Coal Mining Fatalities
This database contains 2498 known Nova Scotia coal mining fatalities. Names, dates, places, mines, and causes of death have been painstakingly compiled. Despite this, it is by no means a complete list. Fatalities occurred before records were kept; descriptions of incidents and those involved were lost along with coal company records. Official recording of multiple deaths may have missed some names; in some cases, names are misspelled. However, this is likely the most complete list that exists. Please contact us if you know names to add.
Displaying page 24 of 50 pages (2498 entries).
| Surname | Given Name(s) | Year |
County |
Mine | Cause |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bortniak | Egnate | 1935 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Shot blew back exploding methane and coal dust; 1 of 7 killed |
| Burney | John W. | 1901 | Pictou County | Drummond mine (Intercolonial) | Killed by fall of top coal and stone |
| Campbell | John A. | 1885 | Pictou County | Vale | Devastating methane explosion |
| Clark | Richard | 1935 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Shot blew back exploding methane and coal dust; 1 of 7 killed |
| Cossman | Isadore | 1918 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Devastating methane explosion |
| Davidson | Robert | 1949 | Pictou County | Albion | Fall of coal |
| Dunbar | William | 1880 | Pictou County | Foord pit | Devastating methane explosion |
| Findlay | Hugh | 1907 | Pictou County | Drummond mine (Intercolonial) | Killed on main slope by runaway box |
| Fraser | Alexander | 1875 | Pictou County | Black Diamond | Crushed by moving coal tub against a doorpost |
| Gallant | Frank | 1909 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Driving a full trip & killed by falling timber |
| Gunn | Stanley | 1919 | Pictou County | McGregor | Injuries sustained in the mine |
| Hanuse | Alfred | 1918 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Devastating methane explosion |
| Hoegg | Hugh Brown | 1941 | Pictou County | Albion | Fall of coal from roof |
| Jenson or Jamieson | Alex | 1914 | Pictou County | Albion | Run over by a box |
| Keith | Fred | 1919 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Overcome by gas, likely methane |
| LeBlanc | Alex | 1927 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Crushed: 2 runaway boxes hit box he was lifting |
| Lowe | William | 1839 | Pictou County | Storr pit | Methane explosion; 1 of 2 killed |
| MacDonald | James D. | 1912 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Fall of top coal at face of bord |
| MacKenzie | Daniel | 1861 | Pictou County | Bye pit | Methane explosion |
| MacLean | John | 1902 | Pictou County | Albion | Jammed between rail cars on surface |
| Manning | Harold | 1916 | Pictou County | Milford | Thrown off trip that derailed and ran over him |
| McDonald | John #2 | 1873 | Pictou County | Drummond mine (Intercolonial) | Devastating methane explosion |
| McGillivray | Hugh | 1873 | Pictou County | Drummond mine (Intercolonial) | Devastating methane explosion |
| McLaughlin | John | 1880 | Pictou County | Foord pit | Devastating methane explosion |
| McNulty | C. | 1902 | Pictou County | Vale | Powder explosion; 1 of 2 killed |
| Morrison | James | 1918 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Devastating methane explosion |
| Murray | Ivor | 1951 | Pictou County | McBean | Fall of stone |
| Paris | Norman | 1918 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Devastating methane explosion |
| Purvis | Alexander Jr. | 1873 | Pictou County | Drummond mine (Intercolonial) | Devastating methane explosion |
| Roberts | Edward Sr. | 1880 | Pictou County | Foord pit | Devastating methane explosion |
| Ryan | Thomas | 1885 | Pictou County | Vale | Devastating methane explosion |
| Skidmore | Kenneth | 1942 | Pictou County | Acadia No. 7 (Moss mine) | Fall of stone |
| Stewart | D. McFarlane | 1873 | Pictou County | Drummond mine (Intercolonial) | Devastating methane explosion |
| Taylor | George | 1914 | Pictou County | Drummond mine (Intercolonial) | Boiler explosion in surface plant; 1 of 7 killed |
| Walsh | John D. | 1924 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Carbon monoxide suffocation after explosion; 1 of 4 killed |
| Works | Howard | 1918 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Devastating methane explosion |
| McGillivray | Alex | 1871 | Pictou County | Foord pit | Killed in the Foord by gas |
| Auld | Angus | 1931 | Pictou County | Acadia No. 3 (Six-Foot) | Fall of stone |
| Bell | Larry Arthur | 1992 | Pictou County | Westray | Devastating methane and coal dust explosion |
| Bosman or Bossman | Andrew | 1918 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Devastating methane explosion |
| Burns | Edward | 1873 | Pictou County | Drummond mine (Intercolonial) | Devastating methane explosion |
| Campbell | Joseph | 1936 | Pictou County | McGregor | Overrun by a full trip of coal on slope |
| Clarke | Robert | 1907 | Pictou County | Drummond mine (Intercolonial) | Killed at fire doors by a full trip being pulled through the bank head by an over-wind |
| Coulier | Alfred | 1945 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Hit by a runaway box |
| Davidson | Robert | 1952 | Pictou County | McGregor | Methane explosion (localized); 1 of 19 killed |
| Dunbar | John | 1904 | Pictou County | Albion | Run over by a rake |
| Finlay | Daniel | 1903 | Pictou County | Drummond mine (Intercolonial) | Hit by a rake on the hoisting slope |
| Fraser | James W. | 1880 | Pictou County | Foord pit | influx of water; 1 of 6 killed |
| Gaskill | Thomas | 1924 | Pictou County | Albion | Fall of coal |
| Guy | Abraham | 1873 | Pictou County | Drummond mine (Intercolonial) | Devastating methane explosion |