russell was a self made man of relatively modest origins. He was reputedly looked down on by the family of Mary Downs to whom he is said to have vowed ‘that his wife would always have a carriage and pair’.
John Russell developed considerable industrial interests especially in South Wales and the Forest of Dean. He was owner of The Worcester Pipe Works and The Risca Coal and Iron Joint Co. In 1836 John Russell and Co bought Waunfawr Colliery with a site covering 1000 acres and in 1841 John Russell had a new shaft sunk at Coed Waunfawr (Blackvein). In 1842 John Russell and Co were awarded the contracts to provide the steam coal to the East India Company, P and O as well as The Royal West Steam Packet Company.
Russell was a partner with Thomas Brown in the Blaina Iron Works which they took over in 1839 and the Cwmtillery Colliery which he took over in 1852. By 1853 he was shipping 350 tons of coal a week from Cwmtillery, this is in contrast to the very evocative description he wrote of the way of life on the farm of Tir Nicholas which had existed in 1850 prior to his development of the colliery. In 1858 he sank a further shaft and 1864 he incorporated Cwmtillery into his The South Wales Colliery Company.
Other interests of John Russell included iron workings in the Forest of Dean (including Lydrook) the ownership through, Russell and Son, of the Speedwell Colliery at Broadwell Lane End which in 1876 was being managed by Henry Hale. He had interests in The Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company and he was active in the development of the port at Newport. He is associated with the development of Coalbrookdale at Madely in Shropshire.
During the development of his South Wales interests John
Russell it would seem that he moved between Terhill House at
Cheltenham, Risca House, Lydbrook and T
Wyelands at Chepstow, until 1856 when he acquired Piercefield and
it’s estate. (The record indicates that he retained 27
servants to run Piercefield). During this period, much to the
annoyance of the townspeople, he restricted access to the
park.
He was made a Justice of the Peace for Monmouthshire in 1842, Sheriff of Monmouthshire in 1855 and at the time of his death was one of the oldest magistrates in Monmouthshire. His London house was 28 Westbourne Park, which was burgled by the infamous murder Chas Peace who was disturbed in his work and left behind a silver tea pot which he had flattened for ease of removal.
In the development of his South Wales industrial interests he was in partnership with his son in law, George Randle Hookey. Russell’s colliery interests seem to have been plagued by a series of disasters and loss of life (it was said that his collieries were so prone to accidents that he had to bring men from Somerset to work for him). The worst of several disasters occurred on the 1st December 1860 when there was a major explosion at the Risca Blackvein Colliery in which 146 men died. The Risca Blackvein disaster was a great human and a severe financial loss and George Randle Hookey lost everything. In 1861, to establish a trust for the miner’s families, Russell sold Piercefield and returned to Terhill House in Gloucestershire.
In 1867 John Russell acquired Badgeworth Court near Cheltenham; he died in 1873 and is commemorated in Badgeworth parish church, though he was buried at St Clement’s at the heart of his Worcester estate. Mary Downs died at Terhill in 1878 and was buried with her husband at St Clement’s.
John Russell’s Children
John Richard Russell: unknown wife and seven children.
Believed to have emigrated (family tradition has it that he was
engaged to Lady Mary Strickland who was killed in a hunting
accident prior to the wedding)
Mary Anne: married Henry Maudsley (believed the son Henry
Maudsley the great mechanic and originator of modern machine
tools - Maudsley, Sons and Field 1810 - with whom Russell may
well have had business connections )
Susannah: married George Randle Hookey (lived at Risca House and
later in Cheltenham buried at Chiswick)
Ellen Harriet: married Col. John Selwyn-Payne (inherited
Badgeworth)
Jane: married Rev.George Cleather.
His daughters where educated at Oaklands House, Claines.
References:
History of the Verity Family. Vol 2. Glamorgan Records Office.
Under Constance Mary Russell Hookey (Verity).
Jones, Alan Victor. Risca: It’s Industrial and Social
Development. ISBN08611
Morrise’s Commercial Directory, West Dean 1876.
Trinder , Industrial Revolution of Salop 1981 p155
Walters,Ivor. Piercefield on the Banks of the
Wye..FGComber.1975
Records held by Sonia Pether.
Portrait in possession of Julian Verity