Coal Mining Fatalities
This database contains 2497 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 48 of 50 pages (2497 entries).
Surname |
Given Name(s)![]() |
Year | County | Mine | Cause |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Burchill or Birchill | William | 1891 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 1 & No. 2 | Gas and coal dust explosion |
Cherrie | William | 1905 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 2 | killed at the 2400-foot level |
Hurley | William | 1913 | Cumberland | Lawson | Tube of boiler burst |
Cyr | William | 1920 | Pictou County | Drummond No. 5 (Intercolonial No. 5) | Run over by an empty box |
Hendricken | William | 1873 | Pictou County | Vale | Crushed by coal tubs |
Power | William | 1920 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Fall of coal |
Oram | William | 1878 | Cape Breton County | Sydney Mines (Princess) | Methane explosion; 1 of 6 killed |
Ferguson | William | 1956 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 4 | Draegerman; carbon monoxide post explosion |
Stevenson | William | 1917 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 2 | Struck by prop, died 3 days later |
Myers | William | 1918 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Devastating methane explosion |
Hamilton | William | 1903 | Cape Breton County | Sydney Mines Colliery; Nova Scotia Steel & Coal | Killed by runaway trip on slope |
Brown | William | 1891 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 1 & No. 2 | Gas and coal dust explosion |
Henderson | William | 1905 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 3 | Fall of coal |
Driscol or Driscoll | William | 1926 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 1B | Slipped from car, wheels passed over him |
Ramsay | William | 1915 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 15 | Fall of roof |
Blake | William | 1952 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 20 | Methane explosion; 1 of 7 killed |
Vokey | William | 1934 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 2 | Loose coal from face |
Walsh | William | 1905 | Inverness | Port Hood | Hit by boom sliding down slope while timbering |
Smith | William | 1958 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 2 | Terrific, devastating bump |
Bonar | William | 1952 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 20 | Methane explosion; 1 of 7 killed |
Cassidy | William | 1906 | Inverness | Inverness | Struck by a rake on main slope |
Frew | William | 1906 | Pictou County | English Slopes (abandoned) | Methane exploded when boy lit match while playing near old slope opening; 1 of 2 killed |
Desmond | William | 1952 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 20 | Methane explosion; 1 of 7 killed |
Lowe | William | 1839 | Pictou County | Storr pit | Methane explosion; 1 of 2 killed |
Cooke | William | 1979 | Cape Breton County | DEVCO No. 26 | Methane explosion, sparked by coal shearer hitting stone; 1 of 12 killed |
McDonald | William | 1937 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 2 | Struck by trip |
Chisholm | William | 1925 | Inverness | Inverness No. 1 | Killed by runaway box |
Simpson | William | 1899 | Cape Breton County | Caledonia | Afterdamp from methane explosion; 1 of 11 killed |
Barnes | William | 1943 | Cape Breton County | Tomson | Struck by runaway box |
Lettuce | William | 1958 | Cape Breton County | Tomson | Explosion |
Parsons | William | 1917 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 12 | Methane and blasting powder explosion |
Jones | William | 1956 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 4 | On bankhead, Electricity-fired coal dust explosion |
Milburn | William | 1895 or 1896 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 1 slope | Thrown from cage |
Layton | William | 1937 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 12 | Injured while riding trip |
Holm | William | 1943 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 16 | Fall of stone |
Stentley | William | 1914 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Fall of coal |
Stevenson | William | 1958 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 2 | Terrific, devastating bump |
Hachey | William | 1932 | Cumberland | Maple Leaf No. 4 | Dust and gas explosion; 1 of 5 killed |
Jones | William | 1928 | Cape Breton County | Florence | Steel railing falling from car |
Horne or Horone | William | 1895 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 2 | Fall from roof |
Patton | William | 1883 | Cumberland | Chignecto | Suffocated by carbonic acid (1 of 3 killed) |
Thompson | William | 1924 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 2 | Fall of stone and coal |
Tracey | William | 1914 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 2 | Killed by full trip |
Walsh | William | 1918 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Devastating methane explosion |
Newcomb | William | 1911 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Killed by a fall of timber |
MacKenzie | William | 1903 | Pictou County | Albion | Jumped from moving train in mine yard |
Penny | William | 1928 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 2 | Fall of coal |
Hall | William | 1918 | Cumberland | Joggins | Fall of stone, died 14 hours later |
Mintis | William | 1918 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Devastating methane explosion |
Forrest | William | 1944 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 2 | Fall of stone |