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 2 of 50 pages (2498 entries).
| Surname |
Given Name(s) |
Year | County | Mine | Cause |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colburn | William | 1910 | Pictou County | Albion | Fall of coal |
| Kendell | William | 1929 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 16 | Fall of stone |
| Andrews | William | 1873 | Cape Breton County | Gowrie | Fall of coal |
| McDonald | William | 1937 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 2 | Struck by trip |
| Barnes | William | 1943 | Cape Breton County | Tomson | Struck by runaway box |
| Parsons | William | 1917 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 12 | Methane and blasting powder explosion |
| Collins | William | 1943 | Cape Breton County | Princess | Crushed under trip |
| 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 |
| Nicholson | William | 1927 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 10 | Squeezed between box and pillar |
| Cherrie | William | 1905 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 2 | killed at the 2400-foot level |
| Rodgers | William | 1873 | Pictou County | Drummond mine (Intercolonial) | Devastating methane explosion |
| MacIntosh | William | 1899 | Pictou County | Six-Foot Seam (became Acadia No.3) | Caught, crushed by revolving drum on hoist |
| Burchill or Birchill | William | 1891 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 1 & No. 2 | Gas and coal dust explosion |
| Stevens | William | 1910 | Cumberland | Chignecto | Explosion |
| Hendricken | William | 1873 | Pictou County | Vale | Crushed by coal tubs |
| Hamilton | William | 1903 | Cape Breton County | Sydney Mines Colliery; Nova Scotia Steel & Coal | Killed by runaway trip on slope |
| Stevenson | William | 1917 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 2 | Struck by prop, died 3 days later |
| Ramsay | William | 1915 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 15 | Fall of roof |
| Jewkes | William | 1958 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 2 | Terrific, devastating bump |
| Sampson | William | 1953 | Cape Breton County | Florence | Haulage |
| Burke | William | 1930 | Cumberland | Victoria No. 2 | Gas explosion; 1 of 7 killed |
| McLellan | William | 1918 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Devastating methane explosion |
| Henderson | William | 1905 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 3 | Fall of coal |
| Wilkie | William | 1938 | Cape Breton County | Princess | Broken cable on riding rake; 1 of 21 killed |
| Wright | William | 1933 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Asphixiated by methane gas |
| Brown | William | 1891 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 1 & No. 2 | Gas and coal dust explosion |
| Spencer | William | 1897 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 1 | Burned by compressed powder |
| McNamara | William | 1877 | Cape Breton County | Lingan | Explosion of boiler; 1 of 3 killed |
| Walsh | William | 1905 | Inverness | Port Hood | Hit by boom sliding down slope while timbering |
| McLeod | William | 1952 | Pictou County | McGregor | Methane explosion (localized); 1 of 19 killed |
| Muller | William | 1912 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Fall of top coal at face of pillar |
| Milburn | William | 1895 or 1896 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 1 slope | Thrown from cage |
| McLutchy | William | 1890 | Cape Breton County | Reserve | Fall of stone from roof, died 5 weeks later |
| Luffman | William | 1938 | Cape Breton County | Princess | Broken cable on riding rake; 1 of 21 killed |
| Cassidy | William | 1906 | Inverness | Inverness | Struck by a rake on main slope |
| Gadd | William | 1917 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 12 | Methane and blasting powder explosion |
| Burke | William | 1866 | Cape Breton County | Caledonia | Fall of picks in shaft |
| 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 |
| Oliver | William | 1944 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 16 | Struck by trip |
| Horne or Horone | William | 1895 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 2 | Fall from roof |
| Chisholm | William | 1925 | Inverness | Inverness No. 1 | Killed by runaway box |
| Tracey | William | 1914 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 2 | Killed by full trip |
| Carey | William | 1905 | Cape Breton County | New Campbellton | Killed on main slope by the trip |
| Penny | William | 1928 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 2 | Fall of coal |
| Turnbull | William | 1873 | Pictou County | Vale | Under a falling derrick |
| White | William | 1930 | Cumberland | Victoria No. 2 | Gas explosion; 1 of 7 killed |
| McLeod | William | 1896 | Cape Breton County | Victoria | Killed by coal fall while removing coal leg |
| Snow | William | 1917 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 12 | Methane and blasting powder explosion |