Story
Charles was born in 1842 in Blackwell, Derbyshire, and was the son of Reuben Ball (1803-1873) and Sarah Geary (1805-1876). Charles was married 3 times. He married his first wife, Elizabeth White (1846-1879) on 24 July 1864 in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottingham, and they had four children, including John Charles Ball, who came to work with his father at Peckfield Colliery. After Elizabeth passed away aged 32, Charles remarried a Welsh widower, Elizabeth Kerry (née Edwards) on 22nd September 1879 in Chesterfield. They had two more children, and in 1882, with both his parents now deceased, Charles moved to Featherstone to work in Yorkshire Collieries. By 1891, Charles and Elizabeth were living in Swillington, but their marriage looks to have broken down. Charles made an announcement in the newspaper that with effect from 27th February 1892, he would not be responsible for any debts incurred by his wife Elizabeth. His estranged wife died at the age of 45 in October 1895, and Charles married Ann Ward in Swillington on 25th January 1896.
Charles and his son John Charles Ball have left us with a detailed description of the Peckfield Colliery Disaster. Charles had been working in the pit for just over 10 years, and said that he descended in the lift at 6:20am with most of the men. He made his way up the No.2 North East Bord, and said to reporters that he had been working for 5 minutes when the explosion happened; although his son said Charles was smoking his pipe when he arrived, waiting for him, and the explosion happened straight after. Charles said that they could feel the pit shake from one end to the other, and he heard the roar of a great explosion. This lasted for a few seconds, and was followed by a wave of afterdamp, in which they were both struck by a rush of air, but Charles managed to keep his candle light from being extinguished by shielding it, moving it backwards and forwards to avoid the currents of bad air. Once the explosions had stopped, the survivors in this district assembled, and formed a group of about 14 men. Most of the miners’ lamps had been extinguished in the blast, so the men were confused in the darkness. Charles stated: “I called to the fellows around me, and knowing the pit well I led them to the shaft, where fresh air was coming down.” However, this journey was more eventful than Charles’ description.
Once the group of 14 had got together, and as he was the youngest, Charles’ son was sent to locate their deputy James Shillito, but this attempt was unsuccessful, so the group had to fight through the afterdamp to reach the shaft bottom, and rescue one or two of their own party who became overwhelmed by the bad air and had collapsed. As soon as the fallen victims were noticed, another member of the party would help put them on their feet again. As they were making their way along the East Level, John Sissons stumbled on the body of their deputy. Samuel Grimbley explained: “In the main level, about a hundred yards away from the bottom of the shaft, we saw a man lying quite dead. Charlie Ball, one of our mates, stooped down and examined him and said, ‘It’s no use stopping, he’s dead enough.’ I think the poor fellow’s head was blown off.”
Charles said they were so exhausted when they reached the bottom, they couldn’t initially give a signal to those above that they had reached the bottom. Some of the party, including Caleb Atack went to investigate William Radford’s office, and heard the cries of George Hicks, who had been badly burnt. Charles helped comfort the survivors from the Black Bed who were suffering very badly from afterdamp poisoning. When Charles emerged from the pit, he reported that he could not find any more men alive at the bottom, and that the explosion was all over the mine. He was unable to eat for sometime after his escape, as he was suffering from afterdamp poisoning himself. When asked by reporters what might have caused the explosion, Charles replied: “It would be sinful for me to say anything that would only be a guess. There was a bad explosion, but whether it was gas or coal dust or what it was, I don’t know.”
According to his son John, Charles was persuaded shortly after to go back down the pit, and help with the rescue efforts.
With Peckfield Colliery out of action, on Monday 4th May, Charles and John both started work at Garforth Colliery to keep their money coming in.
Charles continued to live in Swillington, and was still working as a Road Man on the 1911 Census, at the age of 68. Charles passed away on 11th February 1921 at the age of 78.
30th April 1896. The Peckfield Colliery Disaster at Micklefield 