HENRY BROOKMAN

From time to time, when I get inspired, I try to do some genealogy. I really wish I had asked my mother and father but in those days I wasn’t interested. It’s taken me, off and on, about 3 years to find details on two people which my mother could have provided in 10 seconds!

Some of the difficulty is my reluctance to actually spend any money on the online sites. Instead I seem to skirt around and, if I’m lucky, pick up a fact or two.

The story below shows what a hard life was experienced in the Welsh Valleys in the 1800's.

Henry Brookman was my great grandfather working as a fireman at a coal mine at Risca near Newport. He was killed in a gas explosion on 15 July 1880 leaving 4 children Lill (aged 7), Arthur (aged2), Florence (my Grandmother, aged 8), Edith (aged 10) in addition to his wife  Elizabeth (aged 42) without a father and any income. John (aged 16) had already left home.

Details are given in the extract from "The Bitter Harvest", the tragic history of coal mining in Gwent

NEW RISCA PIT

A misguided trust

The New Risca Colliery was situated on the eastern side of the entrance to the Sirhowy Valley, placed about a mile to the west of the outcrop which made up part of the South Wales coalfield. The mine was sunk about 1,260 yards to the north-east and on the same seam as the Black Vein colliery. Coal was first raised from the new excavations in June 1878

For some time prior to the disaster, in which 120 men were to lose their lives, the miners had had misgivings about the recently introduced 'long wall' method of extracting coal. They favoured the more traditional pillar and stall system usually employed in the mines of Gwent. The men claimed that during the 16 hours of productive mining, the face being worked moved forward 'too fast, so not enough time was being allowed for the dispersal of dangerous accumulations of gas

Examinations of the workings following the disaster showed that a large roof fall had taken place. Whether this had been caused by the blast or occurred prior to the explosion was never ascertained.

The force of the blast was so great that the ventilating fan was extensively damaged and the would-be rescuers, who had begun to assemble at the pit offices, were unable to enter the shaft because of the suspected high concentration of afterdamp. Their rescue efforts would in any case have been in vain, for the speed at which the devastation had raced through the mine was all too evident by the fact that the miners were found dead at their places of work.

As well as the human victims, the disaster claimed the entire complement of 69 horses used within the mine's complex.

With the ventilation restored, initial appraisal of the damage began. From the very outset it was apparent that all the bodies recovered had been badly burned. The first victim to be brought to the surface was searched by an attendant police officer - it was prophetic that the man's pocket watch had stopped at 1.30am - exactly the time of the explosion.

It is probable that the explosion occurred as a result of a 'blower' which escaped into the mine. This sudden outburst of gas was believed to have between 10 to 20,000 cubic feet, and in such concentrations the ventilating system of the colliery became ineffective.

In stark contrast to other pit disasters, the tragedy at Risca saw few grieving relatives assembled at the pit head. Those who had lost a relative in the blast chose rather to shed their tears of anguish in the privacy of their own homes. However, Sunday saw the arrival of thousands of sightseers who invaded the stricken valley. These crowds came to view the place where so many men had died. Yet one newspaper report stated that within a fortnight, public interest in the disaster had waned - even before the last of the blast-torn bodies had been recovered from the mine.

So began the official report issued by the Home Office. The report was a compilation of evidence given over a three day period before a coroner's court.. Over 40 witnesses were called to give evidence and detailed information gave fresh insight into the tragedy. The deputies, when inspecting the mine workings, utilised the 'Davy' safety lamp. However, the colliers and labourers used the older type 'Clanny'. Near the bottom of the shaft naked flames burned, yet doubts had always been expressed at the wisdom of using the Clanny lamp in such a potentially gaseous coal seam.

These doubts were echoed with the findings of the inquest. Originally designed in 1813, the 'clanny' blast lamp was the brain- child of Dr William Reld Clanny, a native of Sutherland. His invention was regarded as being the first practical attempt to produce a safety lamp.

However, there were no adequate means of testing the lamp's safety. Invariably, miners simply blew against the glass to see if the flame flickered. This was an indication that gas could, if present, reach the naked flame. With the evidence pointing to a violent escape of gas added to the air passing through the pit, a lamp, if incorrectly sealed, would be capable of causing an explosion. Such damning evidence led to the banning of the 'clanny' lamp in the mine.

Although bearing some burns, it was apparent that the majority of those who had died were victims of the explosion, but some did fall victim to the effects of carbonic acid gas. The lack of proper safety controls was so apparent that even the belief in the protection offered by the 'clanny' - a so-called safety lamp - was to prove both misguided, and in terms of human life, costly.

Family tradition has it that there is a monument on Machen mountain in the village of Machen (between Caerphilly and Newport)