HISTORY
Children of the
A tale shrouded in coal dust and salty tears of the young people who faced horrors, not only in their working conditions, but also in death, various local community groups have come together to host a commemoration this summer to keep the memory of the lost children alive.
The Huskar 180 consists of Silkstone Heritage Group, Silkstone and Silkstone Common primary schools, the two local churches plus individual volunteers. Starting on the tragedy’s anniversary, 4th July, there will be a range of memorial events taking place in the village.
It was Wednesday 4th July 1838, a humid, sunny and warm summer day above the pit top. Over 300ft underground, around 50 children and 33 coal getters were cutting and moving coal, eager to make up time and money following four days unpaid holiday for Queen Victoria’s coronation celebrations.
Moorend Colliery and the adjoining Huskar pit drift were owned by the Clarke family of Noblethorpe, Silkstone. Just six days earlier, the Clarkes closed their mines and hosted a celebration on their parklands for families of the miners.
Little did some know that these would be the last happy times spent together, unaware of the horrors which would subsequently unfold.
Huskar pit, which had a day hole leading into Nabs Wood, was a sloping old mine seam which zigzagged to the coal face and was used for ventilation purposes.
Dark
This July marks 180 years since the Huskar mining disaster; a distressing and deplorable Barnsley tragedy in which 26 children aged seven to 17 were untimely killed while working at Moorend Colliery in Silkstone Common.
Together with Moorend, 100 children worked down the mines at Silkstone, joined by 70 colliers.
The man of the house, often the strongest, would be contracted to produce a certain amount of coal within a fortnight. He was helped by his wife and children who worked as trappers and hurriers, helping transport the coal from the rock face to the surface via carts and passageways.
Amongst the 50 children working there that day was little Joseph Burkinshaw, just seven- years-old, who had only been there three days. His dad John worked on the coal face and his older brother George, ten, was a hurrier.
Joseph and his fellow trappers earned around sixpence a day, or 2.5p in today’s money. They worked by candlelight for 12 hours, opening and shutting the traps to keep the pit ventilated and let the hurriers through with the coal tubs.
Conditions were dark and damp. Children were cooped up inside for extremely long periods without regular rest or food breaks.
Hurriers were fastened to the coal tubs, pushing and pulling excessive weights with their arms or even heads.
Although it started off as a glorious summer day, the weather quickly deteriorated on Wednesday 4th July and by 2pm a vicious thunderstorm ravaged the village and surrounding areas. Property and land were destroyed. Rivers and streams overflowed.
As the miners worked away down the pit, the water began to devastate the area above. Two engine tenters became concerned at the amount of rainwater and feared it would flood the pit bottom. Steward William Lamb began to prepare for evacuation.
Nabs Wood Memorial 52
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However, the engine and boiler yard had been flooded, extinguishing the fire in the furnace which powered the winder engine to the shaft. Instead, workers would have to be lifted out manually a few at a time.
Lamb instructed everyone to stay together at the bottom of the pit.
Unbeknown to them of what raged on above, the children feared a thunder clap was instead a deadly firedamp explosion.
Having already spent nine hours underground and desperate to save themselves, 40 of the children ignored Lamb’s instructions and set about making their way to Huskar drift, climbing the 15 metres to reach the day hole opening.
Of these children was Lamb’s own son, eight-year-old George.
Two of the four Wright brothers, Isaac and Abraham, 12 and eight, also tried to escape, fearing the same fate as their father John who had been killed by a firedamp explosion the previous year. Their older brothers William and John, 25 and 17, would have worked on the coal face.
What the children didn’t know was that near the top of the entrance was a stream which had become a swollen and raging torrent.
While the children were climbing the slope, the water burst through and poured down the drift, trapping and drowning 26 of the 40 children against the ventilation door through which they had just passed.
Fourteen others managed to escape where they were met by banksman Francis Garnett. His own four children worked at Moorend, one of whom died in the flood.
The two younger Wright brothers also died in the flood, as too did the Burkinshaw boys, with dad John saying it was a pure accident with nobody to blame. He died the following January aged 35, the price of a short life expectancy paid for working underground in the terrible conditions.
After the water had finally subsided, the remaining miners and the bodies of the dead children were brought to the surface where Reverend Watkins and Dr Ellis determined none could be saved.
The children, aged between seven and 17,
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