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 49 of 50 pages (2497 entries).
| Surname |
Given Name(s) |
Year | County | Mine | Cause |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turnbull | William | 1873 | Pictou County | Vale | Under a falling derrick |
| White | William | 1930 | Cumberland | Victoria No. 2 | Gas explosion; 1 of 7 killed |
| Hendricken | William | 1873 | Pictou County | Vale | Crushed by coal tubs |
| McLeod | William | 1896 | Cape Breton County | Victoria | Killed by coal fall while removing coal leg |
| Cargig | William | 1900 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 3 | Fell on pick handles |
| Roache or Roche | William | 1909 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 5 | Fall of stone |
| McCallum | William | 1931 | Cumberland | Victoria No. 4 (Bright Light Mine) | Went over surface dump with car |
| McLellan | William | 1918 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Devastating methane explosion |
| Hurley | William | 1913 | Cumberland | Lawson | Tube of boiler burst |
| Hamilton | William | 1903 | Cape Breton County | Sydney Mines Colliery; Nova Scotia Steel & Coal | Killed by runaway trip on slope |
| McKee | William | 1891 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 1 & No. 2 | Gas and coal dust explosion |
| Collins | William | 1943 | Cape Breton County | Princess | Crushed under trip |
| Muller | William | 1912 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Fall of top coal at face of pillar |
| Forrest | William | 1944 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 2 | Fall of stone |
| McLeod | William | 1952 | Pictou County | McGregor | Methane explosion (localized); 1 of 19 killed |
| Ramsay | William | 1915 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 15 | Fall of roof |
| Sampson | William | 1953 | Cape Breton County | Florence | Haulage |
| Snow | William | 1908 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 6 | Fall of stone |
| 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 |
| Large | William | 1942 | Cape Breton County | Princess | Fall of stone |
| Parsons | William | 1917 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 12 | Methane and blasting powder explosion |
| Burchill or Birchill | William | 1891 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 1 & No. 2 | Gas and coal dust explosion |
| Oram | William | 1878 | Cape Breton County | Sydney Mines (Princess) | Methane explosion; 1 of 6 killed |
| Munsie | William | 1943 | Pictou County | McGregor | Crushed between a box and a steel boom |
| Gillespie | William | 1913 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 2 | Caught between box at 4700 bottom |
| Tracey | William | 1914 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 2 | Killed by full trip |
| Murdock | William | 1880 | Pictou County | Foord pit | Devastating methane explosion |
| Campbell | William | 1884 | Pictou County | Albion | Premature explosion of a shot |
| Flemming | William | 1907 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 2 | Caught between box and boom |
| MacKenzie | William | 1903 | Pictou County | Albion | Jumped from moving train in mine yard |
| McSephney | William | 1955 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 2 | Killed by haulage |
| Stentley | William | 1914 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Fall of coal |
| Dunbar | William | 1880 | Pictou County | Foord pit | Devastating methane explosion |
| Hachey | William | 1932 | Cumberland | Maple Leaf No. 4 | Dust and gas explosion; 1 of 5 killed |
| Driscol or Driscoll | William | 1926 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 1B | Slipped from car, wheels passed over him |
| Patton | William | 1883 | Cumberland | Chignecto | Suffocated by carbonic acid (1 of 3 killed) |
| Oliver | William | 1944 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 16 | Struck by trip |
| Brown | William | 1891 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 1 & No. 2 | Gas and coal dust explosion |
| Walsh | William | 1918 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Devastating methane explosion |
| Smith | William | 1958 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 2 | Terrific, devastating bump |
| Power | William | 1920 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Fall of coal |
| Hubert | William | 1940 | Pictou County | Drummond mine (Intercolonial) | Caught between 2 rail cars on surface |
| Hall | William | 1937 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 5 | Run over by full box |
| Whittle | William | 1956 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 2 | Fall of stone |
| Hall | William | 1918 | Cumberland | Joggins | Fall of stone, died 14 hours later |
| Walsh | William | 1905 | Inverness | Port Hood | Hit by boom sliding down slope while timbering |
| Simpson | William | 1899 | Cape Breton County | Caledonia | Afterdamp from methane explosion; 1 of 11 killed |
| Myers | William | 1918 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Devastating methane explosion |
| Hyde | William | 1887 | Pictou County | Vale | Caught beneath a roof fall while timbering; 1 of 2 killed |