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 21 of 50 pages (2498 entries).
| Surname |
Given Name(s) |
Year | County | Mine | Cause |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vienneau or Veneau | John J. | 1940 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 4 | Caught between box and boom |
| McDougall | John J. | 1928 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 14 | Hit by a small stone |
| McDonald | John J. | 1891 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 1 & No. 2 | Gas and coal dust explosion |
| Laffin | John J. | 1905 | Cape Breton County | Reserve | Fall of coal from face |
| MacInnis or MacInnes | John Henry | 1940 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Fall of roof coal, died 4 days later |
| McNeil | John H. | 1935 | Pictou County | Albion | Fall of coal |
| Coleman | John H. | 1908 or 1909 | Cumberland | Joggins | Suffocated by smoke |
| McNeil | John H. | 1909 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 2 | Fall of coal |
| Murphy | John H. | 1917 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 2 | Fall of stone |
| McKenzie | John H. | 1931 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 14 | Run over by trip |
| Roy | John H. | 1904 | Pictou County | Albion | Killed instantly in a fall |
| McKenzie | John H. | 1917 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 12 | Rescue work after explosion |
| Clarke | John G. | 1932 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 2 | Fall of coal |
| McNeil | John F. or John P. | 1891 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 1 & No. 2 | Gas and coal dust explosion |
| Currie | John F. | 1942 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 18 | Struck by trip |
| Lewis | John F. | 1943 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 1 | Crushed between trip and air line |
| MacArthur | John F. | 1934 | Pictou County | Acadia No. 3 (Six-Foot) | Head crushed between boxes |
| MacInnis | John F. | 1974 | Cape Breton County | DEVCO No. 26 | Struck by empty mine car trip |
| Jowett or Gowett | John Ernest | 1920 | Cumberland | Victoria | cause not recorded |
| Burton | John Edward | 1929 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 6 | Injured by trip |
| Fraser | John E. | 1921 | Pictou County | Albion | Fall of coal |
| Stephenson | John E. | 1912 | Cumberland | Scotia | Fall of stone |
| MacRae | John Duncan | 1930 | Pictou County | Acadia No. 3 (Six-Foot) | Fall of Stone |
| McIsaac | John D. | 1922 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 12 | Fall of stone while timbering, died 5 days later |
| Munro | John D. | 1917 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 15 | Run over by a trip of cars |
| McNeil | John D. | 1904 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 2 | Methane explosion |
| Small | John D. | 1900 | Pictou County | Albion | Fall of coal |
| McNeil | John D. | 1938 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 1B | Fall caused by trip |
| Walsh | John D. | 1924 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Carbon monoxide suffocation after explosion; 1 of 4 killed |
| McKay | John D. | 1917 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 12 | Methane and blasting powder explosion |
| Gillis | John D. | 1899 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 1 | Fell out of cage when descending shaft |
| McEachern | John D. | 1891 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 1 & No. 2 | Gas and coal dust explosion |
| Campbell | John D | 1891 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 1 & No. 2 | Gas and coal dust explosion |
| Fraser | John Clarence | 1938 | Inverness | Port Hood or Henderson | Fall of stone |
| Bartlett | John C. | 1908 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 1 | Fall of coal |
| McDonald | John B. | 1901 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 1 | Struck by falling roof stone while undercutting with machine |
| Taylor | John B. | 1919 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 2 | Caught in fly wheel |
| Martell | John Alexander | 1970 | Cape Breton County | DEVCO No. 12 | Squeezed between 2 boxes on material landing |
| McNeil | John A. | 1903 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 2 | Run over by loaded box |
| Rickets | John A. | 1903 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 2 | Killed by fall of coal |
| Richmond | John A. | 1887 | Cumberland | Springhill Surface | Cause not recorded |
| Campbell | John A. | 1885 | Pictou County | Vale | Devastating methane explosion |
| Campbell | John A. | 1907 | Cape Breton County | Reserve | Fall of stone |
| Young | John A. | 1956 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 12 | Fall of timber |
| MacNeil | John A. | 1963 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 18 | Haulage |
| McDougall | John A. | 1904 | Cape Breton County | Sydney Mines Colliery; Nova Scotia Steel & Coal | Fall of stone |
| MacNeil | John A. | 1979 | Cape Breton County | DEVCO No. 26 | Methane explosion, sparked by coal shearer hitting stone; 1 of 12 killed |
| MacIsaac | John A. | 1951 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 18A | Haulage |
| McNeil | John A. | 1909 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 4 | Fall of stone |
| McLellan | John A. | 1918 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Devastating methane explosion |