2-979-579 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Lundhill Colliery, Barnsley, the Scene of the Recent Explosion, 1857. Sightseers after a mining disaster. 'Every train to-day has brought a large number of "excursionists," who by their conduct seemed bound to a fair or country fete rather than visitors to the scene of a frightful calamity...there were from 10,000 to 15,000 persons on the spot; and few indeed were those who appeared to think they were standing immediately over the bodies of nearly 200 human beings...as the bodies are brought up, they will be placed in coffins...To each of them will be attached a ticket, containing (if the deceased be identified) his name, otherwise a number...Every effort has been made by the proprietors to ascertain the names of all in the pit. The result of the inquiries which have been made is that 182 had perished; and even this number will probably be increased upon subsequent inquiry'. From "Illustrated London News", 1857.