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 3 of 50 pages (2497 entries).
| Surname |
Given Name(s) |
Year | County | Mine | Cause |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hachey | William | 1932 | Cumberland | Maple Leaf No. 4 | Dust and gas explosion; 1 of 5 killed |
| Grant | William | 1907 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 6 | Fall of stone |
| Patton | William | 1883 | Cumberland | Chignecto | Suffocated by carbonic acid (1 of 3 killed) |
| Stentley | William | 1914 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Fall of coal |
| Jewkes | William | 1958 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 2 | Terrific, devastating bump |
| Henderson | William | 1905 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 3 | Fall of coal |
| Luffman | William | 1938 | Cape Breton County | Princess | Broken cable on riding rake; 1 of 21 killed |
| Hutchinson | William | 1916 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 12 | Killed by cage |
| Spencer | William | 1897 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 1 | Burned by compressed powder |
| Brown | William | 1891 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 1 & No. 2 | Gas and coal dust explosion |
| Nicholson | William | 1927 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 10 | Squeezed between box and pillar |
| Campbell | William | 1884 | Pictou County | Albion | Premature explosion of a shot |
| Andrews | William | 1910 | Cape Breton County | Gowrie | Fall of coal |
| Walsh | William | 1918 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Devastating methane explosion |
| Walsh | William | 1905 | Inverness | Port Hood | Hit by boom sliding down slope while timbering |
| Dunbar | William | 1880 | Pictou County | Foord pit | Devastating methane explosion |
| McLellan | William | 1918 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Devastating methane explosion |
| McNamara | William | 1877 | Cape Breton County | Lingan | Explosion of boiler; 1 of 3 killed |
| Hall | William | 1918 | Cumberland | Joggins | Fall of stone, died 14 hours later |
| McLutchy | William | 1890 | Cape Breton County | Reserve | Fall of stone from roof, died 5 weeks later |
| Burke | William | 1866 | Cape Breton County | Caledonia | Fall of picks in shaft |
| Smith | William | 1958 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 2 | Terrific, devastating bump |
| King | William | 1903 | Cape Breton County | Reserve | Methane explosion No.5 S level, French slope |
| Cassidy | William | 1906 | Inverness | Inverness | Struck by a rake on main slope |
| Milburn | William | 1895 or 1896 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 1 slope | Thrown from cage |
| Chisholm | William | 1925 | Inverness | Inverness No. 1 | Killed by runaway box |
| Stewart | William | 1874 | Pictou County | Black Diamond | Fall of coal |
| McLeod | William | 1952 | Pictou County | McGregor | Methane explosion (localized); 1 of 19 killed |
| Horne or Horone | William | 1895 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 2 | Fall from roof |
| McAldine | William | 1910 | Cape Breton County | Sydney No. 4 (Scotia) | Fall of stone |
| Muller | William | 1912 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Fall of top coal at face of pillar |
| Lewis | William | 1880 | Pictou County | Foord pit | Devastating methane explosion |
| Gadd | William | 1917 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 12 | Methane and blasting powder explosion |
| Whiteway | William | 1903 | Cape Breton County | Reserve | Methane explosion No.5 S level, French slope; died from burns 3 days later |
| Hamilton | William | 1903 | Cape Breton County | Sydney Mines Colliery; Nova Scotia Steel & Coal | Killed by runaway trip on slope |
| Penny | William | 1928 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 2 | Fall of coal |
| Carroll | William | 1910 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 1 | Jammed between coal hoppers at surface |
| Ramsay | William | 1915 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 15 | Fall of roof |
| Aldrid | William | 1907 | Cape Breton County | Sydney Mines (Princess) | Fatally injured while riding in empty trip |
| Blake | William | 1952 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 20 | Methane explosion; 1 of 7 killed |
| Stevenson | William | 1958 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 2 | Terrific, devastating bump |
| Main | William | 1919 | Cumberland | St. George | Struck by runaway box |
| Bonar | William | 1952 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 20 | Methane explosion; 1 of 7 killed |
| Munsie | William | 1943 | Pictou County | McGregor | Crushed between a box and a steel boom |
| Desmond | William | 1952 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 20 | Methane explosion; 1 of 7 killed |
| Long | William | 1901 or 1902 | Cumberland | Jubilee, River Hebert | Bankhead under construction fell on him |
| Snow | William | 1917 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 12 | Methane and blasting powder explosion |
| Ferguson | William | 1956 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 4 | Draegerman; carbon monoxide post explosion |
| Lettuce | William | 1958 | Cape Breton County | Tomson | Explosion |
| Hyde | William | 1891 | Cumberland | Springhill No. 1 & No. 2 | Gas and coal dust explosion |